DIFFERENCE: Wires, leads and cables ?

[SL4P]

I have my own opinion, but would love to hear other reasons for choice of word when describing a connection...

[Cubdriver]

To me, wires are individual (usually insulated) conductors used to make interconnections.  Bundle some of them together to go between two things and you have a cable.  Leads stick out of components.  There are of course occasional exceptions, but this is the gist of things as far as I'm concerned.

Leads and cable designations can have different definitions when applied to test gear, but then they're usually referred to (by me anyway) as test leads.

FWIW

-Pat

[station240]

I call single conductors wires.
Multiple wires are cables, though big fat wires I also call cables (I have a few setups with big battery cables).
Only two things I call leads, test leads and component/jumper leads.

[PTR_1275]

This is what I will use the 3 terms for

Hookup wire (small stuff)
Test leads or jumper leads
Everything else is cable

[Muttley Snickers]

Much the same as everybody else and it depends on the context of the application, we refer to wires as being a lone core either by itself or in a group, cables generally are a group of wires in a single sheath although there are exceptions such as coax and single core cables, leads are cables or wires that are terminated either with a connector or without and an example is a TV fly lead or wires already terminated on a device.

Dave grab that box of CAT 6 cable out of the truck, Dave I need a 2 meter HDMI lead for the DVD player, Dave that wire is in the wrong terminal, fix it or else......

[Cubdriver]

And I should add that wires that are running within the chassis and are bundled together are what I consider to be a harness.

-Pat

[PTR_1275]

And I should add that wires that are running within the chassis and are bundled together are what I consider to be a harness.

-Pat

Yes!!! The first time somebody said has the harness come in yet (for a job we were working on) I said no because I thought they were meaning a fall arrest body harness. A day later I realised they meant the wiring loom (Well that is what I used to call them). It was a bit embarrassing, but I was only a young fella and the other guys didn't give me too much grief.

Another term that I use is extension cord for 240v ones.

[Brumby]

Another term that I use is extension cord for 240v ones.

I've been known to refer to several types of wire/cable with matching male/female connectors as extension cords - qualified by type. eg 3.2mm stereo jack male/female as a headphone extension cord.  Just saying 'extension cord' on its own refers to mains power ... unless there is a very specific context in which a reference is made that basically excludes the mains.

[Cubdriver]

Yes!!! The first time somebody said has the harness come in yet (for a job we were working on) I said no because I thought they were meaning a fall arrest body harness. A day later I realised they meant the wiring loom (Well that is what I used to call them). It was a bit embarrassing, but I was only a young fella and the other guys didn't give me too much grief.

Another term that I use is extension cord for 240v ones.

Funny how words can have such different yet somewhat related meanings  to people in different places.  Loom to me is the covering put on a harness or cable to help to protect/bundle it.  Examples include the corrugated plastic split loom often seen in automobiles and the woven expandable plastic kind that you slide over a bundle of wire (great fun to slide onto a 40 foot long cable!!).

'Extension cord' without any further qualification means mains extension to me, too, though here in the US it's far more likely to be 120 rather than 240V.

-Pat

[sarepairman2]

feeder, bus bar, hookup

[Aodhan145]

In physics, in my school they make a great deal about them being called leads not wires. I'm thinking why the fuck does it matter. They are all synonyms, people know what your talking about no matter what you say.

[Falcon69]

I agree with most of the posters.

But for cables, if it is over, say, 4ga, I would call a single conductor a cable.

I mean, really, when was the last time you heard someone call a Welding Cable, a Welding Wire? (0Ga welding cable (single conductor) I've actually used in car stereos for it's many strands it has)

[SL4P]

In physics, in my school they make a great deal about them being called leads not wires. I'm thinking why the fuck does it matter. They are all synonyms, people know what your talking about no matter what you say.

I think you're perfectly *fuckin' correct, but also believe there is an objective clarity maintained when 'standards' are applied to potentially complicated things!
Of course, saying leads or cords is not going to change the world, but why lose detail unnecessarily?
My take:

• CONDUCTORS: physical electrical paths between endpoints. Maybe single strands of copper, carbon, or massive buss bars.
• WIRES: (Usually) Insulated conductors.  Typically refers to the smaller gauge varieties.
• LEADS: Usually 'wires', or 'low conductor count' cables that are terminated at either or both end.
• CABLES: A bundle of 'wires' in an outer jacket of some type - for. shielding, protection, identification etc.
• FLEX: a specifically flexible instance of a 'lead' or 'cable'.
• SHEATH: A separate slip-on, or slip-off (usually flexible) containment to a bundle of wires, leads or cables
• HARNESS / LOOM:  An assembly of wires, leads or cables formed to suit a specific application. Maybe be manufactured before installation, or in place - depending on complexity and termination requirements...
• TERMINATION: notification that an end of the conductor...cable bas been prepared in a specific manner - either as bare-ends, or one/multiple connectors. Also may refer to 'damping' or 'clamping' the signal carried by a conductor

I just realised that I have far too much spare time!
*fuck - as an example in itself may be used in many contexts...
EDIT: for some minor tweaks

[Tandy]

I would consider a wire a strand of metal. Consider for example wire mesh that you find on animal cages or fences and wire wool.

[SL4P]

I would consider a wire a strand of metal. Consider for example wire mesh that you find on animal cages or fences and wire wool.

Stranded or solid conductor?  😉

[rdl]

Cables also have many uses outside of electronics or electrical wiring. They can be used to hang bridges from or as something to drag trolley cars around with among other things.

[SL4P]

Cables also have many uses outside of electronics or electrical wiring. They can be used to hang bridges from or as something to drag trolley cars around with among other things.

Indeed... I suppose while the above summary fits - we could be excused for confining the conversation to the EE applications!   

[Falcon69]

Cables also have many uses outside of electronics or electrical wiring. They can be used to hang bridges from or as something to drag trolley cars around with among other things.

Correct, but if you look at those 'cables' they are made of large diameter wire, all bundled together to make a 'cable', even though they are not insulated most of the time.

[Halcyon]

I normally refer to single or multiple strands of a particular unshielded metal/alloy as 'wire' or 'wires' (not necessarily for electrical connections), usually preceded with the type of material (e.g.: copper wire, stainless steel wire etc...).

I use 'leads' and 'cables' fairly interchangeably. Being from an IT background, I usually refer to short network cables as "patch leads". Anything longer than about 1 metre I refer to as a "network cable". Almost everything else is a 'cable' (e.g.: power cable, serial cable, USB cable).

Although interestingly enough, I call them "extension leads" not "extension cables". I guess that just comes down to how they are marketed in the stores.

[FrankE]

Inan e;ectrotechnical context, a cable may contain many cores, the cores carry a conductor within insulation and that conductor may have multiple strands.
A wire refers to the form a long usually cylindrical extrusion of (usually) ductile material- usually metal could be solder wire, a rope, a conductor intended to carry current. It could also be glass, carbon or something decorative like tinsel. When it is a conductor it may be insulated or uninsulated but not usually sheathed.

There's so much opportunity for semantics, I'm out. Look it up in a technical dictionary.

[tooki]

In physics, in my school they make a great deal about them being called leads not wires. I'm thinking why the fuck does it matter. They are all synonyms, people know what your talking about no matter what you say.

I think you're perfectly *fuckin' correct, but also believe there is an objective clarity maintained when 'standards' are applied to potentially complicated things!
Of course, saying leads or cords is not going to change the world, but why lose detail unnecessarily?
My take:

• CONDUCTORS: physical electrical paths between endpoints. Maybe single strands of copper, carbon, or massive buss bars.
• WIRES: (Usually) Insulated conductors.  Typically refers to the smaller gauge varieties.
• LEADS: Usually 'wires', or 'low conductor count' cables that are terminated at either or both end.
• CABLES: A bundle of 'wires' in an outer jacket of some type - for. shielding, protection, identification etc.
• FLEX: a specifically flexible instance of a 'lead' or 'cable'.
• SHEATH: A separate slip-on, or slip-off (usually flexible) containment to a bundle of wires, leads or cables
• HARNESS / LOOM:  An assembly of wires, leads or cables formed to suit a specific application. Maybe be manufactured before installation, or in place - depending on complexity and termination requirements...
• TERMINATION: notification that an end of the conductor...cable bas been prepared in a specific manner - either as bare-ends, or one/multiple connectors. Also may refer to 'damping' or 'clamping' the signal carried by a conductor

I just realised that I have far too much spare time!
*fuck - as an example in itself may be used in many contexts...
EDIT: for some minor tweaks

Don't forget the audiophool word for cables and wires that carry sound: interconnects!