General Purpose hookup wire

[Joker94]

Hi All

What is the best set up to have and what do people find the most useful?

What gauge or gauges of wire do people recommend to have on hand?

Where is a good place to get different varieties of wire from?(found alltronics but after adding stuff to the cart to check, I found they don't ship to Australia)

And finally, how do people keep their spools of wire organized, i have seen many different methods such as dedicated racks, cotton spool holders etc.

Cheers

Joekr94

[Psi]

I keep mine like this. Made it in under 10 minutes by cutting up an old heated towel rack.
 
- Remove both end caps,
- Remove heating element (save the nichrome wire for some other project),
- Cut out a straight section with a hacksaw,
- Put the two end caps onto this section
- Use two of the four mounting brackets to mount the section to a convenient wall or side of a bench
- Done.

You even have enough bits left to make another one if you can find two more end caps (or just leave them off).

I buy it locally, i think its 26AWG and costs NZ$6.50 for a 50m reel, Or 6 reels for NZ$35.
I don't know if that's cheap or expensive. I just convenient for me

[Joker94]

Awesome idea for a holding rack. Thinking back to it my schools lab a few years back had a very similar sort of thing. The advantage of that is I can make one that is portable so i can take it to my out side bench when i am building stuff up or inside when experimenting.

Yeah, I have used 26 AWG before and I liked it. But all I can buy locally is ~22AWG. It is usable but in many case is harder to work with and more tedious. Looks like I am going to have to find an online supplier.

[johnboxall]

Where is a good place to get different varieties of wire from?(found alltronics but after adding stuff to the cart to check, I found they don't ship to Australia)

Do you mean Altronics? (www.altronics.com.au) They ship locally.
I use various rolls from Jaycar such as WH3001, and 26AWG breadboard hookup with the pins already connected from Little Bird Electronics.

[saturation]

I buy a few rolls of 22 AWG solid wire.  Since I'm only prototyping or making one-offs, its easier to solder solid because it holds its position when you position it; its also the size that fits most perf boards or similar and breadboards.  For construction, I prefer stranded but most of the time I get wire by salvage from devices I find in the trash and rarely buy it new.

[mikeselectricstuff]

What gauge or gauges of wire do people recommend to have on hand?

7/0.2mm or similar is the default general-purpose hookup wire, and the size you should have several colours of
7/0.1 is good for lightweight or higher density.
16/0.2 or 24/0.2 for higher power

Single core solid (e.g. CAT5 or telephone cores) is good for breadboards
Single-core 0.25mm kynar/tefzel wire-wrap wire for PCB patching and high density layouts on perfboard.

 
See This table for AWG equivalents

[Joker94]

sorry @tronixstuff, I got it wrong, it is allelectronics.com.

I will definably have a look around altronics.

@saturation, At this stage I am looking for a decent colour selection in stranded as i will be using it conect different sensors, and electronics through out projects and stranded will be better suited. However i might get a couple of rolls of solid core for when i am prototyping with bread boards!

@mikeselectricstuff, thanks for the guide on different wire gauges and theur applications.

[Jon Chandler]

I made a quick and dirty cable rack by slitting the side of a cardboard mailing tube and then inserting the spools of wire.  The nice thing about this (aside from being cheap and easy) is that the friction of the mailing tube against the spools keeps the wire from spilling off.  There's a little tension when you pull out a length of wire but not so much that it's difficult.

[Ronnie]

Bought an AlphaWire HU-KIT-20 (5 colors of AWG 22 stranded) from RS Philippines last June 2011. It is also available at RS Australia for $210  http://australia.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=searchProducts&lastSearch=&autoc=false&storedtfgList=&searchTerm=hu-kit-20

[EEVblog]

What gauge or gauges of wire do people recommend to have on hand?

7/0.2mm or similar is the default general-purpose hookup wire, and the size you should have several colours of
7/0.1 is good for lightweight or higher density.
16/0.2 or 24/0.2 for higher power

Yep, that's exactly what I use. 4-5 different colours of each is handy.

Plus the tinned copper wire wrap ("mod") wire I showed in my lab video.

Dave.

[Kiriakos-GR]

I just rip off the wire harness of those dead computer PSU's . 

I cut them from the PSU box, and they stay together from the 24 pin plug.    

[Joker94]

Thanks for that guys, now I have an idea about what I am looking for in terms of hookup wire!

Now just to scour online to find some descent prices!

Cheers,

Joker94

[poodyp]

I keep mine like this. Made it in under 10 minutes by cutting up an old heated towel rack.
 
- Remove both end caps,
- Remove heating element (save the nichrome wire for some other project),
- Cut out a straight section with a hacksaw,
- Put the two end caps onto this section
- Use two of the four mounting brackets to mount the section to a convenient wall or side of a bench
- Done.

You even have enough bits left to make another one if you can find two more end caps (or just leave them off).
I don't know if that's cheap or expensive. I just convenient for me

I buy it locally, i think its 26AWG and costs NZ$6.50 for a 50m reel, Or 6 reels for NZ$35.

Hiding your fireworks away for the next holiday?

And just so this post isn't entirely off topic, I bought a few of these off ebay and have been happy.

(edit: fixed link)

[Joker94]

Hiding your fireworks away for the next holiday?

Haha I noticed the warning sign first time I looked and though, wonder what thats for, but other than that didn't think anything into it.

And just so this post isn't entirely off topic, I bought a few of these off ebay and have been happy

Link doesnt work but thats cool, had a look around ebay. As soon as i saw the link i was like"How stupid am i for not having a look on ebay"

[Psi]

lol yeah, the box marked explosives.

It's the box that some model rocket motors came in when i ordered them online

[Joker94]

lol yeah, the box marked explosives.

It's the box that some model rocket motors came in when i ordered them online

Haha, cool. Knew there had to be a logical explanation 

As for my hunt for hookup wire I thought I had hit a goldmine in ITC Electronics http://www.itcelectronics.com/.But as is the usual story, surprise surprise they dont ship to Australia.

And as Dave said in on of the Amp hour episodes, it is bloody annoying to find out that they dont ship to Australia until the final stage

The search goes on!

[Freighternut]

Hi,

I am also on the lookout for a good source of hookup wire.

I have done extensive searching for 24 AWG hookup wire and have found plenty available with 7/30 stranding but an concerned about that being a bit rigid for my needs and would prefere something more like 10/34.

As for suppliers, Digi-Key have a huge range and do ship to the southern Hemisphere or at least NZ and with no shipping costs of you are spending over NZ$125. For 24 awg 7/30 try searching Digi-Key for C2015R.

Has anybody found a source for the more flexible ~10/34 wire or are you happy with the more rigid 7/30?

Thanks, Roger...

[poodyp]

It's situations like this that make me want to live in Tokyo. This place has everything you need, and is only a short train ride away. Makes me want to know what the prices are like.

[IanB]

I have found plenty available with 7/30 stranding but an concerned about that being a bit rigid for my needs and would prefere something more like 10/34.

The flexibility of hookup wire seems to depend as much on the insulation as on the stranding, yet I don't see any discussion of insulation material in this thread. Are there choices in this regard, or is it always PVC?

[Zero999]

I like multicore 0.5mm² (about 20 AWG) tri-rated wire because it's good for 5A unsheethed (3A in a bundle or with sheath) and can be soldered to veroboard.

[KJ6EAD]

The flexibility of hookup wire seems to depend as much on the insulation as on the stranding, yet I don't see any discussion of insulation material in this thread. Are there choices in this regard, or is it always PVC?

I've got 24 AWG 19-strand silver-plated teflon hookup wire.

[Zero999]

I like silicone rubber insulation because it doesn't melt when soldered and can run at higher currents than PVC, but it is more expensive.

[Joker94]

I like silicone rubber insulation because it doesn't melt when soldered and can run at higher currents than PVC, but it is more expensive.

Yeah, I really only use silicone rubber insulation on batter and power cables. On of the reasons is due to its high flexibility.


Still on the look out for some good prices. will let people know when i come across some good prices!

[ciccio]

Bought an AlphaWire HU-KIT-20 (5 colors of AWG 22 stranded) from RS Philippines last June 2011. It is also available at RS Australia for $210  http://australia.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=searchProducts&lastSearch=&autoc=false&storedtfgList=&searchTerm=hu-kit-20

RS Italy sells it for 87 Euros, corresponding to 125 AU$.
210 AU$  is a real rip-off.  These are a total of 150 meters of wire, and even at 87 Euros it is not cheap (but the box is nice looking).