WIRED

[Burton]

I read that 22-24 awg wire is recommended, but is that stranded or solid?  Which is better?  Will this Radio Shack wire work (like below)?

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2049738&cp=2032058.2032227.2032239&pg=2&parentPage=family

Or if stranded is better, then would the stranded version of that wire work? Thanks

[BlueToad]

Solid wire is nice for breadboarding, because it's easier to get it into the holes w/out the little strands going everywhere. In more permanent applications, however, it tends to fatigue and break, so for actual pedals stranded works best. Tinning the ends of stranded wire works for breadboards too, but wire is cheap enough I just have a second spool of solid. I would probably rather have stranded if I had to choose between the two. This would probably work:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2049745&cp=2032058.2032227.2032239&parentPage=family
and the color coding is nice, too.
My $.02,
Carl

[redeffect]

stranded #24 has been my favorite for many moons. #22 is ok too, but doesnt have as much flexability. this could present problems
when putting alot of leads into a small box, eg: small "MXR style". i perfer # 26 for this size box anyway... the important thing, i think, is to strip carefully[the wire that is] as to not lose any of the strands.

red

...floating down, the sound resounds...

[aron]

I like the pre-bonded wire Small Bear sells. It's worked for me.

[Burton]

This would probably work:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2049745&cp=2032058.2032227.2032239&parentPage=family
and the color coding is nice, too.
My $.02,
Carl

Yeah I looked at that wire also.. I dunno why they advertize it as 225 feet though, because they only give you 25 feet of each color, which is 75 feet total (one "spool set") then they say "three 75 ft spools of stranded wire, priced by the spool" so you are really only paying for one spool set.. I have no idea why they would advertize 225ft.  They expect you to buy three spool sets and purchase each seperately? Dumb Radio Shack.

[PharaohAmps]

+1 on the pre-bond hookup wire from Small Bear.  Forms and bends like stranded, but stays where you put it like solid.  Strips and solders great, too.

http://www.smallbearelec.com/Search.bok?category=Wire+And+Cable

Not as convenient as Radio Shack, but Steve is good people.  Recommendation - buy several spools in several colors.  Use each color for a designated part of the circuit, this makes debuggin easier.  I use black for grounds, yellow for inputs, blue for outputs, red for +ve voltage, orange for gain controls, purple for LFO's etc.  You could get by pretty easily with 5 colors (gnd, +, in, out, misc.) and when you have to fix something you can tell what wire goes where more easily.

Matt Farrow

[formerMember1]

i am gonna try that smallbear wire, i need to finally get rid of this $20.00 100foot spool of silver coated copper 22awg appliance hookup wire, your fingers get so sore from stripping that stuff,...although an iron doesn't burn it

I wish they made wire like the kind on battery clips, i love that wire, although the wire inside the insulation is pretty thin, 

[gtrmac]

I use AWG24 Teflon covered wire from a local shop that I like very much. If you accidently touch an adjacent wire with the iron it doesn't melt. Also, the insulation doesn't melt away from the stripped end when you solder it. I use a good stripping tool and it goes very quickly.

[formerMember1]

that spool i got now, says avg tfe insulation, i wonder if that means teflon..?


Does smallbear's melt when soldered a joint anybody?

[Connoisseur of Distortion]

i can't stand the really thin stuff. it breaks off near solder joints if you let something hang too long. my experience, anyways. i use 22 awg, i believe. yellow 22 awg. Yellow wire has a naturally warmer tone. 

[formerMember1]

i was gonna get 24awg cuz i have 22 and it is too thick, but that could be do to the wire being appliance wire anyway and having nothing to do with 22vs 24.  So who recommend 22 over 24 or vice versa from smallbear?

also what about the insulation of smallbear, does it melt when soldering a joint

thanks


EDIT**not to take money away from SB, but does mouser carry that prebonded stuff SB got? I searched their catalog and online, but no cigar...  Cuz i making an order to mouser today or tomorrow anyway, and no order to smallbear yet, so hate paying shipping or whatever, but then again i don't mind giving my money to smallbear 

[Hal]

there have been threads on this before...moral: anythink that conducts WORKS, some people prefer to deal with some stuff.  Now that I have a nice soldering station, I don' t mind tinning wires at all, its a snap. 

My advise: use whatever is free :-D.  I have a BAG of free wire.  I also bought a roll of older bell-style solid copper hookup wire at a garage sale, bought it (for $1) specifically for breadboard use, but I kinda like the solid wire on stompboxes sometimes.

Anything at all works.  You don't want too small or too big...I think thats pretty much the only restrictions.

[formerMember1]

thanks,.

yeah i know, it has been discussed before i was just chiming in,...

[Xlrator]

If you are a harvester, old stereos and VCRs have miles of wire in them. And they are in a kalidescope of colors, too. I have a box FILLED with that stuff. There's even some of the shielded wire in old A/V units. I got lucky once and had a bunch that was pre-tinned, but I used it all up. 28AWG and 24AWG are the two sizes I mostly use in my effects projects.

A guy at work brought 2 VCRs (who uses those things anymore??) in for me this week that I immedeately stripped down. Wire, mylars, tantalums, trimmers, pots, and the oddball resistor values. I save the bearings for my friend who builds R/C models.

And I got to do it all at work!  $$$