Hey Guys,
I went to my local electronics shop today to buy some solid core wire to do some heater runs. They didn't have any insulated wire that was solid core, instead they gave me some cooper wire that had a resin on it that you simply scrap back to solder. Is this going to be good enough to do heater runs with or am i going to get short circuit when i twist my wires together?
Thanks Joel
Copper Wire
Moderators: pompeiisneaks, Colossal
Re: Copper Wire
Don't use shellaced wire. Nothing wrong with multi strand wire for heaters. The tinned Teflon stuff twists great.
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Alex
TheCageWreck and Glaswerks SOD100
TheCageWreck and Glaswerks SOD100
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joelmulpeter
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:52 am
Re: Copper Wire
Is Shellaced wire the same as inductor wire? i do believe thats what i have. Thanks
Re: Copper Wire
> my local electronics shop today to buy some solid core wire to do some heater runs. They didn't have any...
How do they call themselves an electronics shop?
> insulated wire that was solid core
Heaters don't HAVE to be solid wire. Yes, solid may twist easier, and be easier to sculpt into neat layout. And with stranded you have to be VERY careful about stray hair-ends. In commercial work, solid wire was a buck cheaper per mile. In military work, stranded withstands vibration better. And in DIY, you use what you can get in these non-DIY times.
I been using the cheapo speaker wire which comes with $99 stereo systems. It's not twisted, but is so compact I have no hum from it. It isn't fat enough for a 6L6 array, but one or two 12AX7 can drink through a quite small wire. And it is free, heaped up on the back of my bench after I put proper speaker cables on systems.
CAT-5 network cable is good for small wire, though marginal for heater power.
Hardware stores may still stock "bell Wire" for doorbells. Thermostat wire is about the same. May have to cut 2-foot lengths and pull the 7 wires out of the jacket, re-twist to pairs.
> copper wire that had a resin on it that you simply scrape back to solder.
Why do they have that, but not proper hook-up wire?
The old "magnet wire" was no good for chassis wiring. Any physical abuse would nick the shellac and result in a short. Didn't like heat neither. In fact the only time the shellac got tough was when you wanted it to come off for soldering. Scraping tends to nick the copper and it'll break on the road. Sandpaper is just tedious. Solvent was often used, but the old solvents are now illegal and the new "shellac" resists most legal solvents. There was a special brand which burned-off on the iron, but also on hot resistors etc.
Modern magnet wire "shellac" is amazingly tough. I suppose you could wire a chassis with it. It just ain't right.
Some folks like Teflon. Good stuff. I don't like it, too new for me. You might.
The free cheap-speaker wire has the cheap waxy plastic; gotta be careful with the iron.
After too many years, I've come back around to Cloth. Several of the guitar-amp specialist carry the good stuff (there's also bad cloth wire). Hoffman's has it; others too I'm sure. You just push the cloth back (the bad stuff won't push-back). If you gotta be neat, you slide-off 1/2", trim the floppy part, slide-on 1/4", and have two perfect ends. It smells like 1956 all over again, instead of like congealed wax. It has been shown to stand 300V for decades.
How do they call themselves an electronics shop?
> insulated wire that was solid core
Heaters don't HAVE to be solid wire. Yes, solid may twist easier, and be easier to sculpt into neat layout. And with stranded you have to be VERY careful about stray hair-ends. In commercial work, solid wire was a buck cheaper per mile. In military work, stranded withstands vibration better. And in DIY, you use what you can get in these non-DIY times.
I been using the cheapo speaker wire which comes with $99 stereo systems. It's not twisted, but is so compact I have no hum from it. It isn't fat enough for a 6L6 array, but one or two 12AX7 can drink through a quite small wire. And it is free, heaped up on the back of my bench after I put proper speaker cables on systems.
CAT-5 network cable is good for small wire, though marginal for heater power.
Hardware stores may still stock "bell Wire" for doorbells. Thermostat wire is about the same. May have to cut 2-foot lengths and pull the 7 wires out of the jacket, re-twist to pairs.
> copper wire that had a resin on it that you simply scrape back to solder.
Why do they have that, but not proper hook-up wire?
The old "magnet wire" was no good for chassis wiring. Any physical abuse would nick the shellac and result in a short. Didn't like heat neither. In fact the only time the shellac got tough was when you wanted it to come off for soldering. Scraping tends to nick the copper and it'll break on the road. Sandpaper is just tedious. Solvent was often used, but the old solvents are now illegal and the new "shellac" resists most legal solvents. There was a special brand which burned-off on the iron, but also on hot resistors etc.
Modern magnet wire "shellac" is amazingly tough. I suppose you could wire a chassis with it. It just ain't right.
Some folks like Teflon. Good stuff. I don't like it, too new for me. You might.
The free cheap-speaker wire has the cheap waxy plastic; gotta be careful with the iron.
After too many years, I've come back around to Cloth. Several of the guitar-amp specialist carry the good stuff (there's also bad cloth wire). Hoffman's has it; others too I'm sure. You just push the cloth back (the bad stuff won't push-back). If you gotta be neat, you slide-off 1/2", trim the floppy part, slide-on 1/4", and have two perfect ends. It smells like 1956 all over again, instead of like congealed wax. It has been shown to stand 300V for decades.
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joelmulpeter
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:52 am
Re: Copper Wire
Thanks for your replies guys,
They had some hook up wire but it was really thin and was stranded i'm particularly after solid so i can sculpt the wire with beautiful right angles.
Has anyone at all used shellaced wire with success?
They had some hook up wire but it was really thin and was stranded i'm particularly after solid so i can sculpt the wire with beautiful right angles.
Has anyone at all used shellaced wire with success?
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David Root
- Posts: 3540
- Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 3:00 pm
- Location: Chilliwack BC
Re: Copper Wire
Shellacked wire is magnet wire (inductor wire) and I've used literally miles of 42 ga. building vintage style pickups, but I would never use it for hookup wire and especially not heater wire, for all the reasons you've already seen.
The best source of solid hookup wire IMHO is Steve at apexjr.com. All surplus, mostly milspec, mostly 600V rated, teflon and PVC insulation, which is what you want, and last but by no means least, the best prices I've seen anywhere on stuff of this quality. Soldano buys his 22 ga. teflon coax for shielded signal runs there. I buy all my wire there now (but I'm still not famous).
The best source of solid hookup wire IMHO is Steve at apexjr.com. All surplus, mostly milspec, mostly 600V rated, teflon and PVC insulation, which is what you want, and last but by no means least, the best prices I've seen anywhere on stuff of this quality. Soldano buys his 22 ga. teflon coax for shielded signal runs there. I buy all my wire there now (but I'm still not famous).
Re: Copper Wire
In a transformer shop I think they remove the insulation from magnet wire by dipping it in a solder pot. That strips and tins it in one easy step.PRR wrote:
The old "magnet wire" was no good for chassis wiring. Any physical abuse would nick the shellac and result in a short. Didn't like heat neither. In fact the only time the shellac got tough was when you wanted it to come off for soldering. Scraping tends to nick the copper and it'll break on the road. Sandpaper is just tedious. Solvent was often used, but the old solvents are now illegal and the new "shellac" resists most legal solvents. There was a special brand which burned-off on the iron, but also on hot resistors etc.
As for not liking heat, I would imagine that magnet wire in a transformer will get hotter, with more opportunities to short out, than any point-to-point chassis wire would ever experience. Properly handled, I don't see why magnet wire couldn't be okay for chassis wiring, apart from being massively inconvenient.