Solid or Stranded?

[djmiyta]

So what’s everybody’s preference? Solid? Stranded? Why do you prefer one over the other? And preferred gauge wire? Just curious what everyone else is using in their current builds these days.

 

[Funnel]

I typically use stranded. I started pedal building on vero, and found that stranded wire was easier to use for the rats nest that inevitably happened.

 

[Matmosphere]

I typically like pre-bonded stranded wire, but… I’ll use whatever is laying around. To me it’s all about what will make the pedal loud the fastest. So if I run out of something I’m not gonna wait around for smallbear or whoever to send me more.

I’ve had all three types fail on either one of my builds or a retail bought pedal so nothing is perfect.

Pre-bonded is the easiest to work with. Beyond that it’s about cutting things to a good length and making sure there isn’t any stress on the joints when you’re building.

 

[Fuzzonaut]

I started out with stranded, but got quickly paranoid about stray wires touching something.

Since then I use solid and never had any problems. But I dry fit everything in the enclosure and then cut and bend the wire before soldering it in.
It's like tetris. I use 0,5mm2.

I have some wire that is a bit thinner that I sometimes use for pilot lights placed somewhere specific because of the artwork.

 

[BuddytheReow]

Ah, the age old question here. Both have their perks and drawbacks. I've used both and solid core works better for me since I don't have to worry about stray wires. 22 gauge is my preference.

 

[Betty Wont]

Pre-bond and sometimes solid.

 

[spi]

+1 for pre-bonded stranded

 

[mdc]

If you find yourself getting into vero builds, I've found stranded wire to be a lot easier to work with. You can end up with a lot of tight bends or 90° bends for offboard wiring. I've been using generic 22ga stranded lately and it's fine, though it's a very tight fit on some PCB and jack connections which makes stray wires a thing to watch for. 24ga stranded can have the opposite problem...

 

[mdc]

If you don't care about keeping all of your connections color coded or anything, you could buy a decent sized roll of stranded and solid in both 22 and 24 and see what you like working with best. You may find that you prefer having something that holds its bend for the I/O connections but prefer the flexibility of stranded for things like LEDs and 9v.

 

[peccary]

I use the pre-bonded stuff that LMS sells. I've used stranded and solid and the pre-bond kind of strikes a balance between both. I like the flexibility and that I don't have to tin the tips.

 

[JamieJ]

I love solid core. I had to use some stranded black on my last build because I was out of solid and realised how much I prefer it. But each to their own.

 

[Stickman393]

Solid core, 22-24. For the most part.

Pre-bond is too brittle for my tastes...stranded...well, the really finely stranded stuff is a PITA. A stray whisker, blah.

But...if each strand is thick enough, it certainly makes it a lot easier to work with.

I I'm not keen on PVC insulation. Too easy to melt. PTFE and Silicone are much more resilient...a stray touch with a soldering iron won't do a thing. Which helps with maintaining sanity.