Solid Vs Stranded Wire

[DrVon]

Just thought I would ask what people are using for their wiring? I have been using 20awg solid wire from the start as I like bending it exactly in place and have those sweet 90 degree bends

I need to re order some wiring so just thought I would ask people what they're using these days.

 

[cooder]

I do like the 24AWG pre tinned wire from Smallbear. Best of both worlds IMO.

 

[JamieJ]

I find working with solid core so much easier. Some people report that solid core wire can break more easily but this hasn’t happen to me yet. I’ve never tried the pre tinned stranded wire so maybe pick up both and see what you prefer.

 

[finebyfine]

I use silicone 24awg stranded for pcb work. Tried a lot of different wire, including solid, the smallbear/lovemyswitches pretinned and a bunch of different gauges.

Pretinned is nice but the PVC insulation is a minus for me, my hands are a little fiddly and any wiggle room I can get with temperature resistance while soldering is a plus. The same goes for solid core, but I always break solid core. It's easier to solder into place once it's there for sure.

So I just use silicone jacketed 24awg stranded and make sure to tin it before doing anything with it. Always trying different wires but that's whats working best for me now. Wiring will never look as neat as solid or pretinned that can be bent into place but c'est la vie. A trade off I'm ok with.

 

[BuddytheReow]

Stranded wire is nice to work with when you're hooking everything up, but you can't keep it in place when your finished like with solid core. I have run into some issues with stranded wire trying to get it in the holes. 22 gauge solid core is my go to.

 

[DrVon]

Cool guys thanks for the responses.

 

[Betty Wont]

This is by far my favorite stuff to work with. I get some when it's in stock and will use other brands when it's not but man that stuff is the best!

Me too, I use the 22 gauge and it's the best.

 

[uranium_jones]

Most of my wire is solid 22 AWG. I strip off the insulation between the board and the 3PDT breakout board to make it look cool.
For longer connections, I use 24 or 22 AWG prebonded stranded from Smallbear. Which I think is what @cooder is talking about.

 

[spi]

Another smallbear pre-tinned stranded wire user here. I have both 22 and 24, but prefer the 24 for most connections.

I also have some solid core wire which comes in handy from time to time.

 

[zgrav]

Stranded and pre-tinned. I like "Barry's Best" from guitarpcb.

(Clearance) Barry's Best Hookup Wire - (50' feet) - USA only - GuitarPCB

Barry's Best Hookup Wire Each order includes 50' feet Use Drop Down box to choose color first! Available in Black, Red, Green, or White only.

guitarpcb.com

 

[peccary]

I use the 24AWG pre-bond from BLMS. I had used regular stranded before but always hated tinning the tips and pre-bond solved that. It also has a little bit of stiffness to it as well. You can't go crazy bending the stuff, but once you get everything installed you can pull the wires where you want and they generally stay pretty well.

 

[Mcknib]

Same as @zgrav I use Barry's best

But it's no longer posted to Europe so you'd need to msg Barry fortunately I always buy a lot when it's on bulk buy

So I've plenty left

 

[Barry]

Same as @zgrav I use Barry's best

But it's no longer posted to Europe so you'd need to msg Barry fortunately I always buy a lot when it's on bulk buy

So I've plenty left

I likely have a lifetime supply from those bulk buys

 

[Grubb]

I started on stranded, moved to solid-core, and have recently ordered more stranded after snapping some footswitch wiring on my last build. I think I will probably use a mix in the future, depending on what I'm trying to do with it.

 

[DrVon]

I started on stranded, moved to solid-core, and have recently ordered more stranded after snapping some footswitch wiring on my last build. I think I will probably use a mix in the future, depending on what I'm trying to do with it.

I think I'm going to try a mixture now too. Won't hurt.

 

[spilla]

Started using silicon stranded wire recently, It's a step up from pvc but solid looks best.

 

[mdc]

Generic 22awg stranded from amazon with silicon housing over here. Floppy but fine.