Wire Wars

Ginsly

Ginsly

Well-known member
I've tried a few different types, and this is what I've found:

- 24awg Silicon Sleeve Stranded: Started with this, amzn box. Great sleeve, hated everything else. Total spaghetti, no hold. No topcoat - lots of stray wires.
- 22awg Small Bear PVC Stranded: Not pre-bond as claimed, and a little too big for some pads when tinned. Went back to 24awg.
- 24awg Barry's Best PVC Stranded: Excellent, out of production!
- 24awg Weico PVC Stranded from AES: Topcoat, holds form well, really good stuff. Wish it had a silicone sleeve.

Still lookin to try some other stuff! In my last thread it became clear that NO one seems to make a truly pre-bond/topcoat wire with silicone sleeve.

What else is good? I was looking at Remington's topcoat spools, but I noticed they also have teflon, which I know some of you like. Is it really that much harder to strip than PVC sleeves?
 
I have been buying the solid core silicone in those amazon boxes for years the 24 awg. Not needing strippers to strip is heavenly. Ive got probably 75 ft of the barrys best and i like it just find even bonded stranded to be annoying to work with. They mis shipped me a box of the 24awg stranded from amazon once and yes total spaghetti.
 
Locrian99 said:
I have been buying the solid core silicone in those amazon boxes for years the 24 awg. Not needing strippers to strip is heavenly. Ive got probably 75 ft of the barrys best and i like it just find even bonded stranded to be annoying to work with. They mis shipped me a box of the 24awg stranded from amazon once and yes total spaghetti.
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Yep I have a small box silicone solid, prob the same as yours (Fermerry or Plusivo maybe?) - forgot about that one. It can be helpful with Vero in that it helps keep the board in place. The first time it broke on me I ran back to stranded, though. It was from me futzing with it too much, but still.

Cybercow said:
I'm quite happy with and fond of LoveMySwitches' "24AWG Pre-Bond" (stranded). Seems to be identical to what Barry was selling at GuitarPCB.

For specialty wiring, I prefer to use Remington Industries. They provide some nice selections of small gage shielded wire too. All at decent prices.
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So is LMS's wire truly fused together like Barry's? I was super disappointed that Small Bear's wasn't...

Well I'll be - Remington does indeed have some coax! Which of these have you tried? I've been using shielded from AES but thinner would be even better.

vigilante398 said:
That's the stuff I've been using the last several years, it's good stuff.
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If it's Sushi-Grade, it's certainly good enough for my crappy noiseboxes! Ha...
 
Ginsly said:
Yep I have a small box silicone solid, prob the same as yours (Fermerry or Plusivo maybe?) - forgot about that one. It can be helpful with Vero in that it helps keep the board in place. The first time it broke on me I ran back to stranded, though. It was from me futzing with it too much, but still.
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I think it’s cbazy. I have only had it break on me when ive really put it through some paces troubleshooting, of course i swore off vero builds a while ago.
 
Locrian99 said:
I think it’s cbazy. I have only had it break on me when ive really put it through some paces troubleshooting, of course i swore off vero builds a while ago.
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At first I thought you misspelled "crazy". :LOL: Some of these Amazon company names from overseas are pretty bewildering.
 
Silver coated solid core PTFE (Teflon) advocate here.
It is more difficult to strip, kinda. You need the right strippers and technique. You have to cut through at least 80-85% of the insulation and not nick the wire to much as you'll add weakness.
When it comes to good SPC mil-spec wire, it's damn near indestructible. You can put your iron on the insulation and it will eventually burn but not shrink. it can also be bent several times. I try to avoid this but have tested it. Bending 24g, uninsulated, at a hard right angle in pliers, I have to bend it 180° 12-13 times before it broke.
Tayda solid core will break being bent 2-3 times.
Bow, if you cut into the wire, it will be much weaker. Not tayda weak but weaker.
My biggest peace with it is that the insulation doesnt stick(Teflon, duh) to the conductor much. I find that when working with shorter pieces, it can be difficult to get a strip without moving the insulation. Conversely, you can just slide it off a bit, snip, and slide back.
I can send you a bit to try if you'd like.
 
Cybercow said:
I'm quite happy with and fond of LoveMySwitches' "24AWG Pre-Bond" (stranded). Seems to be identical to what Barry was selling at GuitarPCB.
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Just ordered a coupla spools of this the other week and have been loving it.

I had previously been using this Velleman 24AWG set from Jameco. Worked great, but as I was reaching the end of it I decided I wanted some spools and ordered this Jameco 22AWG solidcore stuff, which immediately and completely disappointed. The only time I've ever not been stoked on a Jameco-vended product.
 
jwin615 said:
Silver coated solid core PTFE (Teflon) advocate here.
It is more difficult to strip, kinda. You need the right strippers and technique. You have to cut through at least 80-85% of the insulation and not nick the wire to much as you'll add weakness.
When it comes to good SPC mil-spec wire, it's damn near indestructible. You can put your iron on the insulation and it will eventually burn but not shrink. it can also be bent several times. I try to avoid this but have tested it. Bending 24g, uninsulated, at a hard right angle in pliers, I have to bend it 180° 12-13 times before it broke.
Tayda solid core will break being bent 2-3 times.
Bow, if you cut into the wire, it will be much weaker. Not tayda weak but weaker.
My biggest peace with it is that the insulation doesnt stick(Teflon, duh) to the conductor much. I find that when working with shorter pieces, it can be difficult to get a strip without moving the insulation. Conversely, you can just slide it off a bit, snip, and slide back.
I can send you a bit to try if you'd like.
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If anyone can persuade me to try Teflon, it’s you J! :) I mean, I DO seem to have the strippers you recommended for it- something like this, right?
1756848989602.jpeg
 
It never occurred the me to try anything other than the regular PVC 24g stuff from Tayda! It works fine for me. Never had a problem with it.
 
I use the amazon style stranded silicone insulated wire. The silicone is great because it's more temp resistant than PVC and doesn't retain its shape. You can still make it come out nice, you just have to make it do what you want in a different way. Embrace the flow.

I use 24 mainly, 26 ga for wire that's going into a solder pad meant for a component, and 22 or 20ga for bigger switch or pot solder pads. I always pre tin each and every wire, it is super annoying and I would love to not have to do that.
 
Ginsly said:
At first I thought you misspelled "crazy". :LOL: Some of these Amazon company names from overseas are pretty bewildering.
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giphy.gif

The Amazon Chinese Brand Name Generator

The brand of the 24awg silicone stranded wire I've been using is "Haerkn", which sounds like someone hocking up phlegm. Apart from that, the wire is nice and I agree with falco_femoralis.
 
falco_femoralis said:
The silicone is great because it's more temp resistant than PVC and doesn't retain its shape.
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Interesting! In what situations do you like the wire to not retain its shape? Just generally, or in certain applications? I always figured 99% of builders wanted wire that would stay in the same position, so I'm interested to hear another perspective.
 
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Ginsly said:
Interesting! In what situations do you like the wire to not retain its shape? Just generally, or in certain applications? I always figured 99% of builders wanted wire that would stay in the same position, so I'm interested to hear another perspective.
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I assumed I read it incorrectly.
 
Ginsly said:
Interesting! In what situations do you like the wire to not retain its shape? Just generally, or in certain applications? I always figured 99% of builders wanted wire that would stay in the same position, so I'm interested to hear another perspective.
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When I build pedals that are really tight, the flexibility helps things come together. They also don't retain bends etc, making it easier to rework the wire into another shape

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And in a normal pedal, you embrace the curvature and make the wires flow
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It was different at first. I'd always used PVC before I ordered these by accident. But I like the silicone a lot. Their resistance to deforming in the presence of heat also makes them really nice to work with.
 
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falco_femoralis said:
When I build pedals that are really tight, the flexibility helps things come together. They also don't retain bends etc, making it easier to rework the wire into another shape
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Yep, that makes sense. I've actually used it on 1590B builds that should've been 125B builds... 😬
 
Hmm… I was planning on giving Remington a shot, but looks like LMS is the clear winner.
 
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