Hook Up Wire for PSU

[New2Electronics]

Hello everyone!! I am building my first power supply, I'm looking for the BEST (longest lasting, most durable) hook up wire available. I've read about GXL, SXL, TXL and MTW. All my coponents are rated at 35V and or 105c so I'm assumng any of these will work?

Does anyone have a favorite brand, type, gauge, etc? Cost isn't and issue as I plan to build more projects and prefer quality over quantity. I usually get my parts and supplies from Mouser but their wire selection seemed limited. USA made would be my ultimate goal.

Thank you in advance.

 

[New2Electronics]

Is this posted in the wrong forum or nobody has any preferences when it comes to wires?

 

[davenn]

Is this posted in the wrong forum or nobody has any preferences when it comes to wires?

hi and welcome to EP

I suspect no one has any preference, as long as it can carry the required current

personally, I have never heard of ..... GXL, SXL, TXL and MTW. type wires
and have no idea what the letters stand for and suspect others don't either
hence the lack of responses


cheers
Dave

 

[hevans1944]

Is this posted in the wrong forum or nobody has any preferences when it comes to wires?

My preference depends on application. I usually use Teflon insulated, silver-plated, 24 AWG stranded hook-up wire because I happen to have a large spool on hand. You must use a proper stripper for Teflon insulation though.

I absolutely hate thermoplastic insulated hook-up wire because the insulation curls back when the ends are soldered. If you don't like the wire selection at Mouser try another major electronics distributor. I use Allied Electronics and Newark (Element 14) or I stop by Mendelson's (a local surplus store) to see what they have.

The wire types you mention are all automotive or appliance wiring types, mainly differing in maximum temperature the insulation is rated to withstand. Their insulation tends to be much thicker than what is normally used for chassis hook-up wiring, but certainly acceptable. There are thousands of different hook-up wire types available. Perhaps you should purchase a multi-color assortment available in small spools to see what works for you.

 

[New2Electronics]

My preference depends on application. I usually use Teflon insulated, silver-plated, 24 AWG stranded hook-up wire because I happen to have a large spool on hand. You must use a proper stripper for Teflon insulation though.

What constitutes a proper stripper? Can you give me a name brand to look for?

If you don't like the wire selection at Mouser try another major electronics distributor. I use Allied Electronics and Newark (Element 14) or I stop by Mendelson's (a local surplus store) to see what they have.

It's not that Mouser doesn't have a good selection, I'm just confused or overwhelmed by the selection and not sure exactly what I'm looking for.

The wire types you mention are all automotive or appliance wiring types, mainly differing in maximum temperature the insulation is rated to withstand. Their insulation tends to be much thicker than what is normally used for chassis hook-up wiring, but certainly acceptable. There are thousands of different hook-up wire types available. Perhaps you should purchase a multi-color assortment available in small spools to see what works for you.

Thank you for all the info!!

 

[hevans1944]

Broad over-encompassing questions are not useful on this forum. Do your own research and experiments and then ask specific questions to clear up any misunderstanding. For example, don't ask "What is the best transistor for a beginner to use?" Instead ask, "Will a 2N2222 be adequate to provide LED switching at 20 mA?" However, for that question, you can get all the information you need from the 2N2222 datasheet. Google is your friend. Use it first, post here later.

On Teflon wire strippers: visit this page. I use a variation of this stripper available from Mouser. Sometimes I resort to using a single-edge razor blade and a light touch to strip Teflon insulation. The important thing is to not nick the wire(s) and to leave a clean edge between the stripped insulation and the underlying wire. In the 1970s I was building magnetic deflection coils for a high-speed imaging camera that required stripping insulation from Formvar insulated magnet wire with a hand-held spinning-blade stripper, something like this, but I don't think it was that particular model or manufacturer. I do remember it was a bit pricey, our tax dollars at work.

 

[New2Electronics]

Broad over-encompassing questions are not useful on this forum. Do your own research and experiments and then ask specific questions to clear up any misunderstanding.

That is certainly a broad over-encompassing statement on broad over-encompassing questions. However, I'm not sure what you're talking about in regards to my questions? I have done a fair amount of research and while doing so, I found this site. I read a lot on here first too but couldn't find exactly what I was looking.

On Teflon wire strippers: visit this page. I use a variation of this stripper available from Mouser. Sometimes I resort to using a single-edge razor blade and a light touch to strip Teflon insulation. The important thing is to not nick the wire(s) and to leave a clean edge between the stripped insulation and the underlying wire. In the 1970s I was building magnetic deflection coils for a high-speed imaging camera that required stripping insulation from Formvar insulated magnet wire with a hand-held spinning-blade stripper, something like this, but I don't think it was that particular model or manufacturer. I do remember it was a bit pricey, our tax dollars at work.

Thanks

 

[Minder]

TR-64 small(er) OD OA.
http://www.weicowire.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=184_50_219_90
M.

 

[sureshot]

I use any quality wire that can carry the rated current.

 

[New2Electronics]

I use any quality wire that can carry the rated current.

That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out!!

 

[davenn]

That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out!!

I really think you are overthinking the problem

 

[Minder]

That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out!!

Refer to NFPA79 for wire colour and ampacity.
What particular environment are you working in?
M.

 

[hevans1944]

I guess "New2Electronics" is a self-descriptive screen name. Well, we all have to start somewhere. It would be helpful to see exactly what kind of power supply the OP will tackle as a "first power supply". I can appreciate the desire to build something reliable.

My first power supply was a vacuum-tube based power supply using mostly salvaged components built sometime around 1966 while I was an A2C serving in the U.S. Air Force. An airman's pay was rather small back then (probably still is), but I spent "big bux" for a nice mail-order aluminum chassis. Then I spent hours with a chassis nibbler tool cutting out rectangular holes to mount a couple of power transformers removed from discarded television sets. I was also able to purchase some el-cheapo round chassis punches to mount tube sockets. These punches were not like the Greenlee punches I would use today if I could afford to purchase Greenlee punches. I doubt those cheap punches would work on a steel chassis, but they did a serviceable job on the inexpensive soft aluminum chassis.

The hook-up wire I used was also salvaged from discarded televisions and radios. As were the electrolytic power supply filter capacitors and most of the other components. This was my first effort at building a voltage regulated power supply using a power pentode as the series pass element. IIRC it produced a variable 250 V to 600 V voltage-regulated plate power output, along with adjustable negative grid bias from 0A2 shunt regulator tubes, and an adjustable, un-regulated, screen-grid voltage output.

It featured relay logic interfaced to STOP, STANDBY, and RUN push-button switches mounted below green, orange, and red indicator lamps, with a thermal time-delay relay to allow time for vacuum tube filament warm-up before plate power was applied. You pressed either STANDBY or RUN initially and the time delay began. You could go back to STANDBY, removing the plate voltage output, at any time. If the time delay had previously expired, you could alternate between STANDBY and RUN to remove or apply plate power.

I was quite proud of this monster (it weighed about thirty pounds or so) and used it to power up my home-brew radio amateur Novice transmitter. Worked real fine, lasted a long time, cost a little, did a lot. I lugged this thing around for twenty or thirty years, never again using it after my enlistment was finished and my un-renewable Novice license had expired. It has since disappeared, along with the home-made Novice transmitter. <sigh>

I have no idea what @New2Electronics is trying to build, but trying for perfection is a losing game. A mentor once told me: "Done is better than perfect." Back then I had a tendency, perhaps, to over-think designs. I hope that the intervening years has tempered that proclivity somewhat. Done IS better than perfect, especially if "done" is on time and within budget... customers really like that.

 

[BobK]

Quality, cost, or time to market, pick any two.

Bob

 

[New2Electronics]

A mentor once told me: "Done is better than perfect." Back then I had a tendency, perhaps, to over-think designs. I hope that the intervening years has tempered that proclivity somewhat. Done IS better than perfect, especially if "done" is on time and within budget... customers really like that.

Thanks! That is a great way to look at it. I do have a tendency to overthink things. I will do what I can to explore the best components out there, especially to avoid all the cheap Chinese inferior materials with these great words in mind.

I have my first project complete and working well. Thanks again!

 

[New2Electronics]

I really think you are overthinking the problem

Am I to assume from your statement that all hook up wire available in the market is equal?

There's no "problem" with the wire I'm using at the moment, but I am wanting to learn about more options/better quality.

 

[New2Electronics]

Refer to NFPA79 for wire colour and ampacity.
What particular environment are you working in?
M.

Thanks. I'll look into that.

No particular environment. Just out of my house.

 

[davenn]

Am I to assume from your statement that all hook up wire available in the market is equal?

There's no "problem" with the wire I'm using at the moment, but I am wanting to learn about more options/better quality.

I never said all is equal, I suggested, as one other did, for home projects and electronics in general, you are getting too carried away
The only time you have to be very particular for wiring types would be for specialist use, eg. avionics, military, space etc

a source for good reasonable wire for your PSU would come from an old desktop PSU
you have multiple colours ..... go to a computer repair shop and see if they will give you several dead PSU's. They will keep you in project cabling for a long while




gosh, if you lived close to me, I have 4 or 5 dead PSU's you could have ... great for parts too
that and most other cables will out live you.
The average cable will still be doing well long after you are dead and buried.
What you are really not understanding is that the reliability/quality of the cable is the least of your worries.
The electrolytic caps you use will likely be the first to fail. They have a limited life. Other components could fail
at any time from electrical surge and temperature changing stresses



Dave

 

[New2Electronics]

I never said all is equal, I suggested, as one other did, for home projects and electronics in general, you are getting too carried away
The only time you have to be very particular for wiring types would be for specialist use, eg. avionics, military, space etc

a source for good reasonable wire for your PSU would come from an old desktop PSU
you have multiple colours ..... go to a computer repair shop and see if they will give you several dead PSU's. They will keep you in project cabling for a long while

View attachment 25834


gosh, if you lived close to me, I have 4 or 5 dead PSU's you could have ... great for parts too
that and most other cables will out live you.
The average cable will still be doing well long after you are dead and buried.
What you are really not understanding is that the reliability/quality of the cable is the least of your worries.
The electrolytic caps you use will likely be the first to fail. They have a limited life. Other components could fail
at any time from electrical surge and temperature changing stresses



Dave

Thank you

 

[New2Electronics]

The only time you have to be very particular for wiring types would be for specialist use, eg. avionics, military, space etc

Dave

What's the difference, conditions/wear and tear?