Looking for Wire

[Travis L. Stevens]

I'm having a little trouble finding the correct wiring for my ballast. I've checked Lowe's, Locke, and Radioshack here in Stillwater. I'll check Hunzicker later this week. But does anyone know where I can find 18 awg Solid Copper Wire rated at 600v or better? In Stillwater is prefered, but Tulsa or OKC isn't out of the question.

 

[Matrexz]

Why solid copper??? Does it actually state that as being the recommended wire type for use??? I say this because braided strands as far as I know does just as well and it's more flexible to use.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Right on the ballast it states Solid Copper. Sorry for the big pic, but you can read what it says on the ballast. If you can't see the picture, it says:

Use 18 AWG Solid Copper
Wire Rated >600V
Stripped to 0.33*

 

[nIx_tank]

Stupid ballast. lol



These things are going to kill us, I know it Travis.

 

[BrianOKC]

Does it have to be 18 gauge? Could u use 14 gauge?

 

[papagimp]

have you looked at Steve's Wholesale? they sale tools and whatnot but they have a section with all sorts of wire. and usually dirt cheap.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

We tried to see if 14 gauge would fit in the little connector holes and they didn't. We thought about stripping it to fit, but I was worried that it would create a bottleneck for the electricity.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8121799#post8121799 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by papagimp
have you looked at Steve's Wholesale? they sale tools and whatnot but they have a section with all sorts of wire. and usually dirt cheap.

I think I'll be in Tulsa this weekend, so I might have to drop by there.

 

[BrianOKC]

The size difference is so close i think it would work just fine and almost all home electrical wire is rated at 600 volts. The only thing is you prolly only need a few feet of it and you will prolly have to buy 25 feet of it at like lowes and copper wire has went thru the roof in price the last few years. The last time i bought a 100 feet of it was at like $70 dollars so 25 feet of it would probably run around $20 bucks but im sure you have priced it might be cheaper now.

 

[dugg]

Travis, have you looked at the romex house wire? It should be easy to find in the proper gauge, and you can easily strip the wire from the main wrap. Probably a lot cheaper then buying single strand wire.

 

[BrianOKC]

Dugg i think Romex only comes in 12 AWG and 14 AWG that will handle 600 volts. I could be wrong not an expert electrician just going off what I've picked up over the years.

 

[2ras]

Travis,

I'm not an expert at this but I work with electricty, just a little.

Use copper if it says to use copper!

Because;
There are serious effects of the galvanic reaction between aluminum and brass or copper fittings, wire or terminals in the presence of moisture. This would develop corrosion which would cause failure at the connection, either in the form of an open circuit or, worse, a high resistance, which caused many a fire. Aluminum proved to be galvanically too aggressive to be placed in direct contact with copper or brass.

To keep this reaction from happening, all connections, wires, ect, must be of the same metal or with metals that do not react with non similar metals (some have a tin, silver or gold coating).

Although a second-best solution, there are bimetallic (“AL/CU”) adaptors which interface aluminum and copper conductors. These solve the galvanic action problem which compromises fire safety.

Hope this helps,

Ray

 

[dugg]

Yup, you are right. I just did a search and it only comes 12 and 14 AWG. I also looked at the roll i used for my lighting, and it's 12.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Thanks for all the suggestions/comments. Ray, I'm definitely going with copper. There is no doubt about that. And I'm trying my hardest to go with exact specifications. But I've been trying to get ahold of Dexin Lighting to see why solid over braided and if stripping a larger gauge wire would effect it?

 

[poke75]

If by stripping you are taking some of the copper off, then yes, you will affect the gauge size.

Wire is rated (in the states) in AWG this rating is based on the circular mills of the wire (cross sectional area). If you reduce the size of the conductor, you reduse the CM's and the Gauge rating.

As far as solid Vs. stranded, I think it is economics. I am told it is because solid is cheaper.
Stranded flexes better and is required for environments that move or vibrate a lot (like engines in your boat or car). If they don't vibrate or you don't need the flesability (like pulling it through conduit) solid wire is cheaper.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Well, by stripping it I did mean to reduce the gauge size. But would it have any effect on the electrical current coming in or going out of the ballast.

I'm imagining electricity like water. It flows through a tube. If you reduce the exit hole and create a bottle neck, it slows the water down. Is the same true for electricity?

 

[eddybabyhd]

travis. I have about 14 pieces about 4 foot long. Let me know if you want it. Its from an icecap wiring harness that i never used. I thought i would use it, but never did. I also have the ballast. On the side of the wire it states "AWM style 1452 18AWG 90 degree C 1000volt"

its all different colors

 

[BrianOKC]

Yes it is but u would be stripping it down to the correct size, so I'm pretty sure it will work just fine. I'm not an expert but i do have alittle knowledge about this and i wouldn't have any problem stripping a 14 AWG wire to fit into a 18 AWG slot and running it. The only time u really get into trouble is running too small of a wire that can't handle the volts being ran thru and it gets to hot and melts the wire. But in this case ur running a wire that is larger than u need so i see no problems occuring from it.

 

[poke75]

Brian is correct.

If you were using the correct size wire and shaving it down, the wire might get hot at that spot.

Electricity is VERY simular to water, Flow is like current, Pressure is like Voltage.

When you increase the resistance (force it through a smaller hole) it gets the wire and or connector hot. Some times to the point of making magic smoke.

 

[captbunzo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8122340#post8122340 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Travis L. Stevens
I'm imagining electricity like water. It flows through a tube. If you reduce the exit hole and create a bottle neck, it slows the water down. Is the same true for electricity?

In a way, I suppose so. Except the "pressure" would be translated to extra heat generation in the case of using the wrong sort of wire.

But you're thinking about this backwards. You will ALWAYS (pretty much) be ok to go from a smaller to a larger wire. And, of course, gauge counts backwards - 12 gauge is bigger then 14 gauge, etc.

Think of it like using a 2" piece of PVC rather then a 1" piece of PVC.

So when (if) you trimmed gauge X to fit in a hole for gauge X-1, you should be fine.