Flexible wire for banana cable (>5A)

[AndreaEl]

I'm searching some type of flexible wire for some banana cable that can be used for current more that 5A and less than 20A.

I think that 2,5mm² can be enought for have an acceptable drop voltage on 2m of lenght for most general uses.

I had search on ebay or other sites but i found only the silicone cable that have a not very economical price for 2mm² to 4mm²

Where you had buy this type of cable?

[alm]

Try Franky (iloveelectronics on this forum).

[IanB]

I use audio speaker cable for this. It comes in thick, multistranded sizes and tends to be quite flexible. It generally won't have red or black insulation, but the conductors do have a polarity marking so you easily tell which is which when fitting colour coded banana plugs.

[rolycat]

You may have better luck searching for wire by AWG rather than metric sizes. For example:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/14-AWG-Black-Red-Silicone-Wire-2M-Lipo-Battery-Cable-/390366739339?pt=UK_ToysGames_RadioControlled_JN&hash=item5ae3abbb8b

A metre of red and a metre of black very flexible silicone wire for around 3 Euros.
14 AWG is around 2mm², and will cheerfully carry 20A or more in free air.

[M. András]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-metres-super-flexible-14AWG-Silicon-Wire-RED-BLACK-BLUE-YELLOW-WHITE-you-pick-/230811872557?pt=UK_ToysGames_RadioControlled_JN&var=&hash=item7b6a433cf4 i bought from this the wire is damn flexible it has 0.07mm strands

[nanofrog]

Another vote for Franky (iloveelectronics).  He sells silicone insulated wire by the meter, which makes for nice flexible cables vs. PVC.

16AWG is capable of 22A at that length in free air.

[alm]

One thing to watch out is voltage rating. I wouldn't expect speaker cable to be rated for more than 50 V or so. Not a big deal when using it to charge a 12 V battery, but it may be a problem if you use them as general-purpose test leads.

[M. András]

the wire i linked has 0.8mm thick silicon insulation if i press harder together the jaws of the caliper. thats gonna be good for a few hundred volts. the wire has no voltage marking and i dont have an insulation tester to give numbers

[IanB]

One thing to watch out is voltage rating. I wouldn't expect speaker cable to be rated for more than 50 V or so. Not a big deal when using it to charge a 12 V battery, but it may be a problem if you use them as general-purpose test leads.

I use such leads to connect low voltage power supplies to items under test. Since there are exposed metal parts of banana plugs and alligator clips involved the insulation of the wiring is not a particular concern. Even so, I would think the insulation on the wires I use is thick enough to withstand hundreds of volts.

[alm]

'Real' test lead wire (eg. that sold by Pomona) will be marked according to IEC 61010 (eg. CAT II 600 V), and will be tested with transients of a few kV. Something similar applies to mains-rated wire (I think VDE requires testing 230 V wiring to a few kV). Silicone wiring designed for battery packs (I think Hobbyking sells some) will be made to much lower specs.

[IanB]

'Real' test lead wire (eg. that sold by Pomona) will be marked according to IEC 61010 (eg. CAT II 600 V), and will be tested with transients of a few kV. Something similar applies to mains-rated wire (I think VDE requires testing 230 V wiring to a few kV). Silicone wiring designed for battery packs (I think Hobbyking sells some) will be made to much lower specs.

Sure. But for most of us, including me, the application is not test lead wire, it is flexible hookup wire. Using CAT rated test lead wire for purposes where it is not required serves only to increase the cost unnecessarily. For instance I can buy a 25 ft reel of dual core 14GA speaker cable for just a few bucks. Can I buy 50 ft of silicone test lead wire from Pomona for the same price?

[AndreaEl]

I have search for quality audio cable, i found this: Cordial CLS 225-651

Datasheet: http://katalog.cordial.eu/media/produkte/bulk%20cables/CLS225-651/CLS%20225-651.pdf

2,5mm²
8 Ohm /km
Test voltage: 2000V - But if i extract the inside cable i must divide by 2. so 1000V
651 x 0,07 (Very flexible i think)

What you think about this cable?? can be a good idea for some 20A low voltage cable?

[IanB]

You can work the numbers for yourself.

If the conductor resistance is 8 ohm/km then passing 20 A through 1 m of conductor will give a voltage drop of 20 x 8 / 1000 = 0.16 V. Is that low enough for your needs?

Secondly, do you plan to keep your voltages well below 1000 V?

If the answer to both questions is yes, then the cable might be what you need.

Personally I find such cable very useful. Having many fine copper strands makes it quite flexible, and having a large conductor area gives it a low resistance. The one you found also has red and black insulation. The icing on the cake!

[Monkeh]

You can work the numbers for yourself.

If the conductor resistance is 8 ohm/km then passing 20 A through 1 m of conductor will give a voltage drop of 20 x 8 / 1000 = 0.16 V. Is that low enough for your needs?

You forgot the return path.

[IanB]

You can work the numbers for yourself.

If the conductor resistance is 8 ohm/km then passing 20 A through 1 m of conductor will give a voltage drop of 20 x 8 / 1000 = 0.16 V. Is that low enough for your needs?

You forgot the return path.

Not at all. I used the word "conductor" advisedly. A 1 m length of speaker cable has two conductors and thus has a 2 m round trip conductor distance within it. But I said 1 m of conductor, not 1 m of cable.

[metalphreak]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/10-metres-super-flexible-14AWG-Silicon-Wire-RED-BLACK-BLUE-YELLOW-WHITE-you-pick-/230811872557?pt=UK_ToysGames_RadioControlled_JN&var=&hash=item7b6a433cf4

I bought a bunch of silicone cable from "Component Shop" in the UK. Nice flexible quality cable. They must buy the stuff in large bulk quantities, because it is all custom labeled with their brand name on it. 14AWG is plenty for 20A banana plug cables.

~$40AUD delivered for 10m each of Red and Black. That's enough for 10 one meter cable pairs, or 20 50cm cable pairs!

[M. András]

yeah. its made from 0.07mm strands . i bought 20 meters from them too. linked it above but nobody noticed it

[metalphreak]

yeah. its made from 0.07mm strands . i bought 20 meters from them too. linked it above but nobody noticed it

TBH, I didn't click on any of the links in this thread  so I missed that.

It's good stuff though, and I'm sure most people using it for their own leads won't be putting 1000V into them. In which case, it's the high temperature rating of the silicone insulation that's of importance.

[arvidj]

May or may not beet your needs ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6m-55-0-1mm-Extra-Flexible-Wire-Pack-Test-Lead-Cable-6-Colours-Stranded-/330813377957?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160

It is just 6A and only in 1m lengths but I liked the fact that it was 6 different color 1m cables. At least for me it was perfect for the multichannel bench power supply I just ordered.

[M. András]

May or may not beet your needs ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6m-55-0-1mm-Extra-Flexible-Wire-Pack-Test-Lead-Cable-6-Colours-Stranded-/330813377957?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160

It is just 6A and only in 1m lengths but I liked the fact that it was 6 different color 1m cables. At least for me it was perfect for the multichannel bench power supply I just ordered.

its sold by rapid online. the guy simple resells it i have 6x 25m reels of that stuffs, shipping cost more than the wires itself. its nice and flexible but its pvc insulated so easly damaged when soldered to a board or a connector (tried it). how i know its sold by rapid? the reels have a nice paper end with big ass rapid online texts on the whole sides

[AndreaEl]

yeah. its made from 0.07mm strands . i bought 20 meters from them too. linked it above but nobody noticed it

i noticed it but not ship to Italy

[M. András]

yeah. its made from 0.07mm strands . i bought 20 meters from them too. linked it above but nobody noticed it

i noticed it but not ship to Italy

you can always ask the seller. but hobbyking will ship, they have a nice stock now in their eu warehouse 1 meter 14awg wire is 1.5bucks