Where to buy 24 AWG wire?

[ZaneMn]

I am looking to re-wire my control panel using multi-colored wiring 24 gauge wiring (6 colors all together).  First off should I use solid or stranded.  Is stranded wire a ---smurfette--- to put crimps on at gauge 24?  Also where is a good place to order this wire online?  Thanks.

[Distortion]

Why not just go to radio shack?  I got 75 feet (25 feet of each black, green, and red whire) of 22 gauge (which, of course, is better than 24) wire for like 4 bucks.

[Nailz]

I think stranded would be the way to go, it's always worked well for me.  I have no idea what are trying to ask in your second question.  And your 3rd question...  why would you order wire online when you could go to any Radio Shack/Home Depot/Lowes/etc and get the same thing immediately.  Big ticket items I get ordering online, but you aren't going to save anything and it will be easier to just go down the street for it.

[seaner]

You might consider using cables that have several conductors, like cat-5.  I used this to wire up my panel, keeps the wires in relatively neat bundles and the wires are colour coded as well.
Something along the lines of:
http://www.beerbot.ca/mame/wiring.jpg.html

[MameFan]

Go to a thrift store or returned-item-resale store and find old computer printer cables with large wire bundles (The larger the better--typically mean ALL 25 pins are connected to a wire, not just some of them).

Often times you can get a cable for $1 and you have 6 or 10 feet of stranded, COLOR CODED (all different) wire to work with.   I've chopped a few cables apart and had good luck with this approach. Cheapest way to get tons of unique colors!

[ZaneMn]

I went  to Home Depot, and to Radio Shack, there are no Lowes in the area.  Neither carried 24 AWG.  Radio Shack had AWG 22 which I bought the first time (only 3 colors availible), plus the 22 gauge solid copper core was stiff and I wanted a wire more plyable, like what is on a trackball.

Also I was asking (even though it was murdered by my typing) is it a pain to put quick dissconnect crimps on 24 AWG?

[ZaneMn]

You might consider using cables that have several conductors, like cat-5.  I used this to wire up my panel, keeps the wires in relatively neat bundles and the wires are colour coded as well.
Something along the lines of:
http://www.beerbot.ca/mame/wiring.jpg.html

No that is a pretty slick idea!  Never thought of that.  And I have about 2000 feet of Cat 5 laying around.  Thanks for the tip!

[Chad]

Cat 5 is great and that is what I used for my box but it is brittle and I had to fix a few wires along the way.

http://people.smu.edu/cmadding/mame/control%20photos.html

Hope that helps.

[Wade]

I have 500+ ft of cat5 network cable left over and I didn't even consider it for wiring my control panel.  Each wire is solid copper so it can break relatively easily, and also it is very thin wire (and again solid) so it won't crimp onto spade connectors properly.  I have tried to crimp solid wire before and the connections were never durable or reliable long-term.  

The first time your friends are over and some buttons or a joystick direction stops working, you'll wish you hadn't used it.

I almost bought the 3 roll colored stranded wire from radio shack but found some harnesses from parts I had gutted from one of my cars.  Between that and some other spare wire I had laying around, I ended up with enough length and colors to wire my panel in a manageable way.

I really do wish the local stores (Radio shack, Lowes, Home Depot) had more of a variety of colors and sizes of wire though.  I looked at Lowes and never found anything suitable (didn't try Home Depot tho).

Wade

[seaner]

I have 500+ ft of cat5 network cable left over and I didn't even consider it for wiring my control panel.  Each wire is solid copper so it can break relatively easily, and also it is very thin wire (and again solid) so it won't crimp onto spade connectors properly.  I have tried to crimp solid wire before and the connections were never durable or reliable long-term.  

While it's true that the conductors are solid, how much flexing is going on inside your panel??  I've rarely encountered a cat-5 cable that has a busted conductor in it, and that's after running quite a lot of it through my walls, etc.  
You could consider cat-3 (I believe) which is braided, not solid, and typically cheaper than cat-5.  And of course crimping to cat-5 is basically a no-go.. just get ready to spend a couple of hours soldering.

[Brad Lee]

for 24awg, look in the telephone/wiring section of hardware stores. I work for a phone company so I've got spools literally coming out my arse, different colors and such

I used regular .250 crimp ends- strip about 3/4", fold it over in the middle of the stripped part, place into the end and >crimp< it. Ditto this on the IPac end except strip less, since the screw terminals dont fit much more than 1/8"

If you're feeling real adventurous, contact some place that does work on phones and ask for 25-pair amphenol whips, 1 male, one female. The ends on these are similar to centronix(like a printer end). I'm going to use these for swappable panels. 50 wires should be enough for any CP, the cable is only about 1/2" max in diameter. I've got one of the whips wired to ALL of the inputs on an IPac and an OptiPac(28+20+5v+GND) and the end with the male connector routed to the area under the CP. On the cp end of things, Ive got the female end dangling(just a few inches, enough to reach the other connector) and I just use the same color code on both panels- ie the white/blue is p1 start, the blue/white is p2 start, etc.

I'll be finishing all the conenctions tomorrow and will be doing pics

[MinerAl]

Look in the yellow pages under electronics supply.  There is probably a place in your town that sells every kind of wire and connector you'll need.

I'd go with stranded wire, especially if you are crimping quick disconnects.  It will put up with a lot more opening and closing of the CP than solid wire will.

[Hoe]

RadioShack's wire selection is rubbish, don't bother with them. I tried Home Depot and when I asked for 26guage, the guy looked at my like I was a moron. Most telephone wire is solid- I'm a stranded guy. I orderd 3 spools of the 26guage stranded from www.deboelectronics.com and never been happier. I honestly do not know if 8$ per spool was a great price, but I'm a happy customer. (They deliver FAST)