Of all the dumb questions I've asked

[Shieldwolf]

I was looking for wire today for my cp and found some 24 gage at lowes, but my question is what kind of 24 gage wire do I need? Is it like phone wire.  What should I look for when buying wire? I thought 24 gage wire I saw was too thick. I would think the wire I need is thin.

[Pyronious]

For wiring the buttons and joysticks on your control panel, use 20 or 22 gauge stranded wire.

For wiring power (12 volt and 5 volt DC), use 18 gauge stranded wire.

For wiring something else, please specify and I'm sure someone will have a suggestion.

p.s. you question was only "dumb" because you didn't specify what it was you were trying to wire... I'm just guessing here based on the context of this site.

[paigeoliver]

Just look for, um wire. I just go by sight. Stuff about the size of the wires that go from your computer power supply to the drives is about right.

[Shieldwolf]

Sorry I thought I had put what wire I needed. I need wire for my buttons and joysticks.

[crashdmj]

When I went to get wire I asked for multiconductor cable and the people at Menards thought I was nuts. So I then asked for 22 or 24 gauge wire which they also didn't have. I was leaving when I saw "round wire" sold by bell (telephone company). It was perfect: multiconductor cable (24 AWG, 5 conductors). Works like a charm so far, however 24 may be a little to small for some people, in which case go with 20AWG.
Derek

[Pyronious]

Consider buying your wire from Bob Roberts.  He has exactly what you need and is trustworthy.  You can get a bag of 10 wires (10 feet each, 10 different colors) for $7.00.

Plus you can get all kinds of other useful things from him.

http://www.dameon.net/BBBB/conectas.html#wire

P.

[pmc]

For wiring the buttons and joysticks on your control panel, use 20 or 22 gauge stranded wire.

I've been wondering about this. Why stranded wire? Why not solid? I used stranded mounting wire... but always wonder what the strands are getting me (besides sore fingers from forever twisting).

[traknfieldSUPAstar]

solid core tends not to be as pliable (i think that's how u spell it).... i used some spare CATV ethernet wire (i have over 500 feet of various length wire that i "appropriated" from my last job) i had when i wired up the buttons and joysticks on my desktop cp... might not be the best solution but it saved me a couple of bucks by not having to buy any wire for my project

[loksenna]

I used solid wire for my cp and graphics and it runs fine.  I would have used stranded if i had remembered i had a leftover supply of high quality stuff, but it runs fine.  The advantage of stranded wire is that you have better electrical conductance due to the higher surface area to volume ratio and you can bend it alot more and farther without worrying about it breaking, depending on the quality of course.