Wire question

[Markkr]

I have a question for the engineers.

When I built my first couple Cracks, the wire was 18ga and easy to work with... the Crackatwoa has this very thin and fragile wire (that frustratingly keeps breaking on me when I bed it.

Is there a reason for this thinner gauge wire? Would it be okay for me to use 18ga/600v solid copper from Home Depot?

Thanks in advance, please don't think I'm criticizing... I genuinely trust your design and decisions, I'm just curious.

Mark

 

[Markkr]

Tight bends

 

[Paul Birkeland]

When I built my first couple Cracks, the wire was 18ga and easy to work with... the Crackatwoa has this very thin and fragile wire (that frustratingly keeps breaking on me when I bed it.

If it breaks when you bend it, I would wonder whether it's breaking where you've stripped it?  If you use too small of a setting on the stripper and you cut into the wire itself, it will break when you bend it.  I haven't ever had this wire break inside the jacket away from where the jacket was stripped off.

Is there a reason for this thinner gauge wire?

Yes, the teflon coated wire sounds a bit better and it's impossible to burn the jacket with a soldering iron, so your build will come out looking a bit better.  This wire is still several times larger than the minimum that you'd need for the C2A circuit.

Would it be okay for me to use 18ga/600v solid copper from Home Depot?

I haven't ever seen suitable wire at Home Depot for use with our kits.  You really want tinned copper, and I haven't seen that at the depot.  18 AWG is probably too fat to work properly in the build, and you would forfeit future repair services if you used different wire than what we provide (I can tell horror stories about this endlessly!).

You might want to consider a different wire stripper.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Professional-Ideal-Stripmaster-Wire-Stripper-16-26-AWG/114541695342?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

 

[2wo]

What sort of stripper are you using? I  Ask because if you nick the wire when you strip it it creates a stress riser and that may be the problem you're having. The  thinner wire is very high-quality Teflon insulated.

 

[mcandmar]

Try to avoid tight 90 degree turns, put more of a radious into the bends.

 

[Markkr]

All great replies, thanks everyone... this forum of people is awesome!

I have been using a Hakko stripper, and 20ga hole. (no markings on the jacket but it appears to be 20ga)

I pulled out a pair of round nose pliers yesterday and made some bends using the "fat end" of the tip, adding more radius to each bend.

Also, I completely understand on the use of supplied wire for support. I definitely want to maintain full support as I'm only just learning.

 

[Paul Joppa]

This is just a technical note for those interested. It's good practice to avoid really sharp bends because they increase the inductance of the wire. It's really only important at very high radio frequencies, but I thought I'd mention it.

 

[Markkr]

This is just a technical note for those interested. It's good practice to avoid really sharp bends because they increase the inductance of the wire. It's really only important at very high radio frequencies, but I thought I'd mention it.

Thanks, thats certainly an important consideration to keep in mind.

 

[mcandmar]

If it breaks when you bend it, I would wonder whether it's breaking where you've stripped it?  If you use too small of a setting on the stripper and you cut into the wire itself, it will break when you bend it.  I haven't ever had this wire break inside the jacket away from where the jacket was stripped off.Yes, the teflon coated wire sounds a bit better and it's impossible to burn the jacket with a soldering iron, so your build will come out looking a bit better.  This wire is still several times larger than the minimum that you'd need for the C2A circuit.
I haven't ever seen suitable wire at Home Depot for use with our kits.  You really want tinned copper, and I haven't seen that at the depot.  18 AWG is probably too fat to work properly in the build, and you would forfeit future repair services if you used different wire than what we provide (I can tell horror stories about this endlessly!).

You might want to consider a different wire stripper.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Professional-Ideal-Stripmaster-Wire-Stripper-16-26-AWG/114541695342?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

I bought one of these with a 16-26awg blade after your recommendation and its just brilliant.  I have a few different strippers and each one of them have their issues, to the point i gave up on them and went back to just doing it manually with a knife.  This one works flawlessly, nice clean strip every time with no damage to the conductors, and have used it for everything from 16 gauge mains cable to 24 gauge teflon covered wire with no adjustments needed.  Great bit of kit, thanks Paul!