Tinned together - wires - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: tkamiya
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2019, 05:48:43 pm
content: I put this in BEGINNERS' section for it's a question I ought to already know the answer - but I don't. It's about electrical wires, the kind we see in high quality instruments such as HP and Tektronics from 80s.We all know stranded and solid. We all know bare cupper and tinned. Then there is a third kind... This is my question. The said wire starts out as stranded. Then they are lightly twisted and "tinned" via solder so it becomes one piece. Wires are not tinned individually as in plating. But they are all tinned together. The wire is like this already every time I peel the insulation.What is this called?This is my favorite kind of hookup wire.

author: nsrmagazin
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2019, 11:35:44 am
content: Please post a picture. Your description is good, but I would prefer a picture.Maybe you mean this:https://www.nassaunationalcable.com/tinned.html

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2019, 12:51:38 pm
content: I have also encountered this wire a few times.It looks like tinned multistrand, but all strands are indeed soldered lighty together under the isolation. It also does not have much strands. It may have been 7 (1 + 6 around) or maybe only 4 or 5 strands altogether.This seems to be used for high-voltage wire sometimes.I have no idea how it is called.

author: alsetalokin4017
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2019, 01:43:10 pm
content: I just happen to have a scrap of this wire handy. I don't remember what I pulled it out of, maybe a dead xbox controller. A photo doesn't show much. I like this wire because it is almost as flexible as regular stranded, but it works well in solderless breadboards since it doesn't fray and is stiff enough to put in the holes.It looks completely ordinary on the outside, but is marked in very small letters:CSA AWM 24AWG I A FT1 90oC 300V E77981 WONDERFUL-D

author: tkamiya
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2019, 04:02:10 pm
content: This is a 40x image of the said wire.This is in size of regular hookup wire size, like 20 to 24 gauge.

author: bson
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 28, 2019, 05:11:51 am
content: Are you sure it's not just the end of it's that's tinned? It can wick up quite a ways inside the insulator if you dip it in a tin pot. When you tin using an iron the wicking is limited by the amount of tin you apply.

author: tkamiya
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2019, 06:26:13 am
content: Yes. I peeled 4 more inches (10cm) and still the same way.

author: ZayneTech
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2019, 06:29:46 am
content: That's interesting. I may have a look at that later. See what i can find:)

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2019, 05:25:02 pm
content: My WAG is that it is a combination of electrical and mechanical characteristics. Tinning helps prevent corrosion. Single wires are better against corrosion as they have less surface but they are mechanically worse against vibration and movement and will fatigue and break. It could be that this type of cable is used in applications like automotive or nautical where there is need to have a certain amount of vibration resistance and also against corrosion.In boats single wire will break with vibrations but multistrand absorbs salt and corrosives like a wick. A multistrand soaked in tin might attenuate both problems.

author: tkamiya
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2019, 07:28:21 pm
content: I asked a wire guy at a local electronics store. He says it is called a "bonded wire".

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2019, 08:28:01 pm
content: Searching for "bonded wire" produces a different product. What we would call "ribbon cable", that is flat cable, of two or more conductors.https://www.systemswire.com/bonded-wire-manufacturer/

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2019, 09:04:19 pm
content: Tinned multistrand wires are commonly used on boats. Tinning resists corrosion. Some marine electrical codes require it, I think.Despite the fact that tin doesn't conduct as well as copper, I suspect this corrosion resistance also makes tinned wire excellent antenna wire.

author: ZayneTech
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 30, 2019, 06:53:46 am
content: That's interesting, I never knew