May have found cheap all copper 22awg wire... xmas lights

[RocketSquirrel]

Ive been ordering all sorts of 22g wire for my altimeter setup with no luck finding copper. Ive ordered 4 different ones all claiming to be copper but they are silver when i splice it. I was just messing around and had some old xmas lights, pretending i was onto something i cut a few bulbs off and was going to try connecting it to the wire i purchased vs the wire to the bulb, i guess to see if it was dimmer running current through the crappy wire. Dont even know if thats how it works lol but i noticed the 22awg print on the side of the xmas bulb wire and realized the lights i got discount after xmas may be what ive needed the whole time.

Has anyone tried this? I mean it makes sense that xmas bulbs would have quality wire so it doesnt burn houses down. Stock up on long xmas bulbs a couple days after, i got a 10ft for .25 and there's a long wire that runs up the center.

Here's a pic, can you guess which one is the tree bulbs and which one is off amazon? Lol

 

[cls]

Ive been ordering all sorts of 22g wire for my altimeter setup with no luck finding copper.

good on ya for recycling the infernal broken xmas lights

??? Where are you looking?

it's called hookup wire, go to any hobby electronics shop.

here's one: https://www.jameco.com/z/3051-BK005...ok-Up-Wire-100-Feet-UL1007-UL1569_126085.html

 

[SolarYellow]

Be sure to check the core. Lots of the small wire is silver colored, but that's just on the surface because it's tinned copper. Cut it cleanly and look at the ends to see if it's silver all the way through or just tinned copper.

 

[cwbullet]

good on ya for recycling the infernal broken xmas lights

??? Where are you looking?

it's called hookup wire, go to any hobby electronics shop.

here's one: https://www.jameco.com/z/3051-BK005...ok-Up-Wire-100-Feet-UL1007-UL1569_126085.html

Not a bad price. Today, you might have to go with 1000 feet to get a cheaper price per foot of wire.

 

[lr64]

Ive been ordering all sorts of 22g wire for my altimeter setup with no luck finding copper. Ive ordered 4 different ones all claiming to be copper but they are silver when i splice it. I was just messing around and had some old xmas lights, pretending i was onto something i cut a few bulbs off and was going to try connecting it to the wire i purchased vs the wire to the bulb, i guess to see if it was dimmer running current through the crappy wire. Dont even know if thats how it works lol but i noticed the 22awg print on the side of the xmas bulb wire and realized the lights i got discount after xmas may be what ive needed the whole time.

Has anyone tried this? I mean it makes sense that xmas bulbs would have quality wire so it doesnt burn houses down. Stock up on long xmas bulbs a couple days after, i got a 10ft for .25 and there's a long wire that runs up the center.

Here's a pic, can you guess which one is the tree bulbs and which one is off amazon? Lol

View attachment 625971

Tinned wire is a good thing, isn't it? What material cheaper than copper would anyone make stranded electrical wire from, anyway?

 

[SolarYellow]

Aluminum

 

[RocketSquirrel]

Tinned wire is a good thing, isn't it? What material cheaper than copper would anyone make stranded electrical wire from, anyway?

I wish i could delete this thread lol i was skeptical of the cheap wire i purchased from amazon

 

[BMcD]

No, don't delete it. I'm a little curious if the wire you bought turned out to be tinned copper or aluminum. Even assuming it's tinned copper, the fact that it is tinned is a little surprising. Like you, I would have expected to find (drumroll please) copper.

 

[RocketSquirrel]

No, don't delete it. I'm a little curious if the wire you bought turned out to be tinned copper or aluminum. Even assuming it's tinned copper, the fact that it is tinned is a little surprising. Like you, I would have expected to find (drumroll please) cOpper

Yeah. I didnt want anything coming in the way of my first dual deploy so i wanted to make sure the wires were quality. I got wire from a reputable source that was tinned like that as well. Both passed current, and produced equal light output from a 9v circuit with equal length wire. Not sure if that even tells you anything, but i figured if one wasnt as conductive the LED would would be noticeable

 

[lr64]

Aluminum isn't quite as conductive as copper, but that's not saying very much. For instance, an LED might draw 50 mA. If you used a total of 1,000 feet of 22 gauge wire, you'd lose 0.8 volts with copper and 1.3 with aluminum.

Just to be clear, an LED wouldn't exactly "draw" 50 milliamps. You need a resistor or other electronics to control the current. In this case, if the supply is 12 volts. In this case, with a 12 volt supply, you could use 7,000 feet of AWG 22 aluminum.

One problem with aluminum is that it self-anodizes, and aluminum oxide is an insulator. Another is that it's not going to hold up to as much bending back and forth. I don't know if anyone makes small, stranded aluminum wire. Unless one used it properly and carefully, it would be unreliable at best. I read that, at one time, improper use of aluminum wiring burnt down some houses. There may be other precautions, but I think you're supposed to use an anti-corrosion paste* at connections.

*paste? goo? grease? I don't remember.

 

[mtnmanak]

I have had great results with BNTECHGO silicone coated wire from Amazon. I have used hundreds of feet of the various gauges they sell and it has all been quality, tinned copper wire. The silicone coating make the wire soft and flexible, but still grabs on to heat shrink tubing well. It also gives the wire a wide temp range: ~-70F to 400F. I have spools of this wire in most common gauges I need and in 3-4 colors in each gauge. A 100 foot spool lasts me a long time.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K4RPADA

I have also had good luck with the striveday brand on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KQ2NURG

 

[neil_w]

Just to be clear, an LED wouldn't exactly "draw" 50 milliamps. You need a resistor or other electronics to control the current. In this case, if the supply is 12 volts. In this case, with a 12 volt supply, you could use 7,000 feet of AWG 22 aluminum.

Noted for my future very-upscale Mean Machine.