Electronics Bay wiring

[Scott Nokes]

Hello all

I'm going to be wiring my electronics Bay and is the wire from Walmart in the car audio dept ok to use our is that not a suitable wire size and type
The complete didn't including the casing is about 1/16th.

Thank you

 

[wonderboy]

Does the packaging indicate the gauge? I've used 18 gauge before, but this is about as heavy as I'd go. I think 20 gauge would be a little more flexible and easy to work with. If the packaging doesn't say, sometimes the insulation of the wire has printing on it that will indicate the gauge.

Bottom line, as long as you can fit it into the screw terminals of your electronics it will work. Just make absolutely sure that no strands of conductor are sticking out from your connections and short to the neighboring terminals. When the gauge is close to the maximum size, it can be difficult to get all the strands into the terminal.

 

[cerving]

You don't need 18 gauge, or even 20 gauge wiring for just about anything in rocketry. What I WOULD recommend is using some kind of twisted pair wiring, especially if you have a tracker or anything else that transmits a radio signal. 24 gauge twisted pair wiring like the kind in Ethernet cabling works great... and it's color-coded, too. And keep the wires as short as possible, and zip-tie all wiring to your sled. Wires flopping around in flight tend to come loose, and that is not a good thing.

 

[Scott Nokes]

So do you mean about the size of wire on Electric matches of line the Aerotech ignitor wire

 

[Scott Nokes]

You don't need 18 gauge, or even 20 gauge wiring for just about anything in rocketry. What I WOULD recommend is using some kind of twisted pair wiring, especially if you have a tracker or anything else that transmits a radio signal. 24 gauge twisted pair wiring like the kind in Ethernet cabling works great... and it's color-coded, too. And keep the wires as short as possible, and zip-tie all wiring to your sled. Wires flopping around in flight tend to come loose, and that is not a good thing.

Would the wires from an HDMI cable work?

 

[cerving]

Would the wires from an HDMI cable work?

Probably not. Most of those cables have very fine wiring, and can't carry much current. 24 gauge works fine... just find a piece of old Cat-5 or Cat-6 network cable and have at it.

 

[mtnmanak]

I use this stuff in 22 and 24 gauge stranded all the time.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T4SYVYG
Hasn't failed me yet.

 

[KevinT]

I use this stuff in 22 and 24 gauge stranded all the time.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T4SYVYG
Hasn't failed me yet.

Same Here

 

[OverTheTop]

I usually use 24AWG or 26AWG. I purchased some silicone-insulated hookup wire from aliexpress a while back. Really nice to use, robust, doesn't melt when you have to solder to it and is more flexible than the usual PVC insulated wire. This is now my wire of choice for use in rocketry.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002613633837.html
Another alternative is UL1007 rated wire. This is "appliance" wire and specified by various international standards like EN61010-1. It is mechanically more robust than just a plain PVC wire, hence its designated use in consumer appliances by the relevant safety standards. We use this in our spectrometers.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003378876597.html
The links posted are just random links found on aliexpress. Other sources can be found.

In the absence of either of those types regular stranded hookup wire is probably totally acceptable too . Don't make it more difficult than it needs to be.

Also, if you want to fit ferrules to the ends of multistrand when it goes into terminal blocks I recommend getting something like this. Makes for a nice job.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/313776821710

 

[FredA]

regular hookup wire is probably totally acceptable too . Don't make it more difficult than it needs to be.

Stranded hookup wire is all you need.
There's no power or voltages that need anything special.
But DO use multiple colors - nothing like trying to debug a monochrome rats nest.
I prefer colored ribbon cable.

 

[MidOH]

Lol. I use black wire for the entire primary system, and red wire for the secondary. I'm all out of scrap Cat5 to try. So plain Olde 20g.

 

[Scott Nokes]

Would wire from used iAerotech gnitors work.
Or, I have MJD ignitors and they have 3ft wire which I cut off to use so could I reuse those scraps instead of just throwing them away

 

[Jmhepworth]

Would wire from used iAerotech gnitors work.
Or, I have MJD ignitors and they have 3ft wire which I cut off to use so could I reuse those scraps instead of just throwing them away

They are solid, not stranded. I try to use stranded wire where I can.

 

[Bat-mite]

Consider buying tried-and-true from an excellent rocketry vendor: http://binderdesign.com/store/Dog-House-Rocketry.html

 

[Donnager]

NM

 

[MidOH]

Stranded is a sure thing to want. Solid tends to crack after a while. It's mediocre for starters, but starters are just a one time use item. How many times do you plan on using your E bay?

I'm not worried about interference. My altimeters are simply steady DC in, steady DC out. Doesn't appear to be any kind of pulse width and even if it was, it would only last a second.

 

[SkyFire]

I use 22 awg servo extensions. Cut 'em in half. Provides quick disconnects for altimeter and switch.

 

[OzHybrid]

Any wiring that is going to stay in place should be plated, stranded copper wire at the appropriate gauge for the current you are carrying. Stranded for flexibility, plated to prevent black copper corrosion. Tin or silver plated. Silver plated will give you the highest current carrying capacity for the minimum diameter. Black copper corrosion happens on the neative lead (generally) and is almost invisible under the insulation until the wire breaks. Here's what it looks like.
The plating of the strands prevents oxygen being in contact with the copper and prevents the corrosion process starting. It's best avoided.
It's not required for ematches as they are single use and do not get sufficient time(years) to get corroded.


Servo extension leads come pretwisted neatly,this makes them convenient. Not all use plated wire. The tin plated hookup wire as suggested looks to be good.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T4SYVYG
Norm

 

[Grog6]

Stranded wire is much less likely to break under vibration.
Silicone insulation is practically indestructible. Silicone wire with properly crimped connections==permanent wiring.
Gold plated alligator clips last the longest.

 

[MidOH]

I wish Missile Works had a version with no screw terminals. Just tiny posts or tabs for soldering.

It takes more time to turn the screw than it does to grab my iron and tack each wire down. And we've all seen people screw up those terminals and the wire falls out on the second tug.

I was floored when I first saw how many screw terminals, high power rockets have. In RC car racing we try soldering everything. Pop apart the receivers and solder the servo wires straight to each pin. Because it stinks to bust your butt all day, just to have a connector fail in the main. Especially a battery connector to the radio on a nitrobuggy with a $650 engine that's going to blow up in a free Rev runaway.

 

[wonderboy]

I wish Missile Works had a version with no screw terminals. Just tiny posts or tabs for soldering.

Just desolder the terminal block. You'll be left with very nice through plated holes with generous solder pads. I had to replace a damaged screw terminal block on one of my RRC3s. I contemplated leaving it off and just soldering directly. In the end, I installed a new terminal block but you could easily just solder to those points.

 

[FredA]

Just desolder the terminal block.

Some altimeter manufacturers will do this for you.
Everyone SHOULD offer the option.

 

[MidOH]

Thanks. I'll try that.

I have three RRC2L's on order. Glad to hear it's not an unchangeable surface mount board or anything.

 

[Donnager]

In drag racing, there are fairly well documented failures in soldered connections on electronics due to vibration (tire shake, etc.). The shaking bends the wiring at the ends of where the solder has permeated and fatigue failures can happen at this junction.

While I'd agree that soldering is the best electrical connection, I'd think hard about whether soldering, crimping, or screw terminals are the best mechanical connection, while maintaining the electrical connection.

I'm going to stick with the screw terminals. There is no hardened (soldered) wire section and vibration/shock will likely not cause a wire failure. If I do a lousy job torquing the screw terminals, It's on me.

 

[MidOH]

The trick is a super hot iron so the solder isn't wicked too far into the wire. Good Flux helps. I use a Hakko 636 with a flat tip. Make sure wire is secure, but has a nice sweeping bend that can flex, towards it's end, not a sharp fold.

Quality wire can help to. Flexible silicone rubber wire can be safer, because any force applied to it, gets soaked up before reaching the board. I don't plan on using expensive TQ 20g wire on my rockets though.

In RC, the wire is replaced from time to time. I don't expect rockets to be as hard on wire.

 

[OverTheTop]

The trick is a super hot iron so the solder isn't wicked too far into the wire.

NO! The super hot iron will damage the glue bonding the copper trace on the PCB to the substrate and also thermally stress any vias associated with the pad leading to possible failures at the barrel-pad joins.

If you are going to solder directly to a PCB use the usual soldering temperature (I like about 280C/536F). If I am really concerned about a PCB I will go down as far as 260C. That is more gentle on the PCB adhesive and can make the difference between getting one rework out of a PCB or five.

If soldering wires the cable needs support past the point of where the solder wicks up the strands. RTV, hot-melt glue, cable ties are all valid methods of strain relieving to the PCB. To use cable ties the PCB needs to have the relevant features designed in. My personal favourite is hot-melt glue. Supports well and removes easily.

In an earlier job I worked on trams in the Electrical Design Section here in Melbourne. All the terminations for wiring were crimped. Thousands of them. Soldering was not allowed. It is too unreliable due to the high-vibration environment. FYI the trucks on the trams (the bits underneath with the wheels) can pull 40Gs of shock on crossovers.

 

[FredA]

vibrating 24-7 is a lot different than for a 30-second boost

 

[rcktnut]

I use these, 2 wires each for power, drogue, and main events: 6-CONDUCTOR LOCKING CONNECTOR W/ LEADS | All Electronics Corp.

 

[MidOH]

I only meant super hot, as in stays at my temp setting stays flawlessly. For very short dwell times.

But that's good info for board temps. Thanks. I'll check that. I think 800 is my max. I'm usually dialed a bit down, except for tinning 12g Deans wire which is when I set it to ''balls out''.

 

[Grog6]

The proper, accepted way to terminate the wire to a pcb is to use a crimp terminal on the wire, and solder it as a thru-hole part.