Problem

You want to make sure you get the right wire to use with your project.

 

Solution

Evaluate your project and determine your cabling needs:

• High current needed?
• Long cable runs?
• Flexibility required?
• Longevity required?

The discussion below goes into some detail about the various kinds of standard wire available.  See what works for you.

 

Discussion

There are many different kinds of wire out there in the world - we'll just include a couple of the most relevant in our discussion here, but there are certainly other kinds that will work.

 

One feature of the wire that's important is whether or not it's stranded.  Wire that's not stranded is solid, and is literally one thick strip of metal inside the insulation.  Stranded wire is made up of a bunch of thinner wires all wrapped up inside the insulation.  We prefer using stranded wire when possible, because solid wire is not flexible, and will likely snap if given more than a few flexes in either direction.

 

Another feature is the size of the wire.  In the US at least, wire is graded according to the American Wire Gauge (AWG) standard. You can see from the photo below that different wire gauges are considerably different in size.

 

 

From left to right:
AWG 30 - for wiring of very low current electronic signals over short distances where there is absolutely no mechanical movement of the wire. Resistance is 4

/1000'

 

AWG 22 - is excellent for all kinds of hook-up wiring. Not too small to break all the time, and not too heavy to restrict movement. Useful when the current doesn't exceed an amp or two. Very commonly used in long runs of low current twisted pair cable. Resistance is 16.20

/1000'.

 

AWG 18 - quite heavy wire for high current use - up to 10A perhaps. Resistance is 6.3

/1000'

 

AWG 16 - very heavy duty wire for high current use - beyond 10A. Resistance is 4

/1000'

 

22 and 18 gauge wire are best for connecting to the Make Controller Kit's screw terminals.