Electrical wire
 

Hi everyone
Which brand of electrical wire is the best or is it all the same. I don't want to buy Chinese crap.

Thanks

There aren't any brands as such. Ring or Lucas maybe, but the Chinese can forge these with any printer.

However, you want Automotive cable from a reputable supplier. Household and industrial uses different insulation specs because there is less need to account for vibration.

I'd buy from Vehicle Wiring Products if you want to be sure, but any reputable motor factor is going to sell the right stuff.

While we are on the subject, a few more items:

Never shorten a supplied pre-wired cable. Proper ones have anti-siphon grommets in the first few inches.

Flake excess cable over the longest length possible, don't coil it. Coils make better antennae and better siphons.

CAN messages need correct spec twisted pair. We still laugh about the Chinese busses they had in Ireland that would go crazy under power lines. Bell wire isn't twisted pair.

Use a suppliers table for sizing and fit a fuse one size under the cable rating as an absolute minimum.

If you want to save weight, use thinwall at It's rate, not standard above it.

Use Automotive connectors. Sureseal keeps water out, open blade let's It's though. Neither vibrates like chocolate block and other industrial rubbish. Solder is fine if you have the skill.

If you use scotchlocks, tru-tap, posi-tap or any other **** that crushes or tears, I will laugh at you while you walk home and haunt you forever if your taped up bodging causes me any extra work.

Andy

Generally speaking, electrical wire is a fungible commodity - meaning, for any given specification it is pretty much the same stuff. If you buy from a reputable supplier, that should avoid the risk of getting substandard products.

Be aware that for all automotive applications, you need to use stranded wire, not solid wire. Solid wire is only used for applications that don't involve movement of the object, for example, household wiring.

Michael

Interesting. I was just checking out a camper van-building video by a reported professional which said romex (i.e., solid copper 12/14 gauge household wiring) should be used in 110v "shore power" circuits. I assume the same recommendation would be made for UK's 230v shore power. Any reaction?

Thanks.

Mark

It's a slighlty problem spec.

The "household" part of a campervan needs to meet the standards required to be connected to the mains. Even a "temporary" installation. The connectors on ovens, fridges etc. will be designed for stationary use at the higher power of the mains.

The fact it isn't powered when driving and is inside the body of the vehicle makes the decision easier. If you chose to unplug your microwave, take it for a day out on the train, go home and ding your tea no one would get electrocuted or stuck halfway from nowhere. The household spec is fine. If you wanted to heat your food while driving things would get more interesting which is why railway carriages and airliners have their own specs.

Carrying whitegoods round unpowered isn't doing them any good, but there are enough campervans and canal boats out there to suggest it isn't a massive problem.

Andy

Hi Mark:

That's understandable - as ThreeWheelBonnie noted in his reply above, wiring in a vehicle that will be connected to "high" voltage mains power ("high" meaning way above the normal 12 or 24 volt power used in vehicle systems) needs to conform to the same specs as mains power in a building.

I expect, though, that manufacturers who install 110 or 220 volt electrical systems in recreational vehicles probably take extra care to thoroughly secure their mains voltage wiring throughout its run, to avoid the risk of the wiring failing due to repeated flexing & vibrations encountered when the vehicle is travelling.

The recommendation I made to always use stranded wire in vehicle applications didn't consider wiring intended to carry mains power (110 or 220 volt) - only wiring that is part of the normal vehicle electrical system (12 or 24 volt).

Michael

Thanks Michael and Andy; this makes perfect sense.

The builder didn't address the shore-power wiring specifically, but of course did mention the need to provide grommets wherever wires passed through bits of metal. I suppose it makes sense to take this seriously.

In a past lifetime I once drilled several thousand large holes through plaster and wire lathe inside a large building (for blown insulation) and found that the wire lathe was all live at 110v. I learned to be quite careful about not providing a path to ground through my own flesh. Somewhere in that building a single 110v wire bare of insulation was touching a piece of lathe; I'd hate to imagine the same thing happening in my incipient camper van, which is 1) all metal, and 2) loaded with ridiculously delicate electronic components.

Thanks again!

Mark

The only thing I'd add is that insulation needs to be chemical resistant (especially if the wire goes near oily parts) and connectors waterproof (especially if your vehicle is used on roads that are close to sea or see salt over winter).
Purity and handling of the copper does make a difference.
Some of the best wire is made in China.

And some of the worst, too.

I think the trick with Chinese-made products is to look at the reputation of the company that is branding the product, rather than just the country of origin.

If a product is sold by a company that has a good reputation and it is marked as meeting Western standards (for example, a CE mark or UL mark), then it's not a major concern that it was manufactured in China.

On the other hand, if the product is branded by a Chinese company that you have never heard of, and sold at a remarkably low price for a commodity such as copper... then stay away from it, because if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Michael

Thanks for the advice.