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Vintage Amateur and Military Radio Amateur/military receivers and transmitters, morse, and any other related vintage comms equipment. |
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7th Aug 2019, 11:38 am | #1 |
Triode
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Chelmsford, Essex, UK.
Posts: 19
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UK Suppliers of hookup wire
Hello,
I am about to undertake the rewiring of an R1155. Can anyone recommend a UK supplier of suitable wire ? Thanks Alan G4MOM |
7th Aug 2019, 11:57 am | #2 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 3,687
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
Bitsbox do some "reasonable" quality stuff sold in short lengths if you don't want to buy rolls and rolls of them: https://www.bitsbox.co.uk/index.php?...&cPath=200_203 ... good to 3A/1KV.
They do 7/0.2 stuff as well but it's horrid. Always go for Alpha Wire stuff from RS for that or anything esoteric like teflon coated or more amps |
7th Aug 2019, 1:52 pm | #3 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,901
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
Tygon insulated aviation stuff is rather nice and doesn't melt while soldering, and strips quite well. Farnell and RS stock some.
David
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Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
7th Aug 2019, 2:45 pm | #4 |
Nonode
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK.
Posts: 2,511
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
Use the silicone rubber insulated wire available from a member of this forum. Unfortunately I can't remember his forum ID.
Andy |
7th Aug 2019, 3:06 pm | #5 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Cottingham, East Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 5,765
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
It's Phil Marrison - 'SWB 18'. He visits the forum most days, so is contactable via PM. Phil sells stranded silicone rubber insulated wire in two gauges and a wide range of vintage colours. Excellent stuff which is heatproof, strips easily and looks much more in keeping on vintage equipment than do gaudy PVC wires, which aren't heatproof and look out of place.
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8th Aug 2019, 9:57 am | #6 |
Octode
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Carmel, Llannerchymedd, Anglesey, UK.
Posts: 1,509
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
I have a rather nice magnetic detector from a WW2 influence mine. Apart from the thing being excellently made like a Swiss watch, what is also impressive is the high quality wire used, being coated with some tough semi-transparent plastic (not PVC) which is in as good a condition as when made. I'd be interested to know what it is.
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8th Aug 2019, 12:45 pm | #7 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 14,007
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
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8th Aug 2019, 1:15 pm | #8 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Lynton, N. Devon, UK.
Posts: 7,088
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
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8th Aug 2019, 4:15 pm | #9 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Surrey, UK.
Posts: 4,398
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
At risk of being thought facetious, UK suppliers of hookup wire include Hotpoint, Hoover etc..... Old washing machines often have a gratifyingly generous amount of mains-rated PVC wiring of ample gauge for HT and most heater applications in a spread of colours. If stranded PVC-insulated wire was deemed good enough for post-war Ministry overhaul of AR88s, use in R1155s doesn't seem too outrageous. The usual suspects (Farnell, RS etc.) do 16/0.2 stranded PVC insulated wire (my go-to vintage overhaul choice, good for most applications away from the more arduous temperature/current situations) rated at 1kV DC- this also often turns up at rallies in bargain slightly used reels, often in "prototyping pink"!
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8th Aug 2019, 4:32 pm | #10 |
Heptode
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 510
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
Washing machine have a lot of stranded wire of different colour. The more elderly ones have an interesting control board from which one can obtain resistors, diodes and a thyristor and they can also be reused. Phil's wire is also very flexible and heat resistant.
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8th Aug 2019, 5:45 pm | #11 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 14,007
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
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8th Aug 2019, 5:49 pm | #12 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Lynton, N. Devon, UK.
Posts: 7,088
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
Down side of using wire salvaged from washing machines etc is that it is probably PVC.
The accidental touch of a hot soldering iron will be extremely unsightly. Washing machine wiring is usually done with crimp connections, so no hot irons are used - but that's not the case for the R1155 rebuild. Old rubber-covered wire is much more resistant. Silicone rubber even more so. If the R1155 was being made today, no doubt Raychem Type 44 wire would be used, or zero-halogen equivalent, as this is super hook-up wire. To look 'right' and be easy to use, silicone rubber is the stuff to go for. And it does not age like the traditional rubber either. |
8th Aug 2019, 6:58 pm | #13 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 3,687
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
You can avoid that. Hold the end of the stripped portion with some fine hemostats as a heat sink and then solder the joint. Perfect every time.
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8th Aug 2019, 7:14 pm | #14 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 14,007
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
Yes - alternatively do as I generally do and pop a pink Hellermann sleeve on the wire before soldering, then slide it over the soldered joint/tag when it's cooled. This works really nicely on things like toggle-switches and plug/socket tags. It may not be 'original' but it's just the sort of thing that would have been done by REME or RAF workshops in the 1950s if they were refurbishing a radio.
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8th Aug 2019, 9:45 pm | #15 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Surrey, UK.
Posts: 4,398
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
Quote:
The R1155 was originated in the era of "waste not, want not, we're alone with our backs to the wall...." I can't help feeling that the use of salvaged but good-quality wiring from the likes of washing machines fits with the original spirit! Last edited by turretslug; 8th Aug 2019 at 9:53 pm. |
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8th Aug 2019, 9:54 pm | #16 |
Nonode
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK.
Posts: 2,511
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
I honestly cannot see any reason to use second-hand recovered PVC insulated wire rather than silicone rubber insulated wire unless the cost is totally over-riding.
Hellermann sleeves over the wire terminations is certainly an improvement, but not authentic in an R1155. Andy |
8th Aug 2019, 11:23 pm | #17 |
Nonode
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK.
Posts: 2,015
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
I once put Hellerman sleeves on the soldered joints between some earth cables and their tags bolted to 1" copper earth tape at a Home Office, D-Tels, site.
It looked really good - to my young eye. The site inspector said " Take them all off! ". "How will we ever know if we have a joint which is developing corrosion?" I took them off. Last edited by Jon_G4MDC; 8th Aug 2019 at 11:32 pm. |
9th Aug 2019, 8:38 am | #18 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Staffordshire Moorlands, UK.
Posts: 5,273
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
Rapid Electronics do fairly small reels of hook up flex that come in various colours , it's plastic but doesn't shrink back when soldered like the old fashioned 50's pvc wiring, I used it on a 30's radio a couple of years back. I think it's sold as a cheaper alternative to silicone test lead wire. It's not as 'limp' as silicone or rubber.
https://www.rapidonline.com/rapid-gw...ck-25m-01-0605
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Kevin |
9th Aug 2019, 11:10 am | #19 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 3,687
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Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire
that's pretty cheap. Might grab a roll of that! Thanks for the heads up.
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