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Old 7th Aug 2019, 11:38 am   #1
AlanG4MOM
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Default 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
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Old 7th Aug 2019, 11:57 am   #2
MrBungle
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Default 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
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Old 7th Aug 2019, 1:52 pm   #3
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Default 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.

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Old 7th Aug 2019, 2:45 pm   #4
M0FYA Andy
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Default 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.

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Old 7th Aug 2019, 3:06 pm   #5
David G4EBT
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Default Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire

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Originally Posted by M0FYA Andy View Post
Use the silicone rubber insulated wire available from a member of this forum. Unfortunately I can't remember his forum ID.

Andy
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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Old 8th Aug 2019, 9:57 am   #6
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Default 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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Old 8th Aug 2019, 12:45 pm   #7
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Default Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire

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Originally Posted by lesmw0sec View Post
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.
Polythene was used as insulation in some military-stuff during WWII and shortly after - the R4187 receiver [made by STC for use in V-bombers etc] used it too - all the wiring was in semi-clear-jacketed wire with coloured/numbered sleeves to identify the ends.
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Old 8th Aug 2019, 1:15 pm   #8
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Default Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire

Quote:
Originally Posted by David G4EBT View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by M0FYA Andy View Post
Use the silicone rubber insulated wire available from a member of this forum. Unfortunately I can't remember his forum ID.

Andy
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.
I second that!
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Old 8th Aug 2019, 4:15 pm   #9
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Default 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"!

Quote:
Originally Posted by lesmw0sec View Post
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.
I'd be interested to know, too- I suspect it may be early HDPE (higher melting point), I believe that polythene was originally "discovered" by industrial chemists in the mid-thirties by the fortuitous polymerisation of ethane and its insulation properties were quickly appreciated. There's also a similar era vintage wire with relatively hard white plastic insulation that might also be a variation on the HDPE theme- I'm fairly certain that it's not PVC or PTFE. I gather that PTFE was another mid-thirties product but, although having excellent insulating and low-loss dielectric properties, was rather more challenging and expensive to apply practically and was probably largely a post-war thing.
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Old 8th Aug 2019, 4:32 pm   #10
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Default 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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Old 8th Aug 2019, 5:45 pm   #11
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Default Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire

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Originally Posted by turretslug View Post
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. .
True: and cookers too; before sending my old cooker to the tip I recovered a nice bunch of different-coloured glass-fibre-insulated [so high-temperature!] wiring from it. The insulation is braided so passably resembles the old-fashioned cotton-braided wire used in days-gone-by.
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Old 8th Aug 2019, 5:49 pm   #12
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Default 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.
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Old 8th Aug 2019, 6:58 pm   #13
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Default 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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Old 8th Aug 2019, 7:14 pm   #14
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Default Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire

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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.
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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Old 8th Aug 2019, 9:45 pm   #15
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Default Re: UK Suppliers of hookup wire

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Originally Posted by MrBungle View Post
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.
I do a similar thing with small stainless steel alligator bows, clipped longitudinally and loaded with slivers of aluminium foil. Sounds painstaking but done in a trice compared with the rest of the job and pretty much vital with early PVC wiring which seems to be very prone indeed to shrinkback/burning, the Pye CAT here which has neat, tight, single-strand PVC-coated looming with zilch slack being a case in point. Works really well in situations that could otherwise get ugly very quickly.

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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Old 8th Aug 2019, 9:54 pm   #16
M0FYA Andy
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Default 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
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Old 8th Aug 2019, 11:23 pm   #17
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Default 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.
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Old 9th Aug 2019, 8:38 am   #18
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Default 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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Old 9th Aug 2019, 11:10 am   #19
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Default 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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