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What kind of wire???
Posted: 09 Feb 2013, 20:55
by Roast7
Hi
What kind of wire you use and which thickness, for DIY pedals???
Regards
Re: What kind of wire???
Posted: 10 Feb 2013, 11:52
by mictester
Roast7 wrote:Hi
What kind of wire you use and which thickness, for DIY pedals???
Regards
It all depends on the tone you want. Cloth-covered copper wire is best for vintage sounds, PVC-insulated silvered copper wire gives you brighter modern tones, twisted multi-strand tends to give a muddled, woolly quality.... You should always try to get single-strand for the best results.
You also have to be careful with the kind of solder you use: silver-loaded will give great results, but gold-loaded jewellers' solder is absolutely the best by far.
Re: What kind of wire???
Posted: 10 Feb 2013, 13:53
by Lucifer
MicTester, you are becoming more of a devil than me !
Roast7: The small currents inside pedals means that you can used fairly small wires. I use single-strand, because it can be bent to shape and will usually stay there. I use a selection of colours to make fault-finding easier. Try to make sure you don't 'nick' the wire when stripping off the insulation, as this could lead to a break, and the inevitable faulty pedal.
You can use multi-strand wire if you want (again, small, and preferably in a range of colours) - no problems there - but there's always the risk of a loose strand causing a short (which is another good reason for using single-strand).
As for solder, I use 'bog-standard' lead-based solder. If people choose to lick the insides of their pedals, then good luck to them. The amount of lead they will ingest is minimal, so they probably wouldn't even get a stomach ache from their peculiar habit.
If you need more help, chirp up.
Re: What kind of wire???
Posted: 10 Feb 2013, 16:52
by Roast7
stranded wire
0,14mm2
or
0,25mm2
What is the most appropriate ?
Re: What kind of wire???
Posted: 10 Feb 2013, 19:34
by Seiche
it doesn't matter. I would recommend you get both and decide which one you like best.
Re: What kind of wire???
Posted: 10 Feb 2013, 19:41
by lolbou
Stranded wire is better to me because it's less brittle, and won't break that easily. And solder eventually flows in it, making the joint even better.
Lucifer wrote:but there's always the risk of a loose strand causing a short (which is another good reason for using single-strand).
Just pre-tin it, place it through hole and solder : no lost strand...
I use 0.2mm². Works fine, and can be inserted into the 0.8mm holes on my PCBs.
I would consider .14mm² too little, and would gor for the .25mm² instead...