Thermostat wire

[John]

I scarfed up a half spool off the road the other day- about 25 pounds worth. My question is, is it suitable for use in amps, or is the insulation not rated high enough? It's 18 gauge copper. Thanks!

[phsyconoodler]

What would you use it for exactly?

[John]

I was thinking as heavy as it is, just heater supply, ground buss, and perhaps the B+ (again, if it's insulated well enough). I can't find a V rating on it, but haven't inspected it all that well either. Holiday season at the flauer shawppe. I realize 20 is much easier to work with.

[RicharD]

T-stat wire is rated for less than 100 volts and has poor thermo-insulation properties.  IIRC 18g is good for 10A.  It'd prolly be OK.... put your iron tip on it and see how melty it is.

[eleventeen]

Agree 100% with the prior post. LOW insulation rating and I think you'll tend to produce unhappy solder joints using it, to wit, if there is a bend in the wire immediately leading up to your solder joint, the heat of soldering the solder joint will cause the hot conductor to melt itself out of the plastic tube of the insulation. Make up half a dozen solder joints on a piece of junk and overheat them a tad, see how they come out.

[John]

I think you've both convinced me to scrap it. I can buy lots of nice wire. Thanks for the good advice!

[stratele52]

It is a rigid wire ; no good for amp too easy to break and poor insulation= caution