What wire to use?

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Pointy

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What wire do you guys use?

I have my hardware and software designed and working, but I am struggling to fit it all back together because of the wires. I was trying to use some thin ribbon cable which is 28awg, but it's hard with 30 odd connections back to the Teensy 3.

I was going to get some 30awg Kynar wire from fleebay. Any other suggestions?

Regards,

Les
 
What wire do you guys use?

I have my hardware and software designed and working, but I am struggling to fit it all back together because of the wires. I was trying to use some thin ribbon cable which is 28awg, but it's hard with 30 odd connections back to the Teensy 3.

I was going to get some 30awg Kynar wire from fleebay. Any other suggestions?

Regards,

Les

I second using either 28 or 30 awg kynar. You will need a good special purpose stripper. Forget trying to knick it with dykes and pull the insulation off (voice of experience). Actually you can manage it if you are good, but life is short. I found this to be the best stripper http://www.newark.com/ok-industries/st-100-2830/wire-stripper-cutter-28-30awg/dp/72K0760. The price is steep but you can often find it used on ebay. They last literally forever. My heyday was 40 years ago, and it only cost me about $5 back then, sigh. The revision they still make is almost as good as the one they made back in my day.

It's really oriented toward wire wrap use, as you can cut and strip in one motion, with the long bare end that is used for wire wrapping, but you can use it just fine for stripping 1/8" or even 1/16". The kynar holds up well to soldering.

Definitely get other opinions; like I say I am an old fossil.
 
I use Alpha 2841/1 type wire. It's expensive, but worth every penny. Mouser has 100 foot spools for $74 and 1000 foot spools for $418. If anyone knows where to get it for less, please post a link!

Alpha 2841/1 has PTFE (Teflon) insulation that does not melt at soldering temperatures. You can wrap the wire around your soldering iron tip and the insulation will show some signs of wear, but still be perfectly fine. Of course, you can make all sorts of mistakes like accidentally touching an already-placed wire while soldering something else and not melt away the insulation and cause shorts. The insulation also does not shrink or warp or distort while soldering, so you can apply plenty of heat for great solder joints, without worrying about damage to the wire. It really makes things so much easier.

Alpha 2841/1 also has silver plating which makes for very easy soldering. It's expensive wire, but if you build a prototype with it, you'll never want to go back to cheap PVC or even Kynar insulated wire.

The PTFE insulation is a little tougher to cut. I use a Klein Tools 11047 wire stripper.

http://www.kleintools.com/catalog/wire-stripperswire-cutters/wire-strippercutter-1

Cheap but adjustable wire strippers could probably work well too, if adjusted carefully. With PVC insulation, if your stripper isn't adjusted perfectly and only partially cuts the plastic, when you pull the remaining plastic will normally tear cleanly. But Teflon is much tougher. Even a thin layer tends to stretch and stubbornly remain in place, so you really need an accurate wire stripper. That Klein 11047 works great and never needs fiddly adjustment.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

I think for now I am going with the cheaper 30awg Kynar wire, I can' buy smaller lengths to play with. £2 for 5 metres = 40p per metre. The Alpha 2841/1 is just over the £30 mark for a 30m reel here in the UK, so about about £1 per metre. That actually doesn't sound that expensive but in comparison is 2.5 x the Kynar wire price. The other problem is that I can only find the Alpha wire in 30m reels, which would last me a lifetime.

Regards,

Les
 
The 30awg Kynar wire turned up today and so far it looks very promising. I am sure it's at least 1/2 the size of the ribbon cable, maybe even 1/3. So far I have soldered the 28 wires onto the Teensy, hopefully later on in the week I will get time to finish it off.

Regards,

Les
 
Just a quick update to say that I was successful with wiring up the controller back to the Teensy. However as suggested you need some good wire strippers, I was using the knick & strip method and had a few breakages. I am thinking of getting some of these to try. Unfortunately after all that effort it was still a fail.:( While the software & hardware work great, I couldn't get the thing back together properly, it's only about 1mm out, so I am hoping just a quick tweak of the PCB will fix it.

Regards,

Les
 
Wow, that thing is even more expensive than the Klein 11047.

But I already have a drawer full of cheapo ones that don't work. I don't mind paying the price if they do a good job and last.

Talking of cheapo and lasting, my soldering iron is playing up and that's only just over a year old. I was just looking at the Xytronic LF-1680, but not sure if I would use the tweezers. I know the other side of the pond the Hakko FX888D is popular, I can get that in the UK for about £100. Any other suggestions?

Regards,

Les
 
To go off in a completely different direction, I use Hirose DF-13 series connectors with stuff like this, for the most part. They are like standard molex 0.1" headers, but half the size, and 0.050" spacing. You can get them from Digikey in a variety of sizes. The other thing you can get is 28 and/or 30 gauge wire, of various lengths and colors, with one or both ends pre-crimped with the crimp plugs that work with the DF-13 plugs.

View attachment 1244

Here's an example of my Teensy 3.1, on a 3D printed fake circuit board (to test for fit), with the connectors I use, plus a bunch of wire harnesses I made up.

The real board is off being made at OSH Park.

- Jon
 
That CSI Deluxe looks exactly the same as the Maplin one I have now. Temperature goes up and down like a yoyo.

Regards,

Les

I chose the Solomon one long ago because in my limited work space, the one-piece was best. And it was low cost. Mine's got a twisty potentiometer for temperature and an LED display. Has served me well for a long time.
 
To go off in a completely different direction, I use Hirose DF-13 series connectors with stuff like this, for the most part. They are like standard molex 0.1" headers, but half the size, and 0.050" spacing. You can get them from Digikey in a variety of sizes. The other thing you can get is 28 and/or 30 gauge wire, of various lengths and colors, with one or both ends pre-crimped with the crimp plugs that work with the DF-13 plugs.

View attachment 1244

Here's an example of my Teensy 3.1, on a 3D printed fake circuit board (to test for fit), with the connectors I use, plus a bunch of wire harnesses I made up.

The real board is off being made at OSH Park.

- Jon

Sounds interesting but for some reason your attachment is not working.

With regards to my project, I have redesigned the PCBs and I am hopeful I can get the thing back together next time. The other thing that might be causing me a problem is the USB connection. I might have to get brave and try and solder direct to the Teensy. I notice that on the Teensy 3.1 underside it has pins marked D- & D+, I assume these are USB data. Are the pins the same on the Teensy 3.0?

Regards,

Les
 
I don't know. I've only ever used the Alpha wire. But this stuff is so cheap, I'll probably get a 100 foot spool and give it a try.
 
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