Electrical: Solid Wire Vs Braided Wire

[Joe Fresh]

just curious to the different properties of braided copper wire vs solid copper wire?

reason i ask is my main line for my grow is 10awg solid wire...but i see in alot of wire gauge charts they show braided wire...so whats the difference? can one handle load better than the other?

 

[Joe Fresh]

i am getting a lighting controller custom built, changing my setup a bit and cleaning up all the wires everywhere(thats what happens when i wire shit lol) so this question is in relation to my feeder wire comming from the panel

 

[Toaster79]

There isn't much difference current load wise. Only flexibility. The difference in max. current load is neglectable.

 

[Bulldog11]

No difference between braided and solid. You want copper, THHN wire, braided or solid. When doing conduit work, and fishing wire, braided wire is better. However solid wire is better pigtails and hooking up switches and breakers. Really, it's all the same to me. More important to rate your wires properly. Good luck.

 

[Billyboat]

Flexible is also easier to pull though conduit as well...

 

[Olyver]

If your wire is 14/12/10AWG then use stranded THHN and use ring or spade terminals. Make sure the terminals match the size of the threaded terminal screws.

 

[Joe Fresh]

If your wire is 14/12/10AWG then use stranded THHN and use ring or spade terminals. Make sure the terminals match the size of the threaded terminal screws.

to feed power to my controller, i was suggested to use 4AWG Romex (NM) type cable or 6AWG THHN...whats is the difference between these 2? the insulation?

 

[SonOfDaMourning]

Braided is more for applications that use moving parts. The solid wire can only flex soo much before it loses its integrity and breaks as the braided fibers move independent from throughout the diameter of the core.

 

[Bulldog11]

The first thing I notice about those wires are they are different gauge. I don't have my NEC book in front of me, but off the top of my head 4AWG NM romex is rated at 60amps, and the highest 70 amps depending on the application. 6 awg THHN should be rated at 65 amps. Seems like both would work to me.

Trust but verify, like I said, I don't have my code book in front of me. I went off this website.http://www.usawire-cable.com/pdfs/nec ampacities.pdf

 

[blazer]

Thought braided wire can carry more amperage than solid because of how the current rides on the outside of the wire so with the braid tends to be more surface area for the current to travel on, I'm not a sparky but thought I remember this