Looking for striped wire in 100ft rolls

eagletalontim

I have a project that will require 22 different color wires and I can't use the same color wires for each connection. I can't afford to buy over 100ft of each color, so I was hoping someone could help me locate a supplier for multi-color striped wire in 100ft rolls. (For example : Blue with white stripe or green with white stripe). Currently, I pay around $8 for a 100ft roll of 22G stranded wire, but I need to increase the size to 18 AWG for this project. Any help is appreciated!

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

You could just mark the ends with colored heat-shrink tubing: thin slices in perhaps a three-color code combination. Then one color of wire would suffice.

-Phil

eagletalontim

Well, I plan to make several of these circuits and allow other people to use it as well. Properly color coded wires would be quite nice and I can use the same wire on other products I already make since Red and Orange look pretty close

evanh

Electrical trade outlets will have exactly what you are after. Industrial automation uses such cabling by the ton. Mostly they use numbered wires (Each wire, normally all white or all black except for the green/yellow earth wire, has a repeating number ink-jetted on it at 100mm intervals) rather than coloured but coloured exist too. Typically the wire size starts at 0.5mm2 (20 Gauge) and go up from there. Always mains rated insulation.

Be warned about pricing though, the listed trade price is always inflated. If you personally know an electrician or just someone with a trade account then get them to make the purchase on your behalf. It can more than halve the price tag on some items. Expect a 30% discount on most stuff.

hatallica

22 colors that are automotive rated and very distinguishable? Wow. Like you said, Red & Orange can look pretty close. Attempting to distinguish a red stripe from an orange stripe is even tougher.

Something like 20% of males are at least partially color blind. I don't test as color blind, but I swear that auto and motorcycle manufacturers like to taunt me with color selections that are out of Sherwin Williams' latest collection (Alabaster wire with Temperate Taupe stripe ... ok, I exaggerate slightly).

The numbering scheme is intriguing to me. I have seen heat shrink number labels at the local big box hardware store, but I don't know how well they stand up to automotive conditions. Similarly, Dymo (and maybe others) make printable heat shrink for wire labels, which allows for very explicit labeling. They also have printable self-laminating tape. These claim to be resistant to heat, moisture, UV, solvents, and abrasion. The industrial label printer will be $$, but then you can bargain shop the wire.

pmrobert

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/ has many options for enumerated wire, etc. Look in the experimental aircraft section, the same item is often 20% of the commercial aircraft offering because it doesn't need the FAA tracking certificate the A&P profession is mandated to use and record.

eagletalontim

Honestly, I am not wanting to go with any other option other than striped wire because it is the most fail proof way that can't be cut off, pulled off, or wiped off over time. One of the products I sell uses 8 different wire colors and the red and orange get mixed up quite often. I tried labeling the orange wire with wire label options but if that customer cut or tore off the label then sold that product to someone else, that label is gone and it is back to square one. My thoughts on striped wire is like an aftermarket car radio. They have purple with a white stripe and purple with a black strip. That represents the positive and negative of one speaker and cannot be mixed up even if the wires are cut.

I see a few automotive places that sell 100 ft roles but the pricing is all over the place and I have never worked with those companies. I was hoping someone on this forum has dealt with buying striped wire from a reputable company and could help me locate one.

kwinn

Google "color coded flat ribbon cable".

Ribbon cable up to and possibly beyond 64 wires with 10 solid colors is available, but colors repeat every 10 wires. Not sure if #18 is available.