N8N wrote:
On Jan 20, 2:13 pm, Joe wrote:
On Jan 20, 1:01 pm, "Robert Green" wrote:
Got some new speaker wire from an Amazon vendor today. It was claimed to be
14GA but looks to be a bit less. The wire is marked 14GA but the bag says
BRX-14 and nothing about gauge or size of any kind other than 100' (I
probably should measure that, too). When the bag appears to describe an
industry standard but doesn't, I get suspicious. Well, even more suspicious
than usual. (-:
Lately I've found that many things, from wires to batteries, that have
standard ratings here in the US are fudged there in China. Batteries marked
2500 and marketed as 2500mAH are actually in the sub 1200 range. Wire
marketed as Cat 6 came in a bag re-labeled with a small dot label that said
"6" applied wherever "5" appeared on the bag. The wire itself was actually
marked Cat 5.
In this case, the wire jacket is that of typical 14GA wire, but the copper
strands are almost identical to the remnants of a spool of Gemini EIGHTEEN
gauge wire. They appeared to have jumped two full wire sizes in this scam
or mislabeling.
The Chinese AA NiMh fraudsters are so common whole sites are devoted to
tracking them down.
http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2010/03...bty-batteries/
Anyway - what's the test for 14GA stranded wire? I've got the typical
multislot stripper crimpers to use as a gauge and electronic calipers. Any
other tests?
--
Bobby G.
Measure one strand of wire with your micrometer. Count the strands of
wire. Calculate the area of the total copper cross section. Look up
the specs for 14 gauge wire in any standard text, whatever. If the
cross sections are equal you have the right size wire.
Alternately, 14AWG should be 2.525 ohms per 1000' give or take a
hair. If you trust that the spool is the length that it says it is,
and you have a sensitive meter.
nate
To get an accurate ohm measurement, assuming you know how to measure low
ohms, I would tightly connect one end together, preferably soldering.
Measure the two hundred foot wire, preferably soldering the tips of the
wire. 2.525 / 5 would be two hundred feet.
I have also roughly measured using calibrated wire strippers. The wire
should not easily slip through the 14 gauge hole. You can also compare it
to some other 14 gauge wire.
Greg