INFORMATION SHEET 1.1.

2
CO1 LO1Learning Content # 5

Uses of different type of wires and cables and its applications

Wire

Wire comes in solid core, stranded, or braided forms. Although usually

circular in cross-section, wire can be made in square, hexagonal,
flattened rectangular, or other cross-sections, either for decorative
purposes, or for technical purposes such as high-efficiency voice
coils in loudspeakers. Edge-wound[1] coil springs, such as
the Slinky toy, are made of special flattened wire.
A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal.
Wires are used to bear
mechanical loads or electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire
is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in
a die or draw plate. Wire gauges come in various standard sizes, as
expressed in terms of a gauge number. The term 'wire' is also used
more loosely to refer to a bundle of such strands, as in "multi stranded
wire", which is more correctly termed a wire rope in mechanics, or
a cable in electricity.

In about the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE, a new category of

decorative tube was introduced which imitated a line of granules. True
beaded wire, produced by mechanically distorting a round-section
wire, appeared in the Eastern Mediterranean and Italy in the seventh
century BCE, perhaps disseminated by the Phoenicians. Beaded wire
continued to be used in jewellery into modern times, although it largely
fell out of favour in about the tenth century CE when two drawn round
wires, twisted together to form what are termed 'ropes', provided a
simpler-to-make alternative. A forerunner to beaded wire may be the
notched strips and wires which first occur from around 2000 BCE
in Anatolia.
Wire was drawn in England from the medieval period. The wire was
used to make wool cards and pins, manufactured goods whose import
was prohibited by Edward IV in 1463.[4] The first wire mill in Great
Britain was established at Tintern in about 1568 by the founders of
the Company of Mineral and Battery Works, who had a monopoly on
this.[5] Apart from their second wire mill at nearby Whitebrook, [6] there
were no other wire mills before the second half of the 17th century.
Wire is usually drawn of cylindrical form; but it may be made of any
desired section by varying the outline of the holes in the draw-plate
through which it is passed in the process of manufacture. The draw-
plate or die is a piece of hard cast-iron or hard steel, or for fine work it
may be a diamond or a ruby. The object of utilising precious stones is
to enable the dies to be used for a considerable period without losing
their size, and so producing wire of incorrect diameter. Diamond dies
must be rebored when they have lost their original diameter of hole,
but metal dies are brought down to size again by hammering up the
hole and then drifting it out to correct diameter with a punch.
Wire has many uses. It forms the raw material of many
important manufacturers, such as the wire netting industry,
engineered springs, wire-cloth making and wire rope spinning, in
which it occupies a place analogous to a textile fiber. Wire-cloth of all
degrees of strength and fineness of mesh is used for sifting and
screening machinery, for draining paper pulp, for window screens, and
for many other purposes. Vast quantities
of aluminium, copper, nickel and steel wire are employed for telephone
and data cables, and as conductors in electric power transmission,
and heating. It is in no less demand for fencing, and much is
consumed in the construction of suspension bridges, and cages, etc. In
the manufacture of stringed musical instruments and scientific
instruments, wire is again largely used. Carbon and stainless spring
steel wire have significant applications in engineered springs for
critical automotive or industrial manufactured parts/components. Pin
and hairpin making; the needle and fish-hook industries; nail, peg,
and rivet making; and carding machinery consume large amounts of
wire as feedstock.
Not all metals and metallic alloys possess the physical properties
necessary to make useful wire. The metals must in the first place
be ductile and strong in tension, the quality on which the utility of
wire principally depends. The principal metals suitable for wire,
possessing almost equal ductility, are platinum, silver, iron, copper,
aluminium, and gold; and it is only from these and certain of
their alloys with other metals, principally brass and bronze, that wire
is prepared.
By careful treatment, extremely thin wire can be produced. Special
purpose wire is however made from other metals (e.g. tungsten wire
for light bulb and vacuum tube filaments, because of its high melting
temperature). Copper wires are also plated with other metals, such as
tin, nickel, and silver to handle different temperatures, provide
lubrication, and provide easier stripping of rubber insulation from
copper.
Metallic wires are often used for the lower-pitched sound-producing
"strings" in stringed instruments, such as violins, cellos, and guitars,
and percussive string instruments such as pianos, dulcimers, dobros,
and cimbaloms. To increase the mass per unit length (and thus lower
the pitch of the sound even further), the main wire may sometimes
be helically wrapped with another, finer strand of wire. Such musical
strings are said to be "overspun"; the added wire may be circular in
cross-section ("round-wound"), or flattened before winding ("flat-
wound").

Wire mill (1913)

Wire is often reduced to the desired diameter and properties by

repeated drawing through progressively smaller dies, or traditionally
holes in draw plates. After a number of passes the wire may
be annealed to facilitate more drawing or, if it is a finished product, to
maximise ductility and conductivity.

Finishing, jacketing, and insulating

Coaxial cable, one example of a jacketed and insulated wire
Electrical wires are usually covered with insulating materials, such as
plastic, rubber-like polymers, or varnish. Insulating and jacketing of
wires and cables is nowadays done by passing them through an
extruder. Formerly, materials used for insulation included treated
cloth or paper and various oil-based products. Since the mid-1960s,
plastic and polymers exhibiting properties similar to rubber have
predominated.
Two or more wires may be wrapped concentrically, separated by
insulation, to form coaxial cable. The wire or cable may be further
protected with substances like paraffin, some kind of preservative
compound, bitumen, lead, aluminum sheathing, or steel taping.
Stranding or covering machines wind material onto wire which passes
through quickly. Some of the smallest machines for cotton covering
have a large drum, which grips the wire and moves it through toothed
gears; the wire passes through the centre of disks mounted above a
long bed, and the disks carry each a number of bobbins varying from
six to twelve or more in different machines. A supply of covering
material is wound on each bobbin, and the end is led on to the wire,
which occupies a central position relatively to the bobbins; the latter
being revolved at a suitable speed bodily with their disks, the cotton is
consequently served on to the wire, winding in spiral fashion so as to
overlap. If many strands are required the disks are duplicated, so that
as many as sixty spools may be carried, the second set of strands
being laid over the first.

Knowing the basic wire types is essential to almost any electrical

project around the house. When you're installing new wiring, for
example, choosing the right wire or cable is half the battle. And when
you’re examining existing wiring in your home, identifying the wire type
can tell you a lot about the circuit the wiring belongs to—for example,
when you open up a junction box and need to determine which wires
go where. Wiring for modern homes is quite standard, and most homes
built after the mid-1960s have similar types of wiring. Any new
electrical installation requires new wiring that conforms to local
building codes.

Forms of wire
Solid wire
Solid wire, also called solid-core or single-strand wire, consists of one
piece of metal wire. Solid wire is useful for wiring breadboards. Solid
wire is cheaper to manufacture than stranded wire and is used where
there is little need for flexibility in the wire. Solid wire also provides
mechanical ruggedness; and, because it has relatively less surface area
which is exposed to attack by corrosives, protection against the
environment.
Stranded wire

Stranded copper wire
Stranded wire is composed of a number of small wires bundled or
wrapped together to form a larger conductor. Stranded wire is more
flexible than solid wire of the same total cross-sectional area. Stranded
wire is used when higher resistance to metal fatigue is required. Such
situations include connections between circuit boards in multi-
printed-circuit-board devices, where the rigidity of solid wire would
produce too much stress as a result of movement during assembly or
servicing; A.C. line cords for appliances; musical instrument cables;
computer mouse cables; welding electrode cables; control cables
connecting moving machine parts; mining machine cables; trailing
machine cables; and numerous others.
At high frequencies, current travels near the surface of the wire
because of the skin effect, resulting in increased power loss in the wire.
Stranded wire might seem to reduce this effect, since the total surface
area of the strands is greater than the surface area of the equivalent
solid wire, but ordinary stranded wire does not reduce the skin effect
because all the strands are short-circuited together and behave as a
single conductor. A stranded wire will have higher resistance than a
solid wire of the same diameter because the cross-section of the
stranded wire is not all copper; there are unavoidable gaps between
the strands (this is the circle packing problem for circles within a
circle). A stranded wire with the same cross-section of conductor as a
solid wire is said to have the same equivalent gauge and is always a
larger diameter.
However, for many high-frequency applications, proximity effect is
more severe than skin effect, and in some limited cases, simple
stranded wire can reduce proximity effect. For better performance at
high frequencies, litz wire, which has the individual strands insulated
and twisted in special patterns, may be used.
Number of strands[edit]

The more individual wire strands in a wire bundle, the more flexible,
kink-resistant, break-resistant, and stronger the wire becomes.
However, more strands increases manufacturing complexity and cost.
For geometrical reasons, the lowest number of strands usually seen is
7: one in the middle, with 6 surrounding it in close contact. The next
level up is 19, which is another layer of 12 strands on top of the 7.
After that the number varies, but 37 and 49 are common, then in the
70 to 100 range (the number is no longer exact). Even larger numbers
than that are typically found only in very large cables.
For application where the wire moves, 19 is the lowest that should be
used (7 should only be used in applications where the wire is placed
and then does not move), and 49 is much better. For applications with
constant repeated movement, such as assembly robots
and headphone wires, 70 to 100 is mandatory.
For applications that need even more flexibility, even more strands are
used (welding cables are the usual example, but also any application
that needs to move wire in tight areas). One example is a 2/0 wire
made from 5,292 strands of No. 36 gauge wire. The strands are
organized by first creating a bundle of 7 strands. Then 7 of these
bundles are put together into super bundles. Finally 108 super
bundles are used to make the final cable. Each group of wires is
wound in a helix so that when the wire is flexed, the part of a bundle
that is stretched moves around the helix to a part that is compressed
to allow the wire to have less stress.
Prefused[edit]

Prefused wire is stranded wire made up of strands that are

heavily tinned, then fused together. Prefused wire has many of the
properties of solid wire, except it is less likely to break.[7]
Braided wire[edit]
A braided wire consists of a number of small strands of wire braided
together.[8] Braided wires do not break easily when flexed. Braided
wires are often suitable as an electromagnetic shield in noise-reduction
cables.
The outer conductor of this miniature coaxial cable (RG 58 type)is
made of braided wire. Heavier braided cables are used for electrical
connections that need a degree of flexibility, for example, connections
to bus bars.

Varieties[edit]

Germanium diode bonded with gold wire

 Hook-up wire is small-to-medium gauge, solid or stranded,

insulated wire, used for making internal connections inside
electrical or electronic devices. It is often tin-plated to
improve solderability.
 Wire bonding is the application of microscopic wires for making
electrical connections inside semiconductor components and
integrated circuits.
 Magnet wire is solid wire, usually copper, which, to allow closer
winding when making electromagnetic coils, is insulated only with
varnish, rather than the thicker plastic or other insulation
commonly used on electrical wire. It is used for the winding
of motors, transformers, inductors, generators, speaker coils, etc. (
For further information about copper magnet wire, see: Copper wire
and cable#Magnet wire (Winding wire).).
 Coaxial cable is a cable consisting of an inner conductor,
surrounded by a tubular insulating layer typically made from a
flexible material with a high dielectric constant, all of which is then
surrounded by another conductive layer (typically of fine woven
wire for flexibility, or of a thin metallic foil), and then finally covered
again with a thin insulating layer on the outside. The term coaxial
comes from the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing the
 same geometric axis. Coaxial cables are often used as a
transmission line for radio frequency signals. In a hypothetical ideal
coaxial cable the electromagnetic field carrying the signal exists
only in the space between the inner and outer conductors. Practical
cables achieve this objective to a high degree. A coaxial cable
provides extra protection of signals from external electromagnetic
interference, and effectively guides signals with low emission along
the length of the cable which in turn affects thermal heat inside the
conductivity of the wire.
 Speaker wire is used to make a low-resistance electrical
connection between loudspeakers and audio amplifiers. Some high-
end modern speaker wire consists of multiple electrical conductors
individually insulated by plastic, similar to Litz wire.
 Resistance wire is wire with higher than normal resistivity, often
used for heating elements or for making wire-
wound resistors. Nichrome wire is the most common type.

Common Electrical Wire splices and Joints

As a student in Electrical Installation and Maintenance you should
acquire the important knowledge and skills in wire splices and joints
and should be familiar with the actual application of every splice and
joint. This will serve as your tool in performing actual wiring
installation. Of course, another factor is the knowledge in interpreting
and analyzing the wiring diagram especially if the circuit is
complicated.

The following are the Common Electrical Wire Splices and Joints

Rat Tail or Pig Tail

This kind of joint is commonly used to join two or more conductors

inside the junction box. It is suitable for service where there is no
mechanical stress when wires are to be connected in an outlet box,
switch, or conduit fitting

Y-Splice

This method of wrapping is generally used on small cables because the

strands are flexible and all can be wrapped in one operation.

Knotted tap

Joint all the splices discussed up to this point are known as butted
splices. Each was made by joining the free ends of the conductors
together. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to join a branch
conductor to a continuous wire called the main wire. Such a junction
is called a tap joint.

Plain tap joint

This is used where the tap wire is under considerable tensile stress
circuit.
 Aerial Tap

This is used as a temporary tap usually done in constructions sites.

The easy twist will facilitate tap wire movement.

  Duplex cross joint

This is a two-tap wire turned simultaneously and is used where the

two tap wire is under heavy tensile stress.

 Western Union Short-tie Splice

This is the most widely used splice or joint in interior wiring

installation to extend the        length of wire from one point to another.

  Western  Union Long-tie Splice

This is used extensively for outside wiring to extend the length of wire
from one end to another.

Cross Joint

The same application is done as in plain tap and the only difference is
that this tap is a combination of two plain taps place side by side with
each other.

Wrapped tap or Tee joint

This is used on large solid conductors where it is difficult to wrap the

heavy tap wire around the main wire.
Electrical cable diagram

Flexible mains cable with three 2.5 mm2 solid copper conductors

An electrical cable is an assembly of one or more wires running side by
side or bundled, which is used to carry electric current.
A cable assembly is the composition of one or more electrical cables
and their corresponding connectors.[1] A cable assembly is not
necessarily suitable for connecting two devices but can be a partial
product (e.g. to be soldered onto a printed circuit board with a
connector mounted to the housing). Cable assemblies can also take the
form of a cable tree or cable harness, used to connect many terminals
together.

The term cable originally referred to a nautical line of specific length

where multiple ropes are combined to produce a strong thick line that
was used to anchor large ships. As electric technology developed,
people changed from using bare copper wire to using groupings of
wires and various sheathing and shackling methods that resembled
the mechanical cabling so the term was adopted for electrical wiring.
In the 19th century and early 20th century, electrical cable was often
insulated using cloth, rubber or paper. Plastic materials are generally
used today, except for high-reliability power cables. The term has also
come to be associated with communications because of its use in
electrical communications.
6 inch (15 cm) outside diameter, oil-cooled cables, traversing
the Grand Coulee Dam throughout. An example of a heavy cable for
power transmission.
Electrical cables are used to connect two or more devices, enabling the
transfer of electrical signals or power from one device to the other.
Cables are used for a wide range of purposes, and each must be
tailored for that purpose. Cables are used extensively in electronic
devices for power and signal circuits. Long-distance communication
takes place over undersea cables. Power cables are used for bulk
transmission of alternating and direct current power, especially
using high-voltage cable. Electrical cables are extensively used
in building wiring for lighting, power and control circuits permanently
installed in buildings. Since all the circuit conductors required can be
installed in a cable at one time, installation labor is saved compared to
certain other wiring methods.
Physically, an electrical cable is an assembly consisting of one or more
conductors with their own insulations and optional screens, individual
covering(s), assembly protection and protective covering(s). Electrical
cables may be made more flexible by stranding the wires. In this
process, smaller individual wires are twisted or braided together to
produce larger wires that are more flexible than solid wires of similar
size. Bunching small wires before concentric stranding adds the most
flexibility. Copper wires in a cable may be bare, or they may be plated
with a thin layer of another metal, most often tin but
sometimes gold, silver or some other material. Tin, gold, and silver are
much less prone to oxidation than copper, which may lengthen wire
life, and makes soldering easier. Tinning is also used to provide
lubrication between strands. Tinning was used to help removal of
rubber insulation. Tight lays during stranding makes the cable
extensible (CBA – as in telephone handset cords).[further explanation needed]
Cables can be securely fastened and organized, such as by using
trunking, cable trays, cable ties or cable lacing. Continuous-flex
or flexible cables used in moving applications within cable carriers can
be secured using strain relief devices or cable ties.
At high frequencies, current tends to run along the surface of the
conductor. This is known as the skin effect.

Fire test in Sweden, showing fire rapidly spreading through the

burning of cable insulation, a phenomenon of great importance for
cables used in some installations.

500,000 circular mil (254 mm2) single conductor power cable

Cables and electromagnetic fields[edit]

Coaxial cable

Twisted pair cabling
Any current-carrying conductor, including a cable, radiates
an electromagnetic field. Likewise, any conductor or cable will pick up
energy from any existing electromagnetic field around it. These effects
are often undesirable, in the first case amounting to unwanted
transmission of energy which may adversely affect nearby equipment
or other parts of the same piece of equipment; and in the second case,
unwanted pickup of noise which may mask the desired signal being
carried by the cable, or, if the cable is carrying power supply or control
voltages, pollute them to such an extent as to cause equipment
malfunction.
The first solution to these problems is to keep cable lengths in
buildings short since pick up and transmission are essentially
proportional to the length of the cable. The second solution is to route
cables away from trouble. Beyond this, there are particular cable
designs that minimize electromagnetic pickup and transmission. Three
of the principal design techniques are shielding, coaxial geometry,
and twisted-pair geometry.
Shielding makes use of the electrical principle of the Faraday cage. The
cable is encased for its entire length in foil or wire mesh. All wires
running inside this shielding layer will be to a large extent decoupled
from external electrical fields, particularly if the shield is connected to
a point of constant voltage, such as earth or ground. Simple shielding
of this type is not greatly effective against low-
frequency magnetic fields, however - such as magnetic "hum" from a
nearby power transformer. A grounded shield on cables operating at
2.5 kV or more gathers leakage current and capacitive current,
protecting people from electric shock and equalizing stress on the
cable insulation.
Coaxial design helps to further reduce low-frequency magnetic
transmission and pickup. In this design the foil or mesh shield has a
circular cross section and the inner conductor is exactly at its center.
This causes the voltages induced by a magnetic field between the
shield and the core conductor to consist of two nearly equal
magnitudes which cancel each other.
A twisted pair has two wires of a cable twisted around each other. This
can be demonstrated by putting one end of a pair of wires in a hand
drill and turning while maintaining moderate tension on the line.
Where the interfering signal has a wavelength that is long compared to
the pitch of the twisted pair, alternate lengths of wires develop
opposing voltages, tending to cancel the effect of the interference.
Fire protection
In building construction, electrical cable jacket material is a potential
source of fuel for fires. To limit the spread of fire along cable jacketing,
one may use cable coating materials or one may use cables with
jacketing that is inherently fire retardant. The plastic covering on some
metal clad cables may be stripped off at installation to reduce the fuel
source for fires. Inorganic coatings and boxes around cables safeguard
the adjacent areas from the fire threat associated with unprotected
cable jacketing. However, this fire protection also traps heat generated
from conductor losses, so the protection must be thin.
To provide fire protection to a cable, the insulation is treated with fire
retardant materials, or non-combustible mineral insulation is
used (see Mineral-insulated copper-clad cable).
Types
A 250 V, 16 A electrical cable on a reel.

 Coaxial cable – used for radio frequency signals, for example

in cable television distribution systems.
 Direct-buried cable
 Flexible cables
 Filled cable
 Heliax cable
 Non-metallic sheathed cable (or nonmetallic building wire, NM,
NM-B)[2]
 Metallic sheathed cable (or armored cable, AC, or BX)[2]
 Multicore cable (consist of more than one wire and is covered by
cable jacket)
 Paired cable – Composed of two individually insulated
conductors that are usually used in DC or low-frequency AC
applications
 Portable cord – Flexible cable for AC power in portable
applications
 Ribbon cable – Useful when many wires are required. This type
of cable can easily flex, and it is designed to handle low-level
voltages.
 Shielded cable – Used for sensitive electronic circuits or to
provide protection in high-voltage applications.
 Single cable (from time to time this name is used for wire)
 Structured cabling
 Submersible cable
 Twin and earth
 Twinax cable
 Twin-lead – This type of cable is a flat two-wire line. It is
commonly called a 300 Ω line because the line has an impedance of
300 Ω. It is often used as a transmission line between an antenna
 and a receiver (e.g., TV and radio). These cables are stranded to
lower skin effects.
 Twisted pair – Consists of two interwound insulated wires. It
resembles a paired cable, except that the paired wires are twisted
Codes and colours
CENELEC HD 361 is a ratified standard published by CENELEC,
which relates to wire and cable marking type, whose goal is to
harmonize cables. 

Wiring Terminology

It helps to understand a few basic terms used to describe wiring.

An electrical wire is a type of conductor, which is a material that
conducts electricity. In the case of household wiring, the conductor
itself is usually copper or aluminum (or copper-sheathed aluminum)
and is either a solid metal conductor or stranded wire. Most wires in a
home are insulated, meaning they are wrapped in a nonconductive
plastic coating. One notable exception is ground wires, which are
typically solid copper and are either insulated with green sheathing or
uninsulated (bare).

The most common type of wiring in modern homes is in the form

of nonmetallic (NM) cable, which consists of two or more individual
wires wrapped inside a protective plastic sheathing. NM cable usually
contains one or more “hot” (current-carrying) wires, a neutral wire, and
a ground wire.

As an alternative to NM cable, individual wires can be installed inside

of a rigid or flexible metal or plastic tubing called conduit. Conduit is
typically used where the wiring will be exposed and not hidden inside
walls, floors, or ceilings.

These larger wires in your home are carrying circuit voltage, and they
can be very dangerous to touch. There are also several wires in your
home that carry much lesser amounts of "low-voltage" current. These
are less dangerous, and with some, the voltage carried is so low that
there is virtually no chance of shock. However, until you know exactly
what kind of wires you are dealing with, it's best to treat them all as
dangerous.
 NM Cable

Often called “Romex” after one popular brand name, NM cable is a type
of circuit wiring designed for interior use in dry locations. Most NM
cables have a flattened tubular shape and run invisibly through the
walls and floor cavities of your home. Almost all of the wiring in outlets
and light fixtures a modern home is NM cable. The most common sizes
and their amperage (amp) ratings are:

o 14-gauge (15-amp circuits)

o 12-gauge (20-amp circuits)
o 10-gauge (30-amp circuits)
o 8-gauge (40-amp circuits)
o 6-gauge (55-amp circuits)

NM cable is now sold with a color-coded outer jacket to indicate its wire
gauge:

o White sheathing indicates NM cable with 14-gauge

conductors.
o Yellow sheathing indicates NM cable with 12-gauge
conductors.
o Orange sheathing indicates NM cable with 10-gauge
conductors.
o Black-sheathed cable is used for both 6- and 8-gauge wire.
o Gray sheathing is not used for NM cable but is reserved for
underground (UF) cable.

NM cable is dangerous to handle while the circuit handles are carrying

voltage.

UF Cable

Underground Feeder (UF) is a type of nonmetallic cable designed for

wet locations and direct burial in the ground. It is commonly used for
supplying outdoor fixtures, such as lampposts. Like standard NM
cable, UF contains insulated hot and neutral wires, plus a bare ground
wire. But while sheathing on NM cable is a separate plastic wrap, UF
cable sheathing is solid plastic that surrounds each wire. UF cable is
normally sold with gray outer sheathing.
 UF cable is also used for major circuit wiring, and it carries a
dangerous amount of voltage as long as the circuits are turned on.

THHN/THWN Wire

THHN and THWN are codes for the two most common types of
insulated wire used inside the conduit. Unlike NM cable, in which two
or more individual insulated conductors are bundled inside a plastic
sheathing, THHN and THWN wires are single conductors, each with its
color-coded insulation. Instead of being protected by NM cable
sheathing, these wires are protected by tubular metal or plastic
conduit.

Conduit is often used in unfinished areas, such as basements and

garages, and for short exposed runs inside the home, such as wiring
connections for garbage disposers and hot water heaters. The letters
indicate specific properties of the wire insulation:

o T: Thermoplastic
o H: Heat-resistant; HH means highly heat-resistant
o W: Rated for wet locations
o N: Nylon-coated, for added protection

THHN and THWN wires have colored sheathings that are generally used
to identify their function in a circuit:

o Hot wires: Black, red, orange

o Neutral wires: White, brown
o Ground wires: Green, yellow-green

THHN and THWN wires are circuit wires that should never be handled
when the circuits are turned on.

Low-Voltage Wire

Low-voltage wiring is used for circuits typically requiring 50 volts or

less. Several common types are landscape lighting wire, sprinkler
system connections, bell wire (for doorbells), speaker system wires, and
thermostat wires. Wire sizes range from about 22 gauge to 12 gauge.
Low-voltage wires typically are insulated and may be contained in cable
sheathing or combined in twisted pairs, similar to lamp cord wire. It
must be used only for low-voltage applications. These are typically very
small wires that are much different from standard circuit wiring.
Serious shocks rarely occur with low-voltage wires, but it is still always
best to turn off devices before working with them.

Phone and Data Wire

Telephone and data wiring are low-voltage wires used for “landline”

telephones and internet hookups. Telephone cable may contain four or
eight wires. Category 5 (Cat 5) cable, the most common type of
household data wiring, contains eight wires wrapped together in four
pairs. It can be used for both phone and data transmission and offers
greater capacity and quality than standard phone wire.

Although data wiring does carry a small amount of voltage, anything

under 30 volts is generally regarded as safe (a household circuit carries
about 120-volts of power). However, there is always a danger of data
wiring coming into contact with household wiring, so you should treat
it with caution and avoid touching bare wires.

Coaxial Cable

Coaxial cable is beginning to grow less common, thanks to the use of

other forms of data wiring, such as HDMI, for television data
transmission. Coaxial cable is a round jacketed cable that features an
inner conductor surrounded by a tubular insulating layer, surrounded
by a tubular conducting shield made of braided wire. It can be
identified by the threaded connectors that are used to make unions and
device hookups.

Coaxial cable was once the standard for connecting televisions to

antenna or cable service delivery and is still often used to connect
satellite dishes or to bring subscription television service to an in-home
distribution point. It typically has black or white insulation and is
perfectly round in shape, making it easy to distinguish from NM
electrical circuit cables.

The minuscule amount of voltage carried by coaxial cable signals

makes it very unlikely to cause shock of any type—provided the cables
are not in contact with another source of current.

Related Concepts

 About Electrical and Wire Ways Snaps

 About Adding Wires
 Related Tasks

 To Specify Annotation for Wire Styles

Was this helpful?
 Yes
 No

Find related content

Articles, videos & help

 To Reorient the Model to the Home View

PRODUCT DOCUMENTATION

 Using subscription software at home

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

 Autodesk home use rights

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Accepted forum posts

 multiple objects
 Ribbon in Global and US Imperial.
 Electrical Devices & wiring issues

Need Help?
Tell us about your issue and find the best support option.

CONTACT SUPPORT  
 

Post a Question, Get an Answer

Get answers fast from Autodesk support staff and product experts in
the forums.
Visit AutoCAD MEP forum
 AutoCAD MEP Ideas
Share and vote on ideas for future product releases.
Go to ideas

Find Service Providers

Connect, consult with, and hire trusted industry experts on the
Autodesk Services Marketplace.
Browse providers for AutoCAD MEP
FOLLOW AUTODESK

 Facebook

 Twitter

 LinkedIn

 Instagram

 All social media

PRODUCTS
 Free product trials
 3D CAD software
 Civil engineering
 Drafting
 Manufacturing
 Product design
 Find by industry
 Industry collections
BUYING
 Buy online
 Special offers
 Manage your account
 Help with buying
 Download your software
 Returns & refunds
 Subscription renewal
SUPPORT & LEARNING
 Product support
 Software installation, registration & licensing
 Updates & service packs
 System requirements
 Students & educators
 Classes on demand
 Events & training
 Training & certification
 Autodesk University
ABOUT AUTODESK
Autodesk is a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment
software.
 About us
 Careers
 Contact us
 Investor relations
 Trust center
 Newsroom
 Suppliers
 Affiliate program
 Privacy/Cookies
 About our Ads
 Legal Notices & Trademarks
 Report Noncompliance
 Sitemap
© Copyright 2020 Autodesk Inc. All rights reserved

Except where otherwise noted, work provided on Autodesk

Knowledge Network is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
License. Please see the Autodesk Creative Commons FAQ for more
information. See also[edit]

 For electrical power transmission see: Power cable, High-voltage

cable and HVDC

 Barbed wire
 Cable
 Chicken wire
 Electrical connector
 Electrical wiring
 Litz wire
 Piano wire
 Razor wire
 THHN
 Tinsel wire
 Wire bonding
 Wire gauge
 Wire netting
 Wire rope
 Wire wrapped jewelry
 Wollaston wire

Notes[edit]

1. ^ Swiger Coil Systems. "Edgewound Coils". Swiger Coil

Systems, A Wabtec Company. Archived from the original on 19
December 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
2. ^ Jack Ogden, 'Classical Gold wire: Some Aspects of its
Manufacture and Use', Jewellery Studies, 5, 1991, pp. 95–105.
3. ^ Jack Ogden, 'Connections between Islam, Europe, and
the Far East in the Medieval Period: The Evidence of the Jewelry
Technology'. Eds P. Jett, J Douglas, B. McCarthy, J
Winter. Scientific Research in the Field of Asian Art. Fiftieth-
Anniversary Symposium Proceedings. Archetype Publications,
London in association with the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian
Institution, 2003.
4. ^ H. R. Schubert, 'The wiredrawers of Bristol' Journal Iron
& Steel Institute 159 (1948), 16-22.
5. ^ M. B. Donald, Elizabethan Monopolies: Company of
Mineral and Battery Works (Olver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1961), 95-
141.
6. ^ D. G. Tucker, 'The seventeenth century wireworks at
Whitebrook, Monmouthshire' Bull. Hist. Metall. Gp 7(1) (1973),
28-35.
7. ^ "Types of Strand Construction". Industrial Electric Wire &
Cable. 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
8. ^ Hogsett, Jamie; Oehler, Sara (2012). Show Your Colors:
30 Flexible Beading Wire Jewelry Projects. Kalmbach Books.
p. 12. ISBN 978-0-87116-755-2.
 References[edit]

  This article incorporates text from a publication now in

the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911).
"Wire". Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press. p. 738.

External links[edit]

Look
up wire in
Wiktionary,
the free
dictionary.

 Wire Gauge to Diameter—Diameter to Wire Gauge Converter  -

Online calculator converts gauge to diameter or diameter to gauge
for any wire size.
Authority GND: 4150519-0
control  NDL: 00562979
Categories: 
 Wire
Navigation menu

 Not logged in
 Talk
 Contributions
 Create account
 Log in
 Article
 Talk
 Read
 Edit
 View history
Search
Search Go

 Main page
 Contents
 Featured content
 Current events
 Random article
 Donate to Wikipedia
 Wikipedia store
Interaction
 Help
 About Wikipedia
 Community portal
 Recent changes
 Contact page
Tools
 What links here
 Related changes
 Upload file
 Special pages
 Permanent link
 Page information
 Wikidata item
 Cite this page
In other projects
 Wikimedia Commons
Print/export
 Download as PDF
 Printable version
Languages
 ‫العربية‬
 Español
 Français
 Bahasa Indonesia
 Bahasa Melayu
 Português
 Русский
 Tagalog
 中文
58 more
Edit links
 This page was last edited on 29 January 2020, at 02:44 (UTC).
 Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you
agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a
registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit
organization

 Uncategorized
 janmclaine
 March 3, 2017

Leave a Reply

March 2017
M T W T F S S
     
  1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31  
SOCIAL

 View Jan Mclaine Raluda Yalim’s profile on Facebook

 View Jan Mclaine Dalura Milay’s profile on Instagram
CATEGORIES

Categories   
Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com

Electrical cable
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
For other uses, see Cable (disambiguation).
This article needs additional citations
for verification. Please help improve this
article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Electrical
cable" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (
September 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this
 template message)

Contents

 1Etymology
 2Modern applications
o 2.1Cables and electromagnetic fields
o 2.2Fire protection
o 2.3Types
o 2.4Codes and colours
 3Hybrid cables
 4See also
 5References
 6Further reading
 7External links

Etymology[edit]
This section does not cite any sources. Please
help improve this section by adding citations to
reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Electrical
cable" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR 
(August 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this
template message)
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Electrical
cable" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August
2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this

section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material
may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Electrical
cable" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August
2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message
 References[edit]

1. ^ "What Is a Cable Assembly?". wiseGEEK. Retrieved 1

July 2019.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b "Electrical Wiring FAQ (Part 2 of 2)Section -
What is Romex/NM/NMD? What is BX? When should I use
each?". faqs.org.

Further reading[edit]

 R. M. Black, The History of Electric Wires and Cables, Peter

Pergrinus, London 1983 ISBN 0-86341-001-4
 BICC Cables Ltd, "Electric Cables Handbook", WileyBlackwell;
London 3rd Edition 1997, ISBN 0-632-04075-0

External links[edit]

Look
up cable in
Wiktionary,
the free
dictionary.

Wikimedia
Commons has
media related
to Electric
cables.

  "Cables, Electric"  . The New Student's Reference Work. 1914.

Authority
NDL: 00561415
control 
Categories: 
 Cables
 Electrical wiring
Navigation menu

 Not logged in
 Talk
 Contributions
 Create account
 Log in
 Article
 Talk
 Read
 Edit
 View history
Search
Search Go

 Main page
 Contents
 Featured content
 Current events
 Random article
 Donate to Wikipedia
 Wikipedia store
Interaction
 Help
 About Wikipedia
 Community portal
 Recent changes
 Contact page
Tools
 What links here
 Related changes
 Upload file
 Special pages
 Permanent link
 Page information
 Wikidata item
 Cite this page
In other projects
 Wikimedia Commons
Print/export
 Download as PDF
 Printable version
Languages
 ‫العربية‬
 Español
 Esperanto
 Français
 हिन्दी
 Bahasa Indonesia
 Bahasa Melayu
 Русский
 中文
50 more
Edit links
 This page was last edited on 6 November 2019, at 00:13 (UTC).
 Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you
agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a
registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation

Common Types of Electrical Wire Used in the Home

Written by 
Timothy Thiele
Updated 11/12/19

 
Peter Frank / Getty Images
 01of 07