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Where Can I Buy Cheap Wire?

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Noggin

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I need 100' of 8 different colored conductors of 20 guage wire. I don't care if it is jacketed cable or not. The best I could do on Digi-Key was 8 separate spools of 20 guage wire at $20 a pop or Mouser with 100' of 8 conductor jacketed cable for $150. It needs to be stranded and large enough for crimp connectors.

Mouser PN 1896/8C SL005

Digi-Key PNs
White C2040-12-02
Black C2040-12-01
Red C2040-12-03
Green C2040-12-06
Orange C2040-12-04
Yellow C2040-12-05
Blue C2040-12-07
Brown C2040-12-08
 
Check with the local computer centers they carry loads of network cable. that has 8 conductors but may be less than 20 Ga. Find the places that do networks for business and schools. They get miles of take out wire and that usualy just gets tossed out.
 
I realize you are very specific about your gauge and length of wire. But if one were looking for cheap multicolor hookup wire, I've been pleased with the **broken link removed**.
 
Is this for hobby or professional use? Personally I'd use two 100' runs of Cat3/5 cable and splice all the same colored wires together. That gets you the equivalent of 21 gauge wire. Three runs if you want ~19 gauge equivalent. But that's only cause I have a spool of it right here that could probably do just fine =)
 
Awesome, thanks guys. I'll check out some of these links. To answer the question as to professional/hobby use, its kind of in between. I'm doing some work for an acquaintance at slave labor costs. The wire is for making a wiring harness. He installs it using crimp connectors, so I don't want to go any smaller than 20 gauge as 22 gauge starts to feel flimsy. Using cheaper wire will allow me to recoup some of my costs.

20 hr design time
15 hr firmware time
1.5 hr assembly time per board and harness
$325 payment
$150 material costs
$80 wire cost (thanks to you guys)
= about $2 an hour

Told him the next batch of boards was going to cost more.... At least I'm not losing money now.
 
Last edited:
learning production cost analysis the hard way. priceless! (Or at least the pay has no value.) :D Been there done that! :)
 
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