Question 1

What is the difference between stranded and solid wires?

Accepted Answer

solid is well...solid. Stranded is made up of alot of really small wires.  Solid is great for bread boarding because they are "stiff"  stranded is great for making wires longer (say a power cord as an example) because the wire is more flexible.

Question 2

Some reviews seem to disambiguate this but are they truly spools of solid single-conductor copper wire?

Accepted Answer

Yes, this is copper hook-up wire.  That means the wire is tinned - solid copper with a thin outer layer of tin, before the outer layer of insulation.  It is not a copper alloy as Phillip stated.

Question 3

I'm planning to solder wires to solder points on circuitboards.  Should I use stranded or solid? 22ga is good?

Accepted Answer

I prefer stranded for hook-up wire to circuit boards. Solid wire tends to break easily at the solder joint with excessive movement, which could be just enough when soldering other wires to the board. Stranded wire, provides a flexibility that solid does not have. Pre-tinned stranded wire is the best in this situation, it is bonded to be stiff like a solid wire and easily solders to the via. The stiffness of Pre-tinned wire allows you to bend the wire like a solid and it will hold its shape, and flexible enough to not break. guitarpcb dot com has the pre-tinned wire that is the best I have found.

Question 4

noob question but i need some wires for a raspberry pi, can i just use cat5 cable and use the wires from it since i can keep the casing?

Accepted Answer

Cat 5 would be fine for raspberry pi.  I use old cables for quite a few of my projects.  Look into using sprinkler wire braided as you get 18 gauge wire 7 colors and 100 feet of what it costs for the ones sold on amazon.

ASIN	B00B4ZRPEY
Brand Name	EX ELECTRONIX EXPRESS
Colour	(6 Different Colored 25 Foot Spools Included)
Customer Reviews	4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (741)
Global Trade Identification Number	00632963308727
Included Components	One Dispensing Box, Six 22 Gauge Solid Wire Spools (Red, black, green, yellow, blue, white)
Item Type Name	(6 Different Colored 25 Foot Spools Included)
Item Weight	227 g
Manufacturer	RSR Electronics Inc
Material Type	Copper
Model Number	Solid
Number Of Wires	6
Number of Items	1
Part Number	27WK22SLD25
Strands	Single Strand
UPC	632963308727 782247633219
Unit Count	1.0 Count
Voltage	300 Volts

Electronix Express- Hook up Wire Kit (Solid Wire Kit) 22 Gage (25 Feet)

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