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Best sources for high quality copper wire (U.S)?

A.Justice

A.Justice

Swears he didn't start that fire.
Joined
Sep 12, 2020
Messages
1,561
Location
TN
I'll start off with some venting, because I don't know anyone in real life that understands my frustrations. I bought some nice (or so I thought at the time) silicone insulated 10 awg copper wire. The strands appeared to be copper, and I really like the high temperature rating and soft flexibility of the silicone. And it was relatively cheap.

I wired my ENTIRE SYSTEM with that wire, ran it through insulated conduit and everything. I made a power box, and all of the hard to get to wiring is that silicone stuff. I used a bunch of nice (pretty pricy) copper lugs on it as well.

Turns out, it's CCA (copper-clad aluminum), and the wire can't handle what I designed my system to do. I didn't notice it at first, because I only really use my load at about 50% of what it should be able to handle. As soon as I tried to solder it, I knew it was CCA. The burn test confirmed it.

Anyway, I was wondering where you guys get your wire. I can't find any silicone coated stuff locally, and most of the sites that have it, seem sketchy. I'm looking for 10 awg, pure or OFC, silicone cable. Any suggestions are welcome!
 
newbostonconst said:

Not sure if link will work. The higher the strain count the better the wire. Some search for welding cable as an option for the larger stuff.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I just ordered some of the 10 gauge they had, that's exactly what I wanted. I always forget how expensive wire is. I paid ~70¢ a foot for my fake CCA, I just spent $175 for 50 feet of the good stuff.

It's worth it though to keep my house from burning down, my batteries are in my bedroom, right next to the bed that me, my wife, and my small child sleep in. The extra $ is ALWAYS worth it for a safe setup. I have so many protections and fail safes, so I was really pissed off when I found out that my wire was a dangerous problem. (From what I understand you can run aluminum at about 60% of the ampacity as copper, and I run my system at 50-60%, so my wiring was at the upper limit , with 0 safety margin)

"You remember the quality long after the price is forgotten" -A smart guy.
 
I use thhn up to 2 awg for stationary stuff.
Its stiff and really hard to cut beyond 2 awg.
If I need more flex then I use 105c rated welding cable from Princess auto.
Princess auto is the Canadian equivalent of Harbor freight.
 
smoothJoey said:
I use thhn up to 2 awg for stationary stuff.
Its stiff and really hard to cut beyond 2 awg.
If I need more flex then I use 105c rated welding cable from Princess auto.
Princess auto is the Canadian equivalent of Harbor freight.
Click to expand...
I use THHN for the AC side of the system. I get a bunch of lightly used stuff from work for free, and it's really common in houses here. Never had an issue.
 
Hate giving up my “secret source”, but this might help someone!

Wire Department

test
skycraftsurplus.com skycraftsurplus.com
For example: https://skycraftsurplus.com/marine/

They have an entire room of surplus wire & cable of all types. I always stop there first.

Plan “B” - sometimes ebay has surplus, good quality partial reels, I have bought wire that was made in the 70’s and 80’s.
 
One source of wire most people forget is scrap yards. I've been a scrapper for years.
Five years ago I bought a reel of brand new 1/0 copper 3 conductor Teck 90 armored cable for 1100 bucks There was 800ft on the roll and I have finally used it up. They sold it to me for the scrap price, about a buck 35 per ft.
 
Ironman said:
One source of wire most people forget is scrap yards. I've been a scrapper for years.
Five years ago I bought a reel of brand new 1/0 copper 3 conductor Teck 90 armored cable for 1100 bucks There was 800ft on the roll and I have finally used it up. They sold it to me for the scrap price, about a buck 35 per ft.
Click to expand...
Good call! I actually use a TON of scrap wire. I work on pool equipment, and a lot of it uses heavy duty, outdoor rated, 10 guage wiring. Pretty much all of my "prototype" projects use only scrap.
 
A.Justice said:
My order has arrived, it only took 4 days to receive too! The quality difference is amazing, this stuff is built to last. AND they accidentally sent me an additional 100 ft of wire, which is more than double my order. 11/10 for Newark.com, they will for sure get repeat business from me!
Click to expand...
Link is not working
 
A.Justice said:
I'll start off with some venting, because I don't know anyone in real life that understands my frustrations. I bought some nice (or so I thought at the time) silicone insulated 10 awg copper wire. The strands appeared to be copper, and I really like the high temperature rating and soft flexibility of the silicone. And it was relatively cheap.

I wired my ENTIRE SYSTEM with that wire, ran it through insulated conduit and everything. I made a power box, and all of the hard to get to wiring is that silicone stuff. I used a bunch of nice (pretty pricy) copper lugs on it as well.

Turns out, it's CCA (copper-clad aluminum), and the wire can't handle what I designed my system to do. I didn't notice it at first, because I only really use my load at about 50% of what it should be able to handle. As soon as I tried to solder it, I knew it was CCA. The burn test confirmed it.

Anyway, I was wondering where you guys get your wire. I can't find any silicone coated stuff locally, and most of the sites that have it, seem sketchy. I'm looking for 10 awg, pure or OFC, silicone cable. Any suggestions are welcome!
Click to expand...
Such a good question. Im going thru exact problem atm. Talked to sales at batterycablesusa.com (something like that lol). This guy literally would not sell me 0 awg for battery cables. Tried explain lose amps with length I want and cuz my house burned down, Im bit pyscho bout overshooting gauge.

Anyways Im sure they would hook you up. Play around with that site name cuz dont remember it exactly.
 
Oh yea and definite OFC over CCA. I learned that too.

Also, I used conduit but not insulated. Used fire brick and welding blankets to separate things to meet my personal safety guidelines. Bit nervous with running inverter continuous cuz of freezer.
 
Last edited:
anadiner said:
Such a good question. Im going thru exact problem atm. Talked to sales at batterycablesusa.com (something like that lol). This guy literally would not sell me 0 awg for battery cables. Tried explain lose amps with length I want and cuz my house burned down, Im bit pyscho bout overshooting gauge.

Anyways Im sure they would hook you up. Play around with that site name cuz dont remember it exactly.
Click to expand...
If I need quantity, I go to the electrical supply warehouse on the other side of the city.
If I don't, I go to the orange big box store.
For my application(stationary with low corrosion potential) thhn works fine.
Xhhw is also fine but harder to work with.
I use it it with aluminum mechanical lugs which are rated for both aluminum and copper.
 
Have not ordered anything yet however I found a source on line Wireandcableyourway.com. They list cable in rolls of 500 and 1000ft as well as cut lengths. The have pv cable in 12, 10 and 8 awg 7 and 19 strand.
 
anadiner said:
Such a good question. Im going thru exact problem atm. Talked to sales at batterycablesusa.com (something like that lol). This guy literally would not sell me 0 awg for battery cables. Tried explain lose amps with length I want and cuz my house burned down, Im bit pyscho bout overshooting gauge.

Anyways Im sure they would hook you up. Play around with that site name cuz dont remember it exactly.
Click to expand...

I use that outfit for cables all of the time. Not sure what the issue was for you.

He is pretty conservative but the web store is just drop down ordering for whatever you want. No need to even talk to anyone.

I use both the tin plated and other types, depending on the project.

I am just a user, no affiliation.

There are some other suppliers on ebay that seem to be similar but I have not used them.

Quality Copper Battery Cables Made in the USA! - BatteryCablesUSA

www.batterycablesusa.com www.batterycablesusa.com
 
A.Justice said:
I'll start off with some venting, because I don't know anyone in real life that understands my frustrations. I bought some nice (or so I thought at the time) silicone insulated 10 awg copper wire. The strands appeared to be copper, and I really like the high temperature rating and soft flexibility of the silicone. And it was relatively cheap.

I wired my ENTIRE SYSTEM with that wire, ran it through insulated conduit and everything. I made a power box, and all of the hard to get to wiring is that silicone stuff. I used a bunch of nice (pretty pricy) copper lugs on it as well.

Turns out, it's CCA (copper-clad aluminum), and the wire can't handle what I designed my system to do. I didn't notice it at first, because I only really use my load at about 50% of what it should be able to handle. As soon as I tried to solder it, I knew it was CCA. The burn test confirmed it.

Anyway, I was wondering where you guys get your wire. I can't find any silicone coated stuff locally, and most of the sites that have it, seem sketchy. I'm looking for 10 awg, pure or OFC, silicone cable. Any suggestions are welcome!
Click to expand...
Lowes sells Southwire brand THHN single conductor 90c building wire. Pull through schedule 40 plastic conduit. For some reason Lowes is the best priced supplier for Southwire, which is Tier One power wire.
 
Tellico said:
Lowes sells Southwire brand THHN single conductor 90c building wire. Pull through schedule 40 plastic conduit. For some reason Lowes is the best priced supplier for Southwire, which is Tier One power wire.
Click to expand...
That’s exactly what I used in conduit from Lowe’s and PV wire from Amazon for exterior/under panel.
 
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