The difference between single wire and stranded wire
If you deal with the subject of cables, sooner or later you will come across the terms wire and stranded wire. But what exactly is the difference and what are the advantages and disadvantages? This article takes a closer look at the main features of wires and strands and highlights the different areas of application and their advantages.
What it’s all about:
Wire and strand usually describe the inner conductor of a cable through which electrical signals are transmitted. In order to protect the signal transmission and minimise loss over distances, this inner conductor is protected with a sheath and other components. Further information on the structure of a cable, e.g. a coaxial cable, can be found at koax24.de | Structure.
A single inner conductor wire:
A wire consists of just a single conductor, often made of copper or steel. For very thin cables, a steel wire is often used to ensure stability, which is often silver-plated or copper-plated. A copper wire, sometimes tinned or silver-plated, is often used for thicker cables and offers greater flexibility compared to a steel wire.
As a rule, wires are therefore solid and therefore only slightly bendable, making them best suited for fixed installation. The advantages of a solid wire are generally a lower attenuation value and a higher electrical load capacity, which can increase signal transmission and signal quality.
Several individual wires, twisted together – stranded wire:
A stranded wire is an inner conductor with many very thin individual wires. Some of these are only a fraction of a millimetre in diameter and are braided together to form a single inner conductor. This ensures a particularly high degree of flexibility, which increases with the number of interwoven individual wires. Stranded wires are often used in moving applications where the cable is repeatedly bent.
Another advantage of stranded conductors over wires is the reduced risk of conductor breakage. The cable can still be used even if a certain number of the individual wires are broken.
Summary:
The correct choice of inner conductor is heavily dependent on the intended application of the cable. However, this should not be the only decisive factor in choosing the right cable. Other factors such as the material of the outer sheath, the insulation and other components of the cable play an important role.
On the koax24.de | product information page, you will find a lot more information on application, structure, attenuation and you can put together your desired cable assembly directly in the configurator or select one of many standard cable assemblies.
We produce for you
- Your cable assembly from just one piece
- Customised overall lengths
- Stripping on one and both sides, stripping
- Partial stripping of insulation on one and both sides
- Assembled with BNC, TNC, N, SMA, SMB, SMC, SMP, SSMB, MCX, MMCX, FME, UHF, und FAKRA Steckverbinder
- Twisting and tinning of single wires
- Crimping, soldering, winding and binding on customer request
- Screw connection and insulation displacement technology
- Quality ‘Made in Germany’
Cable assembly with our cable configurator:
Choose the right combination for you from over 200 different plugs and sockets and over 80 different cable types. Fast production thanks to large storage capacity and production in Karlsruhe! With our interactive configurator for 50 Ohm and 75 Ohm coaxial cables, you can easily select your customised cable using images and associated information – order online and it can be with you the very next day!
New: Cable assembly sorted by connector and cable!
Coaxial cables:
RG178 | RG196 A/U | RGL196 LowNoise | Kapton 1.45mm | LN5001 LowNoise | Sucoform 86 | RG174 A/U | RG174 LSNH | RG188 A/U | RG316 /C | RG316 /U | RGL316 LowNoise | RG316D – RD316 | ENVIROFLEX 316D | CLF100 | LMR 100 | LN5002 LowNoise | BEDEA MXR 0.45/1.4L LowNoise | PE-P086 | Multiflex 86 | Sucoform 86 FEP | Sucoform 86 LSFH | K_02252_D | SS405 | Multiflex 141 | Sucoform 141 | Sucoform 141 FEP | PE-P141 | Flexiform 402 | RG402 | SS402 | RG58 | RG058 | RG58 ALL | RG58 LSNH | RG58 PUR | Enviroflex 142 | RG142 | LL142 | RG223 | RG223 U-02 | Enviroflex 400 | RG 400 | H-155 PE | H-155 FRNC | H-155 PVC | H155 WC-55 PE | HyperFlex 5 | CLF195 | CLF200 | CLF240 | LMR 195 | LMR 195 UF | HF 195 ZH | LMR 200 | LMR 240 | LMR 240 UF | HF 240 LSNH | Airborne 5 | Aircell 5 | 7806A | S_04212_B PUR | S_04272_B PE | SPUMA_240-FR-01 | Aircell 7 | arnoflex 7 | HIGHFLEXX 7 | SCF14-50J | RG213 /U | RG214 /U | RG214 LSNH | LMR 400 | LMR 400 UF | HF 400 ZH | HyperFlex 10 | Ecoflex 10 | Ecoflex 10 Plus | Aircom Premium | Ecoflex 15 | Ecoflex 15 plus | LMR 600 | LMR 600 FR |
