Question about stranded vs solid wire for a control panel I just finished

I had to make a call on what wire to use for a PLC cabinet I built last week for a packaging line. Everyone online says stranded is the way to go for panels because it bends easier and holds up to vibration. But my boss insisted on solid because it stays in place better in terminal blocks and doesn't fray. I went with stranded in the end just to avoid a headache down the road with movement inside the box. Man, what a pain stripping that stuff cleanly though - kept nicking the strands with my strippers until I switched to Klein auto-strippers. The panel looks clean but I'm wondering if solid might have saved me time on termination. Has anyone else dealt with this choice on a machine that runs 24/7?

2 comments

2 Comments

rubyj1118d ago

Boy howdy, I wouldn't wish that choice on anyone. A buddy of mine built a panel for a conveyor line that runs 24/7 and he went with solid wire because his boss was cheap and had a roll sitting around. Three months later the machine was getting random faults and he tracked it down to a terminal block where the solid wire had cracked right at the screw from the constant vibration. He had to re-terminate half the panel over a weekend and told me it was the worst job he's ever done. Stranded is the way to go unless you like chasing ghosts in your control cabinet at 2 AM.

grayt4618d ago

Reminds me of the time I used solid wire in a pool pump timer and it snapped off in the dead of summer.