Chubber Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Posted elsewhere, but equally valid here? Nothing brings on a big tidy-up like a house move, and as everything electronic seems to come with an ethernet cable, from PCs to routers, I had at the last count four of these things, only ever used [TMK] when setting up new kit, and totally universal. Just as I was about to consign the three shortest to the bin I thought I'd look at the cable...result?Four pairs of very fine flexible cable that looks just the job for low-current applications like wiring LEDs as unobtrusively as possible, etc.So, some SLW tokens saved for the next illuminated model, when ever that will appear!Doug Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevejjjexcov Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 How low is low volt? I only ask as I have a few spare and don't have a clue as to what power they would cope with. Any info would be helpful thanks Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chubber Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 How low is low volt? I only ask as I have a few spare and don't have a clue as to what power they would cope with. Any info would be helpful thanks Steve In the ranges we are using, it's not the volts that limit the capacity of a cable as much as the current. I can't give any definitive answer, but as LEDs draw milliamps at less than 3 volts [?] I'd be quite confident in using it for that application. Anything else, would be a 'suck it and see'. Doug Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffP Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I have a box with about 50 yds of nine core phone cable in it, exellent stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
standardblue Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Ethernet cables typically use cat5e cabling. Cat5e should be at least 24AWG (about 0.2mm^2 cross sectional area) and is specified to support a maximum voltage of 125V, so it should certainly carry power to some leds. It's maybe not the lowest resistance cable, so longer runs may have some voltage drop, particularly with higher currents. Hope this helps, Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCB Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 This stuff is great for all sorts of applications such as LED lights but it does not like being shorted across a 1 amp or more auxiliary output of a typical model railway power unit, it glows red hot and the insulation melts. Bit of a fire risk. Even worse is if it shorts a rechargable battery NiCad etc such as if your LED tags touch, I melted a groove in a Lima Diesel body with some when my LED lights shorted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 If anyone reading this wants very, very thin wire then search for 'enamel wire' or 'magnet wire'. Instead of an extruded PVC sheath it has an enamel coating, which means that the insulation can be much thinner. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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