huw_capper Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Hello all and I hope everyone is well. I've decided to start wiring tiny surface mount leds or (smds) and leds into vehicles to give lights like headlights and emergency vehicles with blue flashing lights, as the lights are so small naturally it needs thinner wires to route to them in the vehicle this also makes for a better look as you can hide them inside the vehicle as they are oo gauge Oxford die-cast vehicles. The problem is I can't find any ultra thin cable anywhere, went on flea bay and bought some 28awg cable which I thought would have been thin but its the same size with the insulation plastic on as probably 7/0.2. Does anyone know where you can get really thin cable or if anyone else has done this type of work, any advice would be much appreciated. Many thanks Huw Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yardman Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Use varnish insulated copper wire. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 USB charger cables are pretty thin and keep breaking so the wire comes free. The cable itself should be OK, as they fracture near the connectors (often irritatingly intermittent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crompton 33 Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Have a look in Poundland . They have USB connector cables that you can cut up and use. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted June 30, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 30, 2020 (edited) Search for enamelled copper winding wire. It is the wire used for windings for motors (the name gives it away). It comes in different sizes but is very thin. A scalpel or something similar can be used to scratch the enamelling away at the end for soldering. You need to come up with a system though to distinguish positive/negative. Edit Huw - just thinking about this - I’ve got a couple of reels, more than I will ever use. If you want to, PM me your address and I will stick a few metres in the post for you to try. Edited June 30, 2020 by BoD to include image 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCB Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 (edited) There seems to be a lot of very small wires in old tower computers. photocopiers and the like. Thinner than anything I have found in Poundland and Insulated with plastic they are too thin for me to do anything with. Just make sure if you use 0.1 amp wire you have 0.1 amp overload protection because these wires glow red hot if they are shorted out. I think I threw the last lot in the bin which was collected today, but if not I will post pic. Might even advertise it on eBay! Edited June 30, 2020 by DavidCBroad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Roy Langridge Posted June 30, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 30, 2020 You can get coloured enamelled copper wire. Alternatively, colour one with a Sharpie. See: https://www.wires.co.uk/acatalog/coloured_craft_wires.html Roy 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium dhjgreen Posted June 30, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 30, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, BoD said: Search for enamelled copper winding wire. It is the wire used for windings for motors (the name gives it away). It comes in different sizes but is very thin. A scalpel or something similar can be used to scratch the enamelling away at the end for soldering. You need to come up with a system though to distinguish positive/negative. Most enamelled copper wire is self fluxing, no need to scrape, just tin it as if there were no enamel. Edited June 30, 2020 by dhjgreen 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCB Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 I hadn't binned my wire. It was in one of my many scrap boxes. It's less than 1mm diameter over the insulation. 6 strands. No idea what wire diameter. May well be suitable. My lengths are over 32" I regard it as too thin for the sort of applications I tend to use it for but see pics. Actually I will probably put it on eBay now I have taken photos of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Roy Langridge Posted July 1, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 1, 2020 Looks like 32 AWG stranded wire, perfect for wiring LEDs and the like to decoders. Often 0.8mm diameter although I have had thicker. It is what I use all the time. Toy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
huw_capper Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 Thanks all, have found some enamelled copper wire that is 0.2mm in diameter, so hopefully that will do the job Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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