4 conductor wire gauge

Thread Starter

stoopkid

Joined Mar 3, 2011
146
I'm looking for some 4 conductor wire to connect RGB LEDs. 18 gauge speaker wire comes up a lot but I was wondering if that means the whole thing is 18 gauge or if each conductor is 18.

Thanks!
 

thatoneguy

Joined Feb 19, 2009
6,359
Cat5 Cable, 8 strands of 4 twisted pairs, each wire is 24 gauge and can handle 1 amp without a sweat.

Cat3 telephone cable is similar, 22 or 24 gauge wire. Unless it is a long run for a high current LED, either should work fine, and the wire is cheap when purchased in bulk or off bulk reels.
 

tracecom

Joined Apr 16, 2010
3,944
I'm looking for some 4 conductor wire to connect RGB LEDs. 18 gauge speaker wire comes up a lot but I was wondering if that means the whole thing is 18 gauge or if each conductor is 18.

Thanks!
If you want cheap, try to find an old parallel printer cable at the local thrift store or computer repair shop. The wires are usually 28 gauge stranded and are fine for most low voltage, low current projects (like LED's.) Remove the outer sheath and you will find a great assortment of colored wires. Pick out some colors you like and make your own harness. You can use some tiny pieces of heat shrink tubing (or tape or bread ties) to hold the wires together.
 
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