Comparing Solid and Stranded Copper Wires

Copper wires are generally manufactured into two forms: the solid copper wire and the stranded copper wires. If manufacturing two different versions of copper wires will not make any difference at all, then none would have done so. As expected, both versions will actually have their own advantages and disadvantages. Read on to discover comparisons of uses and strength of solid copper wire vs. stranded wires. However, you must not expect the following comparisons to have a winner since the properties of either version are actually meant for very different purposes.

The first issue is the physical properties of solid copper wire vs. stranded copper wires. Both the names of solid copper wires and the stranded version imply how they were made; a solid copper wire is made of solid, undivided, uncut piece of copper wire. On the other hand, a stranded copper wire is obviously a set of separate copper wires coiled together in order to make one strand. In order to make stranded copper wires have the same gauge as a solid one, several thinner copper wires (strands) have to be woven together, usually counting from a dozen strands up to 19 strands of thinner wires. This makes the biggest and most noticeable difference between solid copper wires and stranded copper wires.

Since solid copper wire is just a single thick wire, a given gauge of a solid copper wire is much more rigid when compared to stranded wire of the same gauge. If you are going to need a tough wire that cannot be easily bent, then go for solid copper wires. This version of copper wire is best for circuits that does not need to be moved a lot and would rather be tough than flexible. You must not use solid copper wires for small circuit boards; leave it to the stranded wires.

At the same time, the rigidity of solid copper wires over stranded wires imply that the stranded version is much more flexible compared to the other. Since flexibility is much more often required than toughness, you are going to find this type used more often. Examples of its use include the wires in the cable of your computer mouse, the cable in your plugs and extensions, and on almost any cable that you can twist and turn. If you are going to need thin and flexible wires, stranded wires are what you need.

There is also a comparison in the conductivity of solid copper wire vs. stranded types. Solid copper wires have a little discrepancy when it comes to conductivity because of the skin effect. Because electricity travels more on the surface than on the core, the conducted electricity might decrease as it passes through the insulators covering the solid wire. Yet, this does not mean that stranded wires are much more conductive. Coiling together several strands of wire will cause them to have inevitable gaps (think of circles within circles). This is what contributes to its decreased conductivity. In order to offset the loss in the conductivity of stranded copper wires, Litz wires have been developed which insulates each strand separately.

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