Hello. I'm making a purchase online for a project I'm planning, that will include Nano, 2 relays, 2, transistors, 4 diodes, 2 push buttons, and IR sensor and a motor. Maybe a few more stuff but that's generally. I'm planning solder all the stuff to a soldering board, and I was wondering which type of wire is better for circuit boards- regular-flexible or the harder-sturdier type? in both of them I was going for 22-24 AWG.
Thanks.
I think you will get many answers to this question.
I'm an amateur compared to many here but I prefer solid core bread board wires because you can bend the leads to hold them in place, route them easily, and I believe the lowered surface area of the solid core helps to minimize capacitance issues within the wire.
This is a long thread, but it has so much good info in it and an index:
Share tips you have come across - Using Arduino / General Electronics - Arduino Forum
Here are some ideas:
1 Like
True enough but ...
The primary consideration is - will these wires be moved?
Solid (single) core wire is used for connections that will never be moved - apart from the construction cycle. That may be a wire from one point to another on the same PCB.
Single core wire is used for telephone cabling and house wiring - though the ground wire is often multi-strand. These get moved for re-wiring very occasionally so are unlikely to break from repeated bending (and the termination point is often considered to be expendable 
). Nevertheless even there the use of multi-strand wire for a ground wire is specifically to ensure that it is far less likely to break from re-work (or indeed, any other reason) as it it critical to safety.
Wires from one part of your assembly to another generally should be multi-strand as they tend to be moved around quite a surprising amount as you assemble and re-work it. But they are more difficult to solder and the attachment point where they are stiffened by the solder tends to be a stress point and needs to be carefully managed - that is a contentious issue.
regular-flexible or the harder-sturdier type
- Solid wire is a poor choice as it does not stand up to many bend cycles.
- "normal" stranded wire is "OK" (i.e. 7strands of xxx). The PVC insulation will melt and is somewhat stiff for small parts.
- I use Silicone insulated wire I purchase on eBay. Something like this.
This wire doesn't melt near the solder joint so it makes a very professional installation. The strand count is 50+ making this wire nearly limp like spaghette (cooked). Very easy to work with.
Would it be fair to say it's a decent choice for connecting components on the same PCB, as OP specified? Provided the connections are fixed and the wire is not meant to be bent repeatedly?
They would be fixed indeed.
30AWG solid wire wrap wire is fine for low current, component to component, interconnection on a PCB.
Yes, if there is flexing, stranded wire must be considered.
The wires interconnecting PCBs, switches, LEDs etc. should be stranded.
The stranded silicone insulated wires mentioned are G R E A T !
24 AWG has 40 strands
Love this wire.
1 Like
Expensive tastes! 
For your application of soldering onto protoboard PCB, sold wire is by far the cheapest and most convenient way to go. You can buy solid breadboard jumper wire packs that are cut and stripped ready to use in breadboard or solder easily into protoboard PCB. Use some needle nose pliers to bend these at right angles to route them neatly around your PCB and color code them for the different signal types for a professional looking prototype. For example; red for V+, black for GND, blue for digital, etc.
In more complex applications there are things such as frequency response and current carrying capability you should consider when choosing wire types but they don't seem to apply in this specific case. I think the biggest concern for you is price and ease of use.
If you need to make off PCB connections use a PCB screw header and switch to stranded wire to allow you the flexibility to route wires without them breaking.
Here is an example of a jumper wire pack that are really useful:
2 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.