Copper Is Used In Most Electrical Wire
Copper is the best conductor of electricity which makes it the most popular type of electrical wire in the industry. There is also aluminum wire, silver plated copper and nickel plated copper but for the most part copper is used the most often.
Hook up wire is used in appliances, wire harnesses, circuit boards, computers and more. It has thin 30 awg copper strands with multiple making up different gauge sizes. Meaning 7 strands of 30 awg copper is 22 awg PVC wire, 10 strands is 20 awg, 16 strands is 18 awg and so on. Each type of lead wire will have different types of insulation depending on the temperature, voltage and environment it will be used in.
Welding cable is much bigger as the minimum size is 6 awg with over 250 strands of 30 awg bare copper. Copper wire prices largely affect the total cost of 6 awg welding cable because of it’s size. You can expect to pay much more when copper is high and you can also expect that most manufacturers and distributors keep up to date so that they can offer fair pricing at all times.
Electrical cables and THHN building wire uses thicker copper strands in order to make it less flexible. A stiff cable is much easier to run from your electrical box to your outlets and lights than a flexible hook up wire. Likewise, it can run through conduit without getting bunched up along the way.