Wire for the S.E.X. kit

[David E]

The cat-5 wire is so small it's very hard to work and it keeps breaking,  does it madder if I take it up a notch to 22 ga. wire. I don't mine twisting the wires together.

[Paul Birkeland]

Is it breaking when you strip it or install it?  If you're having trouble stripping it, there are lots of videos and tools floating around to help with the stripping process.  If it's breaking when you go to install it, then you may be using a wire stripper that's digging into the copper during the stripping process, which will weaken the wire and cause it to break.

[David E]

Thanks, BP. I finished the build with wire that was provided. Bought a new pair of strippers that would strip 26 gage. I do think that adding the two long twisted wires so early in the build from the OT-2 output transformers was the real problem for me. I had to keep moving them out of the way as I built. Still like to know. if the wire where 22 gage would it change anything?

[Paul Birkeland]

It generally doesn't hurt anything to increase the wire size, but you can get into real trouble if you end up with stranded wire.

[David E]

OK, but that opens up a hole anther can of worms. What's wrong with stranded wire, I was under the thought that stranded wire move elec. more affectedly than solid. Thanks for the info. DLE

[Paul Birkeland]

When you go to shove stranded wire through a hole, some of the strands tend to fan out and not go through, and those can cause shorts in an amplifier.  This gets especially bad on a 9 pin socket.  Stranded wire also doesn't stay where you put it, so these wires will sag and move around when you flip your chassis plate over, and that's not ideal at all. 

[David E]

Thanks for the info,  just to let you know I finish the S.E.X. today and sounds wonderful. I now look forward to building the pre-amp for my vinyl, then the mods for  SEX. My wife saids" I will always pay double what it's worth just to do it myself". Happy Building to you PB. DLE