Cat 5 cable for SS devices

[bwhite505]

I remember reading somewhere along the line it was better to use stranded cat 5 cable vs solid copper. I cannot for the life of me find it now.  Can solid copper core cat 5 be used. I have a ton of it is why I am asking.  What are the pros and cons vs stranded and solid?

Thanks,

Brian

[chrisatpsu]

It has to do with you're sending more current in the cable than normal data lines, plus the solid cable is rated for not moving anymore, once it's in the wall.  I believe you'll be able to get the cables later on. (either as in a coop, or RJ may give us the link on where to find them)

[gophergrove]

The solid will work until the repeated coiling and kinking affects one of the wires to the point of shorting or breaking.  As Chris said, the solid is designed for permanent installation in walls while patch cables (stranded) are for handling and moving without breaking.

Speaking of solid cable, I have a question for RJ - can we use standard Cat5 jacks/patch panels to create a permanent link for SS devices.  One thought is running cable to jacks in specific locations on your home such as eaves/gables so when you install the strings you just need short patch cables from the wall outlet and then another one from the hub to your patch panel - like we do for data networks.  Just a thought.

[wbuehler]

I remember reading somewhere along the line it was better to use stranded cat 5 cable vs solid copper. I cannot for the life of me find it now.  Can solid copper core cat 5 be used. I have a ton of it is why I am asking.  What are the pros and cons vs stranded and solid?

Thanks,

Brian

Only stranded cat 5 cable should be used with the smart strings.  Everyone must remember that the cable will be carrying power.

Bill

[chrisatpsu]

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Stranded vs. Solid Wire
This one is a bit of a mind-boggler, but it's important. When electricity flows through a wire, it mostly flows on the surface of the wire, not through the middle. This effect is more pronounced on high frequency AC than it is on DC or low frequency AC. This means that a "wire" of a given size that made up of many smaller strands can carry more power than a solid wire - simply because the stranded wire has more surface area. This is one reason why battery cables in your car and welding cables are made up of many very fine strands of smaller wire - it allows them to safely carry more power with less of that power being dissipated as heat.

[Trepidati0n]

Taken from : You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login:

Stranded vs. Solid Wire
This one is a bit of a mind-boggler, but it's important. When electricity flows through a wire, it mostly flows on the surface of the wire, not through the middle. This effect is more pronounced on high frequency AC than it is on DC or low frequency AC. This means that a "wire" of a given size that made up of many smaller strands can carry more power than a solid wire - simply because the stranded wire has more surface area. This is one reason why battery cables in your car and welding cables are made up of many very fine strands of smaller wire - it allows them to safely carry more power with less of that power being dissipated as heat.

Skin effect has neligble effect at the frequencies of concern in terms of CAT5 and power capability.  Unless RJ is doing something special, the PWM on the LED's isn't much better than 100kHz which is a 25GA wire WORST CASE.  Also,  the long runs of these cables will have higher inductance.  These effect will create a constant curent source in effect further marginalizing the skin effect.  The little PICs internal oscillators are also not synced which will further average out the current to be more DC like.

The only reason for stranded in this case as previously mentioned is that they won't break when you wiggle them around year after year.

[wbuehler]

The use of stranded cable is listed in the power requirements doc.  Power is being run across multiple pairs to help distribute the load.  If a pair get broken, this then leads to the remaining pairs to take up the slack.

Using stranded cable makes the cable more flexible thus less prone to breaks as the cable gets bent, flexes...etc... and helps with distribution of the load.  While no one on this board can force or make anyone use one cable type over the other, it has been stated in the power requirements doc to use stranded.  If anyone decides to use solid core, then that is your choice but if you start to have issues, don't say that you were not warned.

Bill

[taybrynn]

I've noticed that most of the CAT5 cables sold at say monoprice is stranded AWG24 (AWG 22 shows 5A@12V max) .

Should we buy the shortest distance needed, in order to minimize power losses?

I'm also thinking of putting the hub in the middle of the SS controllers, to minimize distances needed.

[Trepidati0n]

I believe RJ has mentioned he is going to setup something like the SS where a price wil lbe pre-negotiated giving us a break.