Many-colored 22/24AWG stranded wire?

[larwe]

A client has requested unique wire colors for ~70 wires in a harness. I
figure that at least 90 colors ought to be readily available (standard
10 "resistor band" colors plus stripe combinations). Standard PVC
insulation is fine.

Can anyone recommend a supplier? I guess I would buy perhaps 500ft of
each color, maybe 1000ft. Thought I would see something in the
automotive line or on McMaster-Carr, but I can't find this many unique
colors; the best I can find is
<http://www.planetengineers.com/default.asp?cat=Wire+PVC>.

Thanks for any pointers...

 

[Jim Stewart]

A client has requested unique wire colors for ~70 wires in a harness. I
figure that at least 90 colors ought to be readily available (standard
10 "resistor band" colors plus stripe combinations). Standard PVC
insulation is fine.

Can anyone recommend a supplier? I guess I would buy perhaps 500ft of
each color, maybe 1000ft. Thought I would see something in the
automotive line or on McMaster-Carr, but I can't find this many unique
colors; the best I can find is
<http://www.planetengineers.com/default.asp?cat=Wire+PVC>.

Never heard of such a thing. Even telco
cables with >1000 pairs use a hierarchy of
single and striped colors grouped in small
bundles with colored tracers which are then
grouped into larger bundles, etc...

Military and aerospace practice is to use
all white with each wire marked every foot
or so with a unique alphanumeric code.

 

[John Devereux]

Never heard of such a thing. Even telco
cables with >1000 pairs use a hierarchy of
single and striped colors grouped in small
bundles with colored tracers which are then
grouped into larger bundles, etc...

Military and aerospace practice is to use
all white with each wire marked every foot
or so with a unique alphanumeric code.

Farnell do up to at least 60 core colour coded cable, so it looks like
it might be possible.

If he buys some and strips it, he's almost there already!

 

[larwe]

A client has requested unique wire colors for ~70 wires in a harness. I
figure that at least 90 colors ought to be readily available (standard

Never heard of such a thing. Even telco
cables with >1000 pairs use a hierarchy of
[...]

Military and aerospace practice is to use

I suspect military, aerospace and even telco are not dealing with
$1-per-hour unskilled labor plugging the wires in... But the customer
is always right. I did suggest using the ten standard solid colors, and
grouping bundles by function.

I've seen all the colors I want in arcade games and car harnesses. I
just can't find a supplier that has a rainbow catalog.

 

[smilo]

Jim Stewart wrote:

A client has requested unique wire colors for ~70 wires in a harness. I
figure that at least 90 colors ought to be readily available (standard

Never heard of such a thing. Even telco
cables with >1000 pairs use a hierarchy of

[...]

Military and aerospace practice is to use

I suspect military, aerospace and even telco are not dealing with
$1-per-hour unskilled labor plugging the wires in... But the customer
is always right. I did suggest using the ten standard solid colors, and
grouping bundles by function.

I've seen all the colors I want in arcade games and car harnesses. I
just can't find a supplier that has a rainbow catalog.

maybe alphawire...
http:// www.alphawire.com /pages /375.CFM

waitwait, thats not unique coloring.
sorry

 

[[email protected]]

A client has requested unique wire colors for ~70 wires in a harness.

Anixter shows about 60 colors for automotive GXL wire:
http://onlinecatalog.anixter.com/PartSearchServlet , "Wire and Cable"
catalog, "GXL" under "Automotive". They also say they will dye and
stripe wire to your requirements:
http://www.anixter.com/AXECOM/US.NSF/SupplyChainServices/ProductEnhancement&Packaging

Standard disclaimer: I have no connection with Anixter other than as a
user of some of their products.

Matt Roberds

 

[Neil Kurzman]

A client has requested unique wire colors for ~70 wires in a harness. I
figure that at least 90 colors ought to be readily available (standard
10 "resistor band" colors plus stripe combinations). Standard PVC
insulation is fine.

Can anyone recommend a supplier? I guess I would buy perhaps 500ft of
each color, maybe 1000ft. Thought I would see something in the
automotive line or on McMaster-Carr, but I can't find this many unique
colors; the best I can find is
<http://www.planetengineers.com/default.asp?cat=Wire+PVC>.

Thanks for any pointers...

You are looking in the wrong place.

Look for a place that process wire. They will custom stripe it for you.
Check with a wire distributor. They should have some names.

There are place that will cut stripe, dye, and stripe wire to your spec.

 

[John G]

A client has requested unique wire colors for ~70 wires in a harness. I
figure that at least 90 colors ought to be readily available (standard
10 "resistor band" colors plus stripe combinations). Standard PVC
insulation is fine.

Can anyone recommend a supplier? I guess I would buy perhaps 500ft of
each color, maybe 1000ft. Thought I would see something in the
automotive line or on McMaster-Carr, but I can't find this many unique
colors; the best I can find is
<http://www.planetengineers.com/default.asp?cat=Wire+PVC>.

Thanks for any pointers.

What is he building? A kaleidascope.

Multi coUlred wire looms are just too hard.

Ask Boeing Lockheed etc etc.

I would not want to try and service it. and Service is my experience.

 

[larwe]

What is he building? A kaleidascope.

*shrug* The customer is always right. The reason for wanting it is
[supposedly] ease of assembly by people who don't understand what
they're doing. I think this will be offset 5x over by difficulty in
perceiving colors (for instance I have terrible difficulty deciding if
a given resistor stripe is red or orange if both colors don't occur on
the same part).

I think I may have persuaded him to use fewer colors by pointing out
that the connectors on my board are grouped functionally and laid out
with some mechanical foresight, so he can build two identical 30-wire
harnesses and a separate 15-wire harness rather than a single massive
75-wire snake.

 

[Not Really Me]

A client has requested unique wire colors for ~70 wires in a harness. I
figure that at least 90 colors ought to be readily available (standard
10 "resistor band" colors plus stripe combinations). Standard PVC
insulation is fine.

Can anyone recommend a supplier? I guess I would buy perhaps 500ft of
each color, maybe 1000ft. Thought I would see something in the
automotive line or on McMaster-Carr, but I can't find this many unique
colors; the best I can find is
<http://www.planetengineers.com/default.asp?cat=Wire+PVC>.

Thanks for any pointers...

Google for "wire striping". You will get a list of manufacturers. I would
expect one could direct you to a vendor who uses their equipment.

With the way-back machine set for the early seventies, I worked for Wang
Labs, who colored all of their own wire for harnesses including
multi-stripes and solids. They bought milllions of feet of white wire and
ran the machine full time for their own needs. When you needed some wire
for an engineering project you could get anything you wanted. If they
didn't have it on the shelf, they put you in the queue based on the darkness
of the colors you asked for.

Scott

 

[Michael R. Kesti]

Google for "wire striping". You will get a list of manufacturers. I would
expect one could direct you to a vendor who uses their equipment.

With the way-back machine set for the early seventies, I worked for Wang
Labs, who colored all of their own wire for harnesses including
multi-stripes and solids. They bought milllions of feet of white wire and
ran the machine full time for their own needs. When you needed some wire
for an engineering project you could get anything you wanted. If they
didn't have it on the shelf, they put you in the queue based on the darkness
of the colors you asked for.

With that way-back machine similarly set, I worked for Grass Valley Group,
a manufacturer of switching and effects equipment for the television
braodcast and post production industries. A major portion of the company's
business then was a line if switchers whose rack mounted portions were
constructed using card cages and wiring harnesses rather than back-planes.
The harnesses were built up out of discreet wires that assemblers pulled
from a rack of spools. I think the spool racks held 70 or 80 spools
of color coded wires, striped as described above. I'm fairly certain
that the spools were purchased from some vendor rather than being colored
at our factory.

I have no idea where one might purchase these today, though. I recently
constructed a home-brew project for which I would like to have purchased
a set of 10 spools of unstriped black through white and was unable to find
a vendor of such. In my research, though, I discovered that wire is
suprisingly expensive these days.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

With that way-back machine similarly set, I worked for Grass Valley Group,
a manufacturer of switching and effects equipment for the television
braodcast and post production industries. A major portion of the company's
business then was a line if switchers whose rack mounted portions were
constructed using card cages and wiring harnesses rather than back-planes.
The harnesses were built up out of discreet wires that assemblers pulled
from a rack of spools. I think the spool racks held 70 or 80 spools
of color coded wires, striped as described above. I'm fairly certain
that the spools were purchased from some vendor rather than being colored
at our factory.

I used some of the early Grass Valley equipment in '73 & '74. A pair
of B&W sync generators with the automatic switch over, and another card
cage full of Distribution Amplifiers.

I have no idea where one might purchase these today, though. I recently
constructed a home-brew project for which I would like to have purchased
a set of 10 spools of unstriped black through white and was unable to find
a vendor of such. In my research, though, I discovered that wire is
suprisingly expensive these days.

One word: Surplus. Mendelson's, Skycraft, and others literally have
tons of surplus hookup wire. I can get a lot of colors, but it is on
1000' and larger spools. I have some already, and I will be posting it
on my website for sale in small to medium quantities. I also have some
rubber test prod wire and teflon coax. I am not in business, I am just
trying to thin out my collection of spare parts as I can.
http://home.earthlink.net/~mike.terrell/ has a few of the items listed,
and I am open to reasonable offers, or trades. I also have a "projects"
section that lists what I am working on, and a small bone yard of
damaged or half stripped items I have picked up for parts.

--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida