stranded conductor wire

What is stranded conductor wire?

Wire that has a core composed of many thin copper strands woven together and surrounded by insulation. Stranded conductor wire is generally used for drop cables between computers and wall plates and for patch cables connecting patch panels with hubs and switches. Stranded conductor wire has more attenuation than solid conductor wire and should be used only for short cable runs.

Stranded conductor wire is more durable and reliable than solid conductor wire because it can be bent numerous times without fracturing or breaking, and because damage to the wire has less impact on the surface area of the wire and hence on its capacity to carry alternating current.

Stranded wire comes in two basic configuration types:

• Bunch-stranded wire:
  Uses a number of thin wires with the same diameter and twists them together in one direction.

   

• Concentric-stranded wire:
  Uses several layers of thin wires wrapped in alternating directions. These wires are generally easier to splice and terminate than bunch-stranded wires.