general wire question

[Ross]

The wire that connects my 8.4 Nimh battery to my mechbox needs to be about 6 inches longer. I was wondering if cutting the wire a few inches before the connector and then adding adding a piece of wire in between to obtain desired length would have any consequences.

Could the stranded wires be wrapped around each other and then electrical taped, or does the stranded wires need to be soldered together? I do not want to increase resistance.

Can I use any wire from a hardware store?

[Kokanee]

Solder, then heat shrink tube over the exposed wire.

You can get away with 16ga speaker wire if you want, but would recommend the good stuff IMHO. Any battery supply/maker should be able to do this job for you for $5 fyi.

[HKGhost]

Always solder wires together then shrink wrap. Don't use electrical tape to wrap uninsulated wires, don't just tie wires together and call it fixed. Do it right or get someone that knows how to fix it. I've see way too many burnt wires and damaged batteries from half assed wiring jobs.

[Ross]

Awesome. Thanks for the responses!

Originally Posted by Kokanee

but would recommend the good stuff

May I ask what exactly is this good stuff?

[CDN_Stalker]

PTFE Mil-Spec Aviation-grade is the best stuff........

But good Teflon insulated wire is good enough for your AEG. Ask for Beldon if a brand is easier to refer to.

[Ross]

Mil-Spec? We are talking about stranded regular joe wire, right? I think I'm just going to use some excess wire that I have left over from the deans to tamaira adapter that I'll never use. I have silver solder and a solder gun. I just need heat shrink stuff.

thanks again, everyone.

[Amos]

Hey Ross, I've got that stuff and can do the soldering for you

[Ross]

ya, but you can't do it for another 2 1/2 weeks. I want to get this thing running sooner than that. Winter is almost here. Shudder*

[CDN_Stalker]

Ya, stranded #18AWG wire is what you need, Teflon insulated is more wear resistant.

[Kokanee]

Originally Posted by Ross

I have silver solder and a solder gun. I just need heat shrink stuff.

thanks again, everyone.

Make sure to use some solder flux on the exposed wire first, and tin the ends before you solder them together.

[Amos]

Originally Posted by Ross

ya, but you can't do it for another 2 1/2 weeks. I want to get this thing running sooner than that. Winter is almost here. Shudder*

The sooner you get your gun in, the sooner it'll get worked on

The longer you wait, the more people get in line ahead of you

[cellulose]

Should re-run the wire rather than splicing. It's not that much more work. Just need larger heat shrink to re-wrap the batteries.