Hi,

Does anyone know of a mail-order firm that has a really good range of general-purpose wire?

I am looking for some 26 AWG wire as 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 conductor ribbon cable. I say it is ribbon cable, but most companies seem to consider ribbon cable to start at 9 conductors, so perhaps it is known by a different name?

I have a sample of the 2 conductor version here and it is marked "AWM E468 60°C 300V".

I've tried the usual suspects (Digikey, Mouser, Farnell, RS, Google). Edit: otherwise, I'll just have to make do with singles

You can split ribbon cable you know...

Okay, I now know what I am looking for. The wire I am looking for is code "UL 2468" AWM flat ribbon wire. I am looking for 26 or 24 AWG colour-coded from someone in Europe. The ribbon cable sold by RS, Farnell and the like is too lightweight for my needs.

Hopefully someone here will know where I can get my hands on some.

Oops. Didn't notice you wanted 24-26AWG wire. You tried looking at surplus places?

Like...?

I only know of two in the UK: Greenweld and Cricklewood Electronics. Google suggests lots of Asia-based ones. I tried the few UK-based ones it suggested.

Is this something like what you're looking for?

http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=150431&N=401

No, like this:

http://www.ltkcable.com/Graphics/jpg_files/wire_2468_pic.jpg
http://my.ecplaza.co.kr/shcable/24l.jpg

I'm pretty sure that the one you pointed to is coloured singles ocovered in a thin clear plastic outer insulation. I'm not sure it can be used with IDC connectors without a lot of fiddling.

There are lots of manufacturers, including Wonderful and Hitachi Cable. Just can't find any [censored] stockists

Bull Electrical? It's kinda hard to find anything on their website and they sell absolutely everything now it seems. They used to have a shop near my parents place and it was great having a rummage around in there for neat items/bits.

How about this?

http://www.alphawire.com/pages/170.cfm

Available here:

http://onlinecatalog.anixter.com/PartDet...6searchPage%3D1

?

Surely you can get this stuff at the local Tandy/Radioshack/Whatever. This stuff is available by the metre at local electronics stores like Jaycar or Dick Smith Electronics (can't find url, but I know they sold it back when I worked there)

In the UK - Maplins? Never been to a Maplins, but I've heard mentioned here a few times with regards to components etc.

tman: Thanks, I'll try Bull on Monday. You're right, their website is rubbish!

larry818: Thanks, that looks like the stuff but with too many conductors. At this point, I'll likely order something like that and strip it down and live with the colours being wrong (because proper 2, 3 and 4 way ribbon has different colours next to each other - don't know about 6 way). They do samples, too.

shonky: Thanks, that looks like the stuff, but with non-standard sized cores. That'll do me. Maplin only does ribbon cable in super-light-duty guage - the stuff one would use for IDE drives, VFD connectors and the like.

I am really surprised at how difficult it has been to find this cable. I see it used everywhere - in my computer, in my satelite receiver, my VCR. So a big thanks to everyone that replied and gave me some leads. Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on some soon...