Tagged with 'THHN'

Weighing the differences between THHN/THWN-2 & XHHW/XHHW-2 building wire

When it comes to building wire, two of the most common and popular choices for electricians, engineers & homeowners are THHN and XHHW (or the newer and improved THWN/THWN-2 and XHHW-2). These cables come in both copper and aluminum, can have solid or stranded conductors, and are mainly used for power distribution up to 600 volts in the construction of residential, commercial, and industrial buildings.

While these two wire types are very similar and often interchangeable in their application, the differences are important to know in order to make the smartest decision when making a building wire purchase.

Wire Jacket & Insulation

The main difference between XHHW/XHHW-2 and THHN/THWN-2 is in the wire’s jacket. The different letters in names denote particular properties of each cable, and each provides the cable with varying levels of insulation:

 

THHN T for Thermoplastic HH for High Heat-Resistant, and N for Nylon Coated Temperature rating: 90ºC in dry locations	XHHW X for Cross-Linked Polyethylene (XLPE) HH for High Heat-Resistant, and W for Water Resistant Temperature rating: 90ºC in dry, 75ºC in wet locations
THWN or THWN-2 T for Thermoplastic H for Heat and W for Water Resistant, and N for Nylon Coated. THWN temperature rating: 90ºC in dry, 75ºC in wet locations THWN-2 temperature rating: 90ºC in both dry and wet locations	XHHW-2 XHHW-2 has the same properties as XHHW, but the "-2" denotes improved insulation. XHHW-2 temperature rating: 90ºC in both dry and wet locations

The jackets on the THHN family are thinner than those of XHHW wires. This means that, while more THHN can be fit into a raceway or fed through a conduit, its jacket doesn’t offer as much protection as the XHHW jacket—XHHW’s jacket coating is more resistant to chemicals, ozone and abrasions while THHN’s thin coating can lead to current leakage and can break down from chemical or environmental exposure, emitting a toxic smoke when burned.

 

Flexibility

Even though its jacket is thicker and more protective, XHHW is also more flexible than THHN wire. The XLPE insulation of the XHHW allows the cable to bend and flex better than the THHN’s PVC insulation—so XHHW is much easier to work with during the installation process.

 

Price

When comparing the price of the two wires, the equivalent gauge of XHHW costs somewhere between 5-20% more than its THHN counterpart.

 

Final Verdict

At the end of the day, the decision between using XHHW or THHN in their next project comes down to weighing performance versus budget. On one hand, THHN is the more popular cable with our customers and many would say it’s perfectly sufficient for what they need. On the other hand, XHHW has the features to provide increased efficiency and extended longevity.

Both cables are incredibly popular, each with unique characteristics that are advantageous in certain environments. The choice between the two really just boils down to the project at hand and the budget with which you have to work.

 

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At Wire & Cable Your Way, we sell many sizes of THHN/THWN-2 & XHHW/XHHW-2 building wire with a wide range of colored jackets and sold either cut-by-the-foot or in spools. Follow the links below to check out our selection.

Shop THHN/THWN-2

Shop XHHW-2

 

Welcome to Wire And Cable Your Way, a leading e-commerce brand offering a wide selection of electrical wire & cable products by the foot.

Thousands of customers depend on us yearly for supply on bare copper for various commercial & residential jobs throughout the United States. Our extensive bare copper wire selection ranges in sizes of 500 MCM thru 14 AWG.

One of our most popular sizes is 4 AWG Bare Copper Wire. Typically used as grounding wire, our 4 gauge bare copper is unjacketed, soft drawn (hard drawn available by request), and is cut to foot allowing our customers to order the exact length they need.

4 AWG Bare Copper Wire Pricing

At Wire and Cable Your Way, our #4 Bare Copper Wire is currently offered in two types—Stranded or Solid—and is sold by the foot. Click on the either product below to purchase.

 

We can ship these items out the same day they're ordered with an expected arrival of 1-4 business days within the Continental USA.

If you happen to also need a stranded copper wire that is insulated with a jacket, we recommend taking a look at our THHN-THWN-2 category, which is a very common copper building wire. THHN/THWN-2 is covered in a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) insulation w/ a nylon jacket.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR THHN/THWN-2 COPPER WIRE CATEGORY>>

 

Have any questions or need more info?

Feel free to give call us at 855-880-8010 or send us an email here. We would love to hear from you!

Thanks for stopping by.

Your pal,
Willie

Wire And Cable Your Way would like to congratulate Marc Stevens in Nebraska for winning 1st place in our February 2015 photo contest!

Marc used several different wires of ours including our 8/3 SOOW Cord, THHN Copper Wire, and Welding Cable for his renewable energy project.

Here is what Marc had to say:

This project is an Off-Grid hybrid system that includes a 3 kW wind turbine on a 100 ft self-supporting lattice tower and 2.8 kW of photovoltaics on a dual axis tracker. Wire and Cable Your Way supplied us with #8 AWG SOOW for the down tower wiring, #8 THHN for the inverter/charger and solar charge controller wiring, and 4/0 welding cable for the home run battery connections.

Thanks Marc for the excellent photo!

We'd also like to thank all of our other customers who submitted photos this past month! We found great joy seeing what everyone has been working on and we greatly appreciate you taking the time snapping some photos!

Thanks for being a customer!

Until next time,
Willie

WireAndCableYourWay.com

Does your project require the use of 2/0 electrical wire?  If so you have come to the right place!

Wire & Cable To Go is a leading supplier of electrical wire and cable that offers different types of 2/0 electrical wire by the foot at low costs!

Below are a few of our most popular 2/0 electrical wire products that you can order online and have delivered within a few days:

ALUMINUM WIRE CATEGORY

1.  2/0 AWG XHHW-2 Aluminum Building Wire – Available by the foot!

• Single conductor Stranded Aluminum Wire

CLICK HERE TO VIEW 2/0 XHHW-2 ALUMINUM BUILDING PRICING

2. 2/0, 2/0 & #1 Triplex Converse Underground Aluminum Cable -  (Direct Burial)

• Excellent 3 wire 2/0 aluminum wire rated for direct burial

CLICK HERE TO VIEW 2/0, 2/0 & #1 TRIPLEX CONVERSE UNDERGROUND ALUMINUM CABLE PRICING

3.   2/0, 2/0 & #1 SER Aluminum Building Wire 

• Excellent 3 wire 2/0 aluminum wire meant for indoor use only.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW 2/0, 2/0 & #1 SER ALUMINUM BUILDING WIRE PRICING

COPPER WIRE CATEGORY

1. 2/0 THHN – Stranded Copper Building Wire - available by the foot!

• Single conductor stranded copper wire

CLICK HERE TO VIEW PRICING ON 2/0 THHN BUILDING WIRE.

3. 2/0 AWG XLP-USE2-RHH-RHW-2 Building Wire - available by the foot!

• Sunlight Resistant & rated for direct burial without the use of a conduit

CLICK HERE TO VIEW PRICING ON 2/0 XLP-USE2-RHH-RHW-2 BUILDING WIRE

4.   2/0-3/C THHN-PVC Tray Cable with Ground - available by the foot!

• This cable comes with 3 - 2/0 copper wires plus one ground


• Tray Cables are rated for direct burial and are sunlight resistant.  These Tray Cables are pretty much multi-conductor THHN wires all under one jacket meant to be buried in the ground without a conduit.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR 2/0-3C w/ GROUND TRAY CABLE (THHN-PVC)

5. If your 2/0 wire needs to be flexible we have several options as well!

Below are a few Flexible 2/0 wires we offer that depending on your application specs may work great!

• 2/0 MTW WIRE (1330 Strands)


• 2/0 AWG Welding Cable Class K (1248 Strands)


• 2/0 AWG Welding Cable Clas M (3300 Strands)


• 2/0 Stage Lighting Cable (1290 Strands)

We cut all these cables by the foot at no extra charge and ship them out the same day when ordered before 3pm cst.  Most customers receive their order within 1-3 business days due to our shipping locations across the country.

If you aren’t sure which 2/0 wire is right for your project please give us a call – 855-880-8010.  We are here to help!

Thanks for stopping by!

Your pal,
Willie

Are you looking for a wire or cable to bury directly into the ground or inside an underground conduit?

If so, Wire And Cable Your Way has many different types of both aluminum and copper cables for your needs!

Below is a list of aluminum wire and cable that can be used underground:

1.  Quadruplex & Triplex Direct Burial Aluminum Underground Distribution Cable

• Multi-Conductor Aluminum Cabe


• Rated for Direct Burial


• Cut by the foot

CLICK HERE TO VIEW SIZES & PRICING ON OUR DIRECT BURIAL ALUMINUM UNDERGROUND CABLE >>

2. XLP/USE-2/RHH/RHW-2 Direct Burial Aluminum Building Wire

• Single aluminum conductor


• Rated for direct burial

CLICK HERE TO VIEW SIZES & PRICING ON OUR SINGLE CONDUCTOR DIRECT BURIAL XLP/USE-2 ALUMINUM WIRE >>

3. XHHW-2 Aluminum Building Wire

• Single aluminum conductor


• Needs to be buried inside a conduit


• Cut by the foot

CLICK HERE TO VIEW SIZES & PRICING ON OUR XHHW-2 ALUMINUM BUILDING WIRE>>

Below is a list of copper wire and cable that can be used underground:

1. THHN/THWN-2 Copper Building Wire

• Single stranded copper conductor


• Needs to be buried in a conduit


• Cut by the foot


• Multiple colors available

CLICK HERE TO VIEW SIZES & PRICING ON OUR THHN/THWN-2 COPPER BUILDING WIRE>>

2. XLP/USE-2/RHH-RHW-2 Direct Burial Copper Building Wire

• Single stranded copper conductor


• Rated for direct burial


• Cut by the foot


• Multiple colors available

CLICK HERE TO VIEW SIZES & PRICING ON OUR XLP/USE-2/RHH/RHW-2 COPPER BUILDING WIRE >>

2. Tray Cable (THHN-PVC) & (XLP-PVC)

• Multi-Conductor Stranded Copper Cable


• Rated for direct burial


• Cut by the foot

Click here to view our Tray Cable (THHN-PVC) Category>>
Click here to view our Tray Cable (XLP-PVC) Category>>

All of the wires and cable listed above are available by the foot and can ship out the same day ordered. If you want to look at ALL of our direct burial cables, visit our direct burial archive.

If you have any questions or can't find the wire & cable you need please call 855-880-8010 or send us an email here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Your pal,
Willie

WireAndCableYourWay.com

We love learning about all the different types of projects our customers are working on.

With thousands of customers stemming from all different parts of the country we are fortunate enough to speak with such an eclectic group of people working on such a wide range of projects.

We thought it would be nice to share a few examples below of how some of our customers apply our wire & cable.

Please note, every project and application is different and we always recommend double checking with a certified electrician/technician before making a purchase to be on the safe side:)

Bill in North Dakota using 18/5 SOOW Portable Cord for signal lights.

Duke in Virginia using 2 gauge welding cable for solar battery charging.



Teddy in Arizona using 1/0 THHN Copper Building Wire for his new residential sub-panel.

Lance in Illinois using 18 Gauge 10 Conductor Security Cable as access control cable for his commercial properties.

Alex in California using 14/3 SJOOW Portable Cord for theatrical stage lighting.

George in New Jersey using 1/0 4C Type W Power Cord for a marina installation.

Alfonso in Florida using 20 Gauge 5 Conductor Unshielded Communication Cable for his pool cover controller.

Benjamin in New York using 6 Gauge THHN Copper Wire in a conduit for his workshop sub-panel.

Tom in Washington using 8/3 SEOOW Portable Cord for air compressor extension cord.

Lisa in Alabama using 12 gauge 2 conductor landscape lighting cable for their re-designed home residence.

Charlotte in Wisconsin using 18/7 Tray Cable for a wiring harness.

Are you working on a new project and have questions?

If so please give us a call as we would love to hear from you.

855-880-8010

Thanks for stopping by!

Your pal,

Willie

WireAndCableYourWay.com