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For almost 5 years now, we have strived to make buying wire and cable as easy and enjoyable as possible for our customers. At Wire And Cable Your Way, our team’s emphasis has been—and always will be—providing you with the best products at the best prices, cut and sold to whatever length you need. Just the way you like it.

We want our entire company, top to bottom, to truly represent what we do and what we believe. We are very excited to announce that, effective August 1, 2016, we are changing our name to Wire And Cable Your Way.

Nothing else will change. We are still the same great people selling the same great wire and cable at the same great prices you’ve come to expect.

We’re all about you, our loyal customers.

We’re planning some summer specials and new product offerings that we’re extremely excited to share, and we will continue to be your trusted online source for all you wire and cable needs.

 

Thanks for your continued support,

The Wire and Cable Your Way team

 

 

 

P.S. We'll be revealing our new logo on August 1 as well, so heads up!

Willy_redcurtainreveal

UL 1007 & UL 1569 Hook-Up Wire Now Available!

Hello Wire And Cable Your Way Customers!

We are pleased to now offer UL 1007 & UL 1569 Hook-Up Wire.

You can choose from a multiple selection of colors in sizes 16AWG-22AWG.

Please click here to view our entire UL 1007 & UL 1569 Hook-Up Wire category.

UL 1007 Wire & UL 1569 Wire is a 300V rated tinned copper wire with a PVC jacket.  It is used for internal wiring of appliances and electronics.

If you are looking for a 600V Hook-Up Wire we offer a UL 1015.

Please click here to view our UL 1015 Wire category.

Please let us know if you cannot find any of the items you are looking for. Feel free to call us at 855-880-8010 or send us an email through our contact page

Thanks for stopping by!

Your pal,
Willie

 

Wire & Cable Glossary

What do the 'M' and 'C' in MC cable mean? What does XLPE cable stand for? Why is it called SOOW cable? Answers to these questions and more!scientists


The world of wire and cable has a language of its own, and even those with experience need a translator from time to time. Your old pal Willie knows this to be true, so I’ve compiled a cheat sheet on wire and cable nomenclature for you to reference.

First, we have a list of individual descriptors, each either made up of one or two letters. These can define what the cable is used for, what it’s made of, or what the cable can withstand––like heat resistance or voltage ratings. Often, a cable’s name will be some combination of two or more of the descriptors below.

The Components of Wire & Cable Nomenclature


E: thermoplastic elastomer
FF: flexible fixture
H: heat-resistant 75ºC
HH: high heat-resistant 90ºC
J: junior service, rated to 300 volts


[caption id="attachment_2154" align="alignright" width="250"]non-metallic building wire NM-B: non-metallic building wire.[/caption]

ML: motor lead wire
N: nylon coating
NM: non-metallic
O: oil-resistant jacket
OO: oil-resistant jacket and insulation
P: polyethylene coating
PV: photovoltaic
R: rubber-insulated
S: service cord
SE: service entrance
SR: silicone rubber insulation

[caption id="attachment_2155" align="alignright" width="250"]seoow cable SEOOW: Service cable w/ thermoplastic Elastomer, Oil-resistant jacket & Oil-resistant insulation, Weather-resistant[/caption]

T: thermoplastic
V: vinyl coating
VW: vertical wire
W: weather-resistant / water-resistant
W/G: with ground
X: cross-linked

If you’re looking for an explanation of a specific cable’s nomenclature, below is a list of popular cable types and what their names signify.

Wire & Cable Names and Explanations


DLO: Diesel Locomotive cable
HCF: Health Care Facilities wire
MC: Metal-Clad cable
MTW: Machine Tool Wire
NM-B: Non-Metallic Building wire
RHH: Rubber-insulated High Heat-resistant cable
RHW: Rubber-insulated Heat- Water-resistant cable
SEOOW: Service cable w/ thermoplastic Elastomer, Oil-resistant jacket & Oil-resistant insulation, Weather-resistant
SER: Service Entrance cable with Reinforcement tape
SIS: Switchboard wire
SJEOOW: Service cable Junior (300V) w/ thermoplastic Elastomer, Oil-resistant jacket & Oil-resistant insulation, Weather-resistant
SJOOW: Service cable Junior (300V) w/ Oil-resistant jacket & Oil-resistant insulation, Weather-resistant
SOOW: Service cable w/ Oil-resistant jacket & Oil-resistant insulation, Weather-resistant
SRML: Silicone-Rubber insulated Motor Lead wire
STO: Service cable w/ Thermoplastic Oil-resistant jacket
TFFN: Thermoplastic Flexible Fixture Nylon wire
TGGT: Teflon-Glass-Glass-Teflon; Teflon wrapped w/ Teflon-impregnated, Glass outer braid
THHN: Thermoplastic High Heat-resistant Nylon wire
THWN: Thermoplastic High Water-resistant Nylon wire
UF-B: Underground Feeder and Branch circuit
USE-2: Underground Service Entrance cable
VNTC: Vinyl Nylon Tray Cable
XHHW: Cross-linked High Heat- and Water-resistant cable
XLP or XLPE: Cross-Linked Polyethylene

The nomenclature of wire and cable is not a fully uniform system, and it can be a little confusing. (For instance, not every instance of the letter “W” denotes a weather-resistant cable—MTW stands for machine tool wire.) Hopefully, this list can be of use the next time you’re curious about what your wire or cable’s label means.

National Electrical Code 2014 Overview

National Electrical Code 2014

If your wiring job is in the United States, Mexico, or Venezuela, most likely it has to comply with the National Electrical Code (NEC). This is a hefty volume containing over 900 pages of carefully worded regulations pertaining to all residential, commercial, and industrial wiring installed in jurisdictions that have adopted the Code—which is to say that they have enacted it into law. No matter what type of electrical job you're performing, the NEC is a great resource to consult.


Current edition of the National Electrical Code


The NEC is administered by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a non-governmental organization that also issues documents concerning electrical and other safety issues. On its own, the NEC has no legal standing. It is offered up for states and municipalities to enact as they see fit into law, with or without cuts, additions, or changes. Besides legal jurisdictions, private organizations such as insurance companies and all sorts of builders use NEC guidelines to ensure that the work does not contain hazards.

The NEC explicitly states that it is not an instruction manual for untrained persons. It focuses strictly on electrical safety, particularly from the standpoint of the twin demons of electrical fire and shock, although other hazards are addressed as well. For example, a length of improperly secured conduit could fall, injuring a passerby.

As mentioned, the NEC is lengthy and packed with technical information. However, there is good news: it is sensibly worded and impeccably organized so that individuals with knowledge of the basics can quickly find information relating to the job at hand and apply it as needed. The best professional electricians keep a copy of the NEC in shop or vehicle and refer to it on a daily basis.

NFPA issues a new edition every three years, often with extensive revisions. It is the key reference for electrician licensing exams, which are usually open book, and electrical inspectors invariably make use of it.

In most jurisdictions, homeowners are permitted to perform wiring on their primary residences. Typically, this may not be done on second homes or rental properties, and certainly a developer is not permitted to do unlicensed electrical work on buildings under construction. Every homeowner who is serious about protecting lives and property should have a copy of the NEC and refer to it as needed.

An example of an NEC Article


If you want to get a feel for the kind of distinctions that are characteristic in the Code, turn to Article 100, Definitions. Here are the first three entries:

  • Accessible (as applied to equipment). Admitting close approach; not guarded by locked doors, elevation, or other effective means.

  • Accessible (as applied to wiring methods). Capable of being removed or exposed without damaging the building structure or finish or not permanently closed in by the structure or finish of the building.

  • Accessible, Readily. Capable of being reached quickly for operation, renewal, or inspections without requiring those to whom ready access is requisite to actions such as to use tools, to climb over or remove obstacles, or to resort to portable ladders, and so forth.


The classic example of a location that is accessible but not readily accessible is the area above a suspended ceiling, where individual panels can be easily replaced, but where a portable ladder would be required.

Throughout the NEC, various types of equipment, such as entrance panels, are required to be readily accessible, or such as live terminals are required to be not accessible.

By Guest Columnist David Herres

Type NM-B (Romex) Cable

Romex Cable

Type NM stands for nonmetallic sheathed. The cable consists of a factory assembly of two or more insulated conductors within an overall nonmetallic jacket. Additionally, there is an equipment-grounding conductor that is bare or has green insulation. Type NM is identified by the size of the conductors and number of them. For example, the very commonly used Type NM 12-2 cable contains two 12 American Wire Gauge (AWG) insulated conductors. In this numbering system the bare or green equipment-grounding conductor is not counted. Hence it is known as NM 12-2 w/ground.

Closely related cable types are Type NMC, which has a corrosion-resistant outer covering, and Type NMS, which contains, in addition to the usual power conductors, communications (signaling) wires. When the letter B is appended, as in NM-B cable, it indicates that the conductor insulation is rated for 90 degrees C.



In the United States and elsewhere that it is applicable, all non-utility and non-mine electrical installations must comply with the National Electrical Code (NEC). Additionally, there is the Canadian Electrical Code (CEC).

In NEC Chapter Three, specific articles pertain to the various types of wire that are recognized. Type NM is covered in Article 334. This section should be used as a guide for installing Type NM cable. Like each of the cable articles, it contains sections titled Uses Permitted and Uses Not Permitted. Broadly speaking, Type NM is permitted in one- and two-family dwellings and their attached or detached garages and storage buildings. Type NM is not to be used for services, outdoors, underground, embedded in concrete, or as data or fire alarm cable (in centrally-controlled fire alarm systems). In limited circumstances, Type NM can be used in multi-family dwellings such as apartment houses and in commercial buildings. This depends upon the type of construction, as outlined in Informational Annex E at the back of the Code book.

A very common mistake that is made is using Type NM for the wiring in commercial garages. There may be gray areas, but the basic idea is that NM should never be used where there may be vapors in the air from flammable liquids such as gasoline, or where flammable gases are used as fuels. A garage is sometimes built as part of a residential property where it eventually becomes a backyard facility. These operations, even if they are not for profit, where engines and gas tanks are removed and fuel systems are opened, are sure to contain at times vapors from flammable liquids. Acetylene and arc welders add to the mix. These buildings should not be wired in Type NM cable.

Article 334 also contains installation requirements for Type NM cable and they should be carefully followed. Minimum bending radius, securing and supporting intervals including distances from boxes (different for metal and plastic) and protection from physical damage must be observed.

As in any wiring, sizing out the cable, i.e. conductor ampacity, is based on the amount of current that the conductors will have to carry. This in turn derives from the over-current protection (breaker or fuse) rating. Also, ambient temperature and bundling of current-carrying conductors enter the picture. All of this is outlined in NEC Chapter Three.

All of these issues are covered in electricians’ licensing exams. In most jurisdictions, homeowners are permitted to do electrical work in their own homes. However, for fire and shock protection Code mandates should be followed faithfully.

 

By Guest Columnist David Herres

Stephen Gray and the Invention of Wire

[caption id="attachment_2140" align="alignnone" width="200"]Inventor of Wire Stephen Gray (1666-1736)[/caption]

Stephen Gray, who lived from 1666 to 1736, was a skilled astronomer, instrument maker and electrical experimenter. Out of favor with the brilliant but contentious Isaac Newton, who headed the influential Royal Society, Gray spent most of his life unrecognized. He worked in obscurity, staying with friends and supporters and living in homes for the destitute.

Gray’s early work consisted of astronomical observations, particularly of sunspots. He ground lenses and built a telescope, soon making a number of discoveries and becoming known for his accurate and detailed observations. It wasn’t long before he came to the attention of the English Royal Astronomer, John Flamsteed, who befriended and supported him. But this created a problem for Gray, because Flamsteed was on the wrong side of an extended dispute with Newton, effectively freezing Gray out of the mainstream of English science.

Flamsteed was able to secure for Gray a modest pension, but it was hardly enough to live on. In addition to poverty, ill health became an issue. Nevertheless, Gray pursued his interests, creating for himself an ambitious work schedule and diligently recording his findings.

His defining contributions were in the field of electrical conduction. The first major breakthrough came about by accident. He found that static charges within a glass tube were conveyed outward through wooden stoppers intended only to prevent entry of dust and foreign matter. Gray concluded that electricity could be conducted from one location to another. Perhaps he never envisioned our worldwide system of continental power grids with underground distribution and overhead service drop cables, nor the existence of transatlantic cables that span the ocean, but these were certainly products of his life’s work.

[caption id="attachment_2141" align="alignnone" width="200"]Electrical Transmission Lines Electrical Transmission Lines[/caption]

It wasn’t long before Gray was stringing conductors down hallways from room to room and out windows in the homes of friends who took him in.

At this time, it was assumed by Gray and others that wire would consist of cotton or hemp fibers, which could easily be formed into long strands as needed. These materials were capable of carrying the relatively high static voltages then available. But a problem was the metal hangers used to support these primitive wires. They tended to ground out the electrical energy.

Soon Gray realized that various materials offer greater and lesser resistance to the flow of electrical energy, and he came to formulate a theory of conductors and insulators, although he never used the exact words. His great accomplishment at the time was conveying electricity over distances approaching 1000 feet; Gray would be shocked today to see that you can buy 1000ft spools of THHN Stranded Wire for $130 (after we had explained inflation, of course).

Further experiments led him to a theory of polarity, which encouraged European colleagues to devise a “two fluid” theory of electricity, although the terms positive and negative, implying a flow of particles, came much later.

Gray’s discoveries paved the way for telegraphy, but he was largely unrecognized in his time and in the decades that followed. He spent his final years in a home for the destitute, and it is not known where he was buried. Most likely it was in a common grave in London, in an area reserved for paupers.

 

By Guest Columnist David Herres

1st Place Winner - Electrical Wire for Off-Grid Hybrid System

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.



renewable energy, 8/3 soow cord, thhn wire, welding cable

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

2nd Place Winner - Electrical Wire for PV Array

Wire And Cable Your Way would like to congratulate Jeff G. out in Virginia who won 2nd place in our February 2015 photo contest.

We absolutely loved the expansiveness of the photo and how the wire was being used.

Here is what Jeff had to say about the project:
This is the "Monkey Bottom" PV array located at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, VA. This is a 2.1 MW array providing supplemental power to the Naval Station. An array of Wire and Cable Your Way products were used to tie the power, monitoring and security systems together by the many contractors who participated in the project and the ongoing maintenance of the system.



electrical wire for PV Array

Thanks for submitting the photo, Jeff!

We greatly appreciate having you as a customer!

Until next time,
Willie

 WireAndCableYourWay.com

3rd Place Winner - 350 MCM WELDING CABLE FOR SCULPTURE

Wire And Cable Your Way would like to congratulate John Kielty for winning 3rd place in our February 2015 photo contest!

Although this photo may be a little "out of the box" we really loved the creativity of how the wire was being used.

John uses the copper in our 350 MCM Welding Cable Class K for tree sculptures.

Here is what John had to say:
My project is one of many copper tree sculptures embedded in unique rocks which my wife and I collect from the USA and Canada in our RV travels.
I use only 350 MCM Welding Cable Class K copper wire. Our friends and family seem to enjoy these gifts. These copper trees are set in drilled holes in a nice piece of Sierra Nevada quartz.



350 MCM Welding Cable

Thanks for submitting the photo, John!

We greatly appreciate having you as a customer!

Until next time,
Willie

WireAndCableYourWay.com

February Photo Contest!



CONTEST ENDS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28.




Enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!




Send us your project photo for a chance to win $100 gift card and to have your project featured on our site.


Deadline for entries is Saturday, Feb 28. We'll announce the winners on March 3.







  • $100 Visa Gift Card - First Prize




  • $50 Visa Gift Card - Second Prize




  • $25 Visa Gift Card - Third Prize




  • 5% OFF Wire & Cable To Go Products - Honorable Mention




  • ***ENTER CONTEST HERE***