Types of Wire and Cable

Types of Electrical Wires

1. Solid – A solid wire has a single conductor and is either insulated or bare and it is usually protected by a coloured sheath. This wire offers a lower resistance and is best to use in higher frequencies.

2. Standard – A standard wire contains many thin wire strands that are twisted together. These wires are used where the flexibility is required, standard wire can be used over a long period of time. Comparatively, the standard wire has larger cross-sectional area than the solid wire.

Types of Electrical Cables

1. Twisted pair cable – A twisted pair cable includes 2 cables that are twisted together. This twisting can avoid the noise produced by magnetic coupling and thus it is used to carry signals. Twisted pair cable is generally used in data communication and telecommunication.

2. Multi-conductor cable – This cable has 2 or more than 2 conductors which are insulated and their purpose is to protect the signal integrity. Both twisted pair cables and multi-conductor are known as balanced line configuration cables.

3. Coaxial cable – A coaxial cable has an inner conductor which is surrounded by a parallel outer foil conductor which is protected by insulating layers. In the cable, the 2 conductors are being separated from each other by an insulating dielectric. These cables are generally used in TV cable as its performance is more stable than the twisted pair cable.

4. Fibre optic cable – The fibre optic cable transmits the signals through a bunch of glass threads and comparatively, it has a greater bandwidth than metal conductors and that means they can carry more information and data. For this reason, fibre optic cables are used instead of traditional copper cables.