Stranded and solid

[johnnyjb]

ive looked through the old posts (not too hard though) lookin for this answer

Why is stranded used for alarms and solid for phones and what would the consiquences be in swapping one for the other

 

[Space cat]

The terminals used in phone sockets are designed to accept a particular size of wire - and it's solid core. They're called insulation displacement connectors (IDC for short). You don't strip any insulation off, you just push the wire down into a slot with a special tool. The slot edges cut through the insulation and nick the wire. This doesn't work too well with stranded wire.

All the alarm boxes and accessories I've seen have had screw terminals. These will work on solid or stranded wire. Stranded is more tolerant of rough handling.

 

[breezer]

to add to that

alarm compies want reliability, solid will snap, multi stranded wont

 

[johnnyjb]

very reasonable answers thanks

 

[RF Lighting]

Also, don't forget that telephone cable has twisted pairs. Alarm cable doesn't.

 

[Space cat]

Also, don't forget that telephone cable has twisted pairs. Alarm cable doesn't.

Well spotted. I forgot about that one.