Anti-Cables and magnet wire


It is well known that the favorably received "Anti-Cables are 12 gauge enameled magnet wire. Has anyone actually bought bulk magnet wire to try it? Has anyone found any differences between standard bulk magnet wire and Anti-Cables?

Anti-Cables will sell you bulk, unterminated Anti-Cables for $1.25 per foot (or $2.50 per foot terminated with spades). 12 gauge enameled magnet wire in small 50 ft rolls can be had for about $0.30 per foot from a wire supply house.

(As an aside, Alpha-Core (makers of Goertz audio cables) will also sell you bulk 12 gauge magnet wire -- 10lbs (their minimum, or about 500 feet) for about $61, or a 1:2 ratio flattened version for about $90. Alpha-Core is a quality producer, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything from them, but the 10lb/500 foot minimum is a bit much.)

I figure I need about 100 feet in total. $30 for the bulk product is cheap enough to try (and saves $95) and throw away if it isn't any good. However, if someone knows it really is going to be significantly different than the anti-cable in some way, why waste my time and effort?

Anyone have any experience, thoughts or insights with this? Thanks.
lotusm50

Showing 2 responses by lotusm50

"Continuously Cast" is actually pretty common, and I think (but don't know for sure) that nearly all copper these days is continuously cast for reasons of productivity, efficiency, etc.

Most of the generic magnet wire available has 200-400 ppm of oxygen to achieve the best combination of cost, conductivity, capacity for being cold worked. However, 99.95% and 99.99% oxygen free Copper magnet wire is generally available. The casual user, hobbyist, etc. may have a hard time finding some in retail quantities.
Honest1 -- yes I know. ETP (electrolytic tough pitch ) Copper, which is standard grade used in magnet wire, is usually specified as being >99.95% Cu. The O2 is usually between 200 and 500ppm, with metallic impurities in the range of 50ppm.