16-01-2019, 08:25 PM
I don't think the OP is referring to tinsel wire.
I've just taken a close look at the wire used in a Post Office PO316 patch cord - under a microscope you can clearly see that this is a form of tinsel wire - not braided, but definitely a wound copper foil around a nylon or similar core, with the crimped connections mentioned earlier.
The wire used in loudspeakers to connect the cone to the terminals is called tinsel wire. That is braided, and obviously very flexible. I'm not sure it's the same type that we're talking about though - the ones I've examined look like the strands are just regular (very fine) copper wire. And it's soldered. Next time I come across a damaged speaker, I'll take a closer look.
I recently repaired a pair of cheap headphones, and found that the cable contained very thin enamel-coated wire. Lots of very thin strands. There were 4 different colours of enamel for identification. You can tin them in the usual way to burn off the enamel. I don't think these are tinsel wire. I've seen a couple of people on other forums refer to this as Litz, and you can see why. Even if the RF benefits of Litz are irrelevant here, the flexibility is key.
Some pictures of the headphone cable I'm trying to describe, and what I suspect the OP is referring to: https://hackaday.com/2016/11/22/iron-tip...amel-wire/
A couple of months back a did a few Sennheiser headphone cables. They use steel or kevlar reinforced copper. That's fun
I've just taken a close look at the wire used in a Post Office PO316 patch cord - under a microscope you can clearly see that this is a form of tinsel wire - not braided, but definitely a wound copper foil around a nylon or similar core, with the crimped connections mentioned earlier.
The wire used in loudspeakers to connect the cone to the terminals is called tinsel wire. That is braided, and obviously very flexible. I'm not sure it's the same type that we're talking about though - the ones I've examined look like the strands are just regular (very fine) copper wire. And it's soldered. Next time I come across a damaged speaker, I'll take a closer look.
I recently repaired a pair of cheap headphones, and found that the cable contained very thin enamel-coated wire. Lots of very thin strands. There were 4 different colours of enamel for identification. You can tin them in the usual way to burn off the enamel. I don't think these are tinsel wire. I've seen a couple of people on other forums refer to this as Litz, and you can see why. Even if the RF benefits of Litz are irrelevant here, the flexibility is key.
Some pictures of the headphone cable I'm trying to describe, and what I suspect the OP is referring to: https://hackaday.com/2016/11/22/iron-tip...amel-wire/
A couple of months back a did a few Sennheiser headphone cables. They use steel or kevlar reinforced copper. That's fun
