What do you use for spark plug wiring?

[customline]

I'm certain this has been discussed many times before but searching for anything seems a waste of what little time I may have left so...I have tried to use wire that can be obtained in bulk and the thinnest material I have been able to find was sold by Radio Shack, which as you may know, disappeared some time ago.  It was the only wire that would fit through the Detail Master looms but I have only two colors; a light blue and a light red and neither of them look legit.  I absolutely refuse to pay the price for the stuff sold by the hobby vendors. So, if you don't do that...what do you use that will work with the PE looms and where do you get it? I have bought wire off Fleabay and gotten stuff from the People's Republic but I've run out of the good colors and I don't want to go there again for obvious reasons. AWG 30 with Tynar insulation (pictured)is about the best I've been able to find so far but I'm not really happy with it. I prefer to buy bulk because it's waaaaaaaay cheaper. Is this asking too much? ?

[Zippi]

I've been using this wire for some time now.  

[NOBLNG]

47 minutes ago, Zippi said:

I've been using this wire for some time now.  

Same here. I have black and yellow. It is 0.020” diameter.

Edited December 18, 2022 by NOBLNG

[customline]

Thanks, Greg and  Bob.  I'll see if I can find some.

[TransAmMike]

Hobby Lobby sells wire for beading.  I have used what they call Econoflex.  Its .019 and comes in a small reel...... and fits in the photo-etch wire looms. 

[Keef]

I ordered this off of Amazon. Don’t know about fitting the wire looms.

[peteski]

Yes the forums search engine is useless.  There is a sticky in the FAQ section showing how to use Google to search the forum.  I did that and there is plenty of good info available. here they are (yes, participated in all of those so for my recommendations, along with others please read the older threads):

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/140409-plug-wires/
http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/129432-good-source-for-124-spark-plug-wire/
http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/135811-spark-plug-ignition-wire/
http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/173582-best-spark-plug-wire-size/

Bottom line is how accurate you want to get to keep things in-scale.  Also, the cheapest solution is unfortunately usually not the best or most accurate.  Small gauge insulated wire is expensive to manufacture, thus it costs more than standard 30AWG Kynar insulated wire-wrapping wire. Sometimes to get good results we need to spend some extra dough. It is up to you. 

As for boycotting Chinese made, most everything is made there nowadays (even if it is sold by U.S. based sellers).  Something to think about.

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by peteski

[Claude Thibodeau]

HI!

I recently had to replace a faulty HMI cable connecting my TV, and I split open the old one, just to see. Well, perfect size and sturdiness for plug wires, and in 5 colors to boot. I now have supplies for years to come... In case you wonder, my cable had wires smaller than, say, telephone wires. Hence the right size for spark plugs on 1/25 or 1/24. 

CT

[customline]

On 12/19/2022 at 8:28 PM, Claude Thibodeau said:

HI!

I recently had to replace a faulty HMI cable connecting my TV, and I split open the old one, just to see. Well, perfect size and sturdiness for plug wires, and in 5 colors to boot. I now have supplies for years to come... In case you wonder, my cable had wires smaller than, say, telephone wires. Hence the right size for spark plugs on 1/25 or 1/24. 

CT

Yes, HDMI, right? I probably have a spare one here, yeah and maybe some old computer junk that could be torn apart. Good idea, Claude!

[Jiml0001]

I have been on a quest to find correctly sized wire for 1/24 1/25 uses.  I always look for metric sizes since one millimeter equals one inch in 1/24 scale.   So I have searched for 1/4 mm for regular ignition cables and 3/8 mm for hi voltage wires.   I find you can’t look for a particular AWG rating since AWG measures the size of the copper wire inside and not the outside diameter of the wire with insulation and the type of insulation makes a huge difference.    Another thing is that a lot of tiny wires use Teflon insulation that is not opaque or does paint stick to it.    The best source I have found is on AliExpress.   This wire comes in correct sizes and a variety of colors.  The 36 AWG has an outside diameter of .28 mm and the 32 AWG has a .38 mm outside diameter.   It has plastic insulation that comes in many colors and other sizes.  There is a size chart on the site.   50 meter rolls ( over 150 feet ) are less than five dollars.  Search for this on AliExpress

[gary jackson]

On 12/20/2022 at 11:40 PM, customline said:

Yes, HDMI, right? I probably have a spare one here, yeah and maybe some old computer junk that could be torn apart. Good idea, Claude!

i tried that and they woudnt fit in wire looms

[Jiml0001]

The holes in the detail master looms I have are .5 mm.   The smallest wires in either hdmi or Cat5 cables are .62 mm.  The two wire sizes I describe above both fit the looms.  The .28 mm wire is a scale 1/4 inch in 1/24.  The .38 mm wire is a scale 3/8 inch in 1/24.  I have searched a lot and never found wrapping wire smaller than .6 mm.   I have bought hundreds of feet of it and never found any wrapping wire that is right.   If anyone can use .6 mm or .65 mm wire in any color let me know and I will send you a bunch

[deuces wild]

I'd use awg-32 for 1/25 scale and awg-30 for 1/24 scale..  

[NOBLNG]

The 30AWG wire shown above measures 0.020” which is 0.508mm so it likely would not fit the detail master looms. It looks OK for 1/25 scale in my opinion.

[LL3 Model Worx]

So, I've acquired lots of various wire over the years in various sizes and colors and materials...

The real question is where do the hobby specific vendors get their wire? That can't be that much of an arcane secret.

I'm willing to bet it's from industrial supplier that we could all call and order from...

I don't really have the need as I have plenty (bought from hobby suppliers and salvaged from electronics) but it would be nice to know why no one can seem to find where the hobby vendors source their stuff.

Baffling.

[Jiml0001]

Detail Master sells two sizes of ignition wire.  They have .012 inch and .016 inch.  A two foot piece is $4.99.  

The ad I showed you above has wire in  .011 , .012, .014, .020, .023, and .027 inch.   There is wire even smaller than Detail Master and they offer Black, white, green ,red ,gray, blue, yellow, purple and orange.   This stuff is 3 cents PER FOOT!  Detail Master gets $4.99 for two feet and the offer above gets $4.68 for 168 feet.   Take one 50 meter roll for $4.68, cut it into two foot pieces and sell each piece for $4.99.    Your profit from your $4.68 investment will be $400.00    That’s where detail companies get their wire  

I mean we are talking three cents a foot!     I’d be more than willing to sell two foot pieces for $4.99 all day   I’d even have a promotion, buy one get ten for free!

Also if buying 50 meters for $4.68 is too much, they have 5 meter pieces for $1.25   (That is 16 feet of wire for $1.25)

 

 

[peteski]

On 12/28/2022 at 9:44 AM, LL3 Model Worx said:

The real question is where do the hobby specific vendors get their wire? That can't be that much of an arcane secret.

I'm willing to bet it's from industrial supplier that we could all call and order from...

You answered your own question.  Yes, they likely get the wire from industrial suppliers who sell the wire in bulk.  It probably comes in 1000' reels,  and  it costs probably more than you're willing to pay (or use in your lifetime).  Then companies like Detail Master repackage that stuff in modeler-friendly lengths.  Repackaging takes time, and some additional profit is also to be made to keep the company in business, so the price for small packages is higher than what the original wire cost.

[LL3 Model Worx]

3 hours ago, peteski said:

You answered your own question.  Yes, they likely get the wire from industrial suppliers who sell the wire in bulk.  It probably comes in 1000' reels,  and  it costs probably more than you're willing to pay (or use in your lifetime).  Then companies like Detail Master repackage that stuff in modeler-friendly lengths.  Repackaging takes time, and some additional profit is also to be made to keep the company in business, so the price for small packages is higher than what the original wire cost.

I'm sorry, I was being a little facetious in my post. ?

I've ordered plenty of hard to find wire and cable for work. Usually they sell at a certain price per foot. I ordered 120' of a cool wire called "chainflex" it's designed to withstand bending in automation applications. It's great stuff. Before I ordered the 120' I needed I ordered 6ft for testing.... no problem.

They get more business that way...(their words, not mine) none of us would ever use a 1000'ft roll of wire and most industrial applications wouldn't either, at least most of the time.

 

 

 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

On 12/28/2022 at 9:44 AM, LL3 Model Worx said:

...it would be nice to know why no one can seem to find where the hobby vendors source their stuff.

Baffling.

Baffling indeed.

Sources are out there, easy to find with a little effort.

Oh...sorry. I said "effort".

[LL3 Model Worx]

1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Baffling indeed.

Sources are out there, easy to find with a little effort.

Oh...sorry. I said "effort".

I'd be willing to bet Igus company could dig something up... or point someone in the right direction, they have never failed me before when I've looked for oddball things.

[Richard Bartrop]

Plastruct makes some really thin (.01") styrene rod that I like to use for wiring.  It'll take a bend, but still has lots of flex for the final positioning.  You can also glue it together for bundles when looms just aren't an option.

 

[Richard Bartrop]

Also, artist's acrylic paint, the thick stuff that come in tubes, does a respectable job of simulating spark plug boots.

[OldNYJim]

3 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

Also, artist's acrylic paint, the thick stuff that come in tubes, does a respectable job of simulating spark plug boots.

I’ve added a tiny amount of Elmers too before, just to make it a little more durable.  You don’t need much though…

[NOBLNG]

I made these plug boots from the insulation on the orange wire from a CAT5 cable. The wire loom I made from a flattened piece of solid wire. You need some good quality bits to drill the looms though. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by NOBLNG

[Jiml0001]

There is a material that I have had great fun with.   I found some heat shrink tubing that was less than one millimeter in diameter and I found that if you stretch it as you heat it you can make unbelievably small tubing.   That is what I use for plug boots.  Heat shrink tubing shrinks at about 150 degrees so a hair dryer is usually enough.  Using open flame will melt it.    Also styrene softens at about 250 degrees so you can shrink the tubing around styrene with no worry.   Radiator and heater hoses come to mind.  
 

1/32" ID Black Heat Shrink Tube 2:1 ratio wrap (6x9" = 4 ft) inch/feet/to 0.8mm

if you are looking at heat shrink tubing make sure it does not say “adhesive”