GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ALLOY – A metal formed by combining two or more different metals to obtain desirable properties.

ALUMEL® – An alloy used for the thermocouple and thermocouple extension wire. Alumel® is a trademark of the Hoskins MFG. Co.

ALUMINUM CONDUCTOR – A wire or group of wires of aluminum, not insulated from each other, suitable for carrying electrical current.

AMBIENT TEMPERATURE – The temperature of the medium surrounding an object.

AMERICAN WIRE GAUGE – Abbreviated AWG.

ANNEAL – To soften and relieve strains of metal by heating to just below melting point then slowly cooling. Annealing lowers the tensile strength of copper, while improving flex life and flexibility.

ANSI – American National Standards Institute.

ANTENNA WIRE – A wire usually of high tensile strength such as Copperweld®, bronze, etc., with or without insulation used as an antenna for radio and electronic equipment.  Copperweld® is a trademark of the Copperweld Steel Company.

ASA – American Standards Association. Former name of ANSI.

ASME – Abbreviation for American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

ASTM – Abbreviation for American Society for Testing Materials.  An organization that tests materials and attempts to set standards on various materials for industry.

AWG – Abbreviation for American Wire Gage.  The system most commonly used in the United States for describing the size of copper wire.  It is based on the circular mil system.  One (1) mil equals 0.001 inch.  Also referred to as the Brown and Sharpe (B&S) wire gauge.

B&S GAUGE – Brown and Sharpe wire gauge used for describing different sizes of copper conductors. It is the same as AWG (American Wire Gauge). See AWG.

BALCO® – An alloy of 70% nickel and 30% iron.  It is used in devices where self-regulation by temperature is required.  Wilbur Drive Company trademark for a resistance wire.

BANDED CABLE – Two or more cables which have been banded together by stainless steel strapping.

BARE CONDUCTOR – A conductor not covered with any insulating materials.

BASE PRICE – The price of copper per pound before any adders are applied.  To this base price, adders are used to determine price for drawing the copper into a wire and for tinning or insulating the bare copper wire.

BC – Abbreviation for bare copper.

BCCS – Abbreviation for bare copper clad steel.

BEND RADIUS – Radius of curvature that a cable can bend before the risk of breakage or increased attenuation occurs. To determine bend radius a good rule of thumb is not to exceed ten times the cable diameter.

BRAID – A group of textile or metallic filaments interwoven to form a tubular flexible structure which may be applied over one or more wires or flattened to form a strap.

BRAID ANGLE – The angle formed by the shielding strand and the axis of the cable being shielded.

BRAIDED WIRE – Woven bare or tinned copper wire used as shielding for wires, cables, and ground wire for batteries or heavy industrial equipment.  There are many types of constructions.

BREAKING STRENGTH – The maximum load that a conductor can withstand when the tested in tension to rupture.  This force is usually expressed in pounds (lbs) or kilograms (kgs).

BUNCH STRANDING – A conductor in which all individual wires are twisted in the same direction without a predetermined pattern.

BUTT BRAIDER – A machine used for braiding or shielding cable or wire.  It may be 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, or 64 carriers.  These braiders are manufactured by New England Butt Company and operate on the Maypole type principle.

C.S.A. – Abbreviation for Canadian Standards Association. The Canadian counterpart of Underwriters Laboratories.

CABLE – a) a cable may be a small number of large conductors or a large number of small conductors, cabled together, usually color coded and with a protective jacket overall. b) a single conductor larger than 9 AWG.

CABLING – Grouping or twisting together two or more insulated conductors to form a cable.

CCA – Abbreviation for copper clad aluminum.

CHROMEL®-ALUMEL® – The alloy used in making Chromel-Alumel® thermocouple wires.  Chromel® is an alloy of nickel and chrome plus nine other elements.  Alumel® is an alloy containing nickel, manganese, aluminum, silicon, and nine other elements. Chromel® is nonmagnetic; Alumel® is highly magnetic.  Chromel® and Alumel® are trademarks of Hoskings MG. Co.

CHROMIUM – A blue-white metallic element found naturally only in combination and used in alloys and in electroplating.

CIRCULAR MIL – A term universally used to define cross-sectional areas of conductors.  It is an area (7.854 x 10 sq. in.) equal to the area of a circle one-thousandth (10^-3) of an inch in diameter.  As the number of circular mils increase, the size of a wire increases. Abbreviation CM.

CLADDING – Method of applying a layer of metal over another metal whereby the junction of the two metals is continuously welded.

COMPACTED STRANDED CONDUCTOR – A unidirectional or conventional concentric conductor manufactured to a specified diameter which is approximately 8% to 10% less than the nominal diameter the standard stranded conductor.

COMPOSITE CABLE – A cable consisting of two or more different types or sizes of wires.

CONCENTRIC LAY CONDUCTOR – A single conductor composed of a central core surrounded by one or more helically laid wires.  Each of these succeeding layers is applied with an opposite direction twist.  The number of wires laid up the center wire is six, and each succeeding layer consists of six additional wires so that the number of wires in the strands are 7, 19, 37,61 etc.

CONCENTRICITY – In a wire or cable, the measurement of the location of the center of the conductor with respect to the geometric center of the surrounding insulation.

CONDUCTIVITY – The capability of material to carry electrical current, expressed as a percentage of copper conductivity with copper being 100%.

CONDUCTOR – A substance, usually metal, used to transfer electrical energy from point to point.  A tube in which insulated wire and cables are run.

CONSTANTAN – An alloy of 55% copper and 45% nickel used in thermocouple with copper in the temperature range of 169° C to 386° C.  Temperature coefficient of electrical resistivity, 0.0002/° C.

COPPER CONSTANTAN – Copper and constantan are two materials used in making thermocouple wires.  The copper is the positive wire and the constantan is the negative wire.

COPPER-CLAD – Steel wire with a coating of copper welded to it, as distinguished from copper-plated.  Abbreviated CCS.  Same as Copperweld®. Copperweld® is a trademark of the Copperweld Steel Company.

Copperweld® –  Copperweld® is the trade name for copper covered steel wire manufactured by Copperweld Steel Company.  It is made by an exclusive molten welding process whereby a thick copper covering is inseparably welded to a steel core.  Copperweld® thus performs as one metal.  Hot rolling, cold drawing, pounding, or temperature changes cannot adversely affect it.  Abbreviated as cw.

COPPERWELD® – Trade name of (Copperweld Steel Corp.) for their copper-clad steel conductors.

COVERAGE – The percentage of completeness with which a metal braid covers the underlying surface.

CROSS SECTIONAL AREA OF A CONDUCTOR – Cross-sectional area of a conductor is the sum of cross-sectional areas of all the individual wires comprising the strand.

CSA – Abbreviation for Canadian Standards Association.  This is the Canadian counterpart of the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) in the U.S.

CURRENT CARRYING CAPACITY – The maximum current an insulated conductor can continuously carry without exceeding its insulation and jacket temperature limitations.  Also called ampacity.

DC – Abbreviation for direct current. Also abbreviated DC.

DESICCANT – Water or moisture absorbent material used to prevent moisture from damaging packaged equipment or other merchandise.

DIA – Abbreviation for diameter.

DIRECT CURRENT – (DC) An electric current which flows in only one direction.

DIRECTION OF LAY – The lateral direction in which the strands of a cable run over the top of the cable as they recede from you looking along the axis of the cable.

DOD – Abbreviation for the U.S. Department of Defense.

DRAIN WIRE – A non-insulated wire in contact with the shield and used in termination to that shield as a ground connection.

DRAWING – In wire manufacturing, pulling of metal through a die or series of dies to reduce diameter to a specific size.

ELECTRO TINNED – Wire tinned with pure tin using an electrolytic process.

ELECTROLYTIC TOUGH PITCH – Abbreviation ETP. Copper refining process that produces a conductor that is 99.9% pure copper resulting in high conductivity.

ELECTROPLATING – The process of depositing a thin layer of metal using an anode/cathode reaction.

ELONGATION – The state of being elongated or lengthened.

EMC – Abbreviation for electromagnetic compatibility. No emission of interference exceeding FCC limits.

EMF – Abbreviation for electromotive force. 

EMI – Abbreviation electromagnet interference.

EMP – Abbreviation for electromagnet pulse.

ENAMELED WIRE – A conductor with a baked-on varnish enamel; may be 7 AWG through 50 AWG. Intended for use in winding motors, coils, transformers, and other applications of similar usage.

EXTRUSION – The process of continuously forcing both a plastic or elastomer and a conductor through a die, thereby applying a continuous coating of insulation or jacket to the core.

FAHRENHEIT – A scale for measuring temperature.  Water freezes at 32° F and boils at 212° F.  Abbreviated F.

FATIGUE RESISTANCE – Resistance to metal crystallization that occurs when the conductor or wire break from flexing.

FAULT CURRENT – A current that may flow through a circuit or device because of a fault, such as a defect in the insulation.

FIBER OPTICS – Transmission of energy by light through glass fibers.

FILLED STRAND – Conductor in which the interstices between the individual wires are filled with a compound to prevent moisture migration along the conductor.

FLAT BRAID – A woven braid, which is flattened at time of manufacturing to a specific width.

FLEX LIFE – The measurement of the ability of a conductor or cable to withstand repeated bending.

FLEXIBILITY – The ease with which a cable may be bent.

GAUGE – A term used to denote the physical size of a wire.

GAUGE – A term used to describe the physical size of a wire. As the AWG number gets smaller, the diameter of the wire gets larger.

HARD DRAWN – Wire that has not been annealed after drawing.

HOT TIN DIP – The process of passing bare wire through a bath of molten tin to provide a coating. This process has been largely replaced by electroplating.

IACS – Abbreviation for International Annealed Copper Standard. Refined copper for electrical conductors: 100% conductivity at 20° C for 1 m x 1 mm² has 1/58 ohm resistivity, 8.93 (changed to 8.89 in 1977) grams per mm² density, 0.000017 per degree C coefficient of linear expansion, and 1/254.45 per degrees C coefficient of variation of resistance.

IMPACT STRENGTH – A test for determining the mechanical punishment a cable can withstand without physical or electrical breakdown by impacting with a given weight, dropped a given distance, in a controlled environment.

IRON CONSTANTAN – A combination of metals used in thermocouple, thermocouple wires, thermocouple lead wires. The ion wire is positive. The constantan is the negative wire.

JACKET – A covering over insulation usually nonmetallic, plastic, rubber, cotton, Neoprene®, fluoropolymer, or glass. Neoprene® is a trademark of the DuPon de Nemours Co.

LAY – The axial distance required for one cabled conductor or conductor strand to complete one revolution about the axis around which it is cabled.

LAY DIRECTION – The direction of the progressing spiral twists in a cable while looking along the axis of the cable away from the observer. The lay direction can either be left (s) or right (z).

LBS – Abbreviation for pounds.

LITZWIRE – Short for litzendraht wire. The construction of fine individually insulated strands, specially woven or braided together to reduce skin effect and thus lower resistance to high frequency currents.

M/FT – One thousand feet

MAGNET WIRE – Insulated copper wire used for winding coils, motors and transformers.

MCM – One thousand circular mils.

MICRON – A unit of length equal to one-millionth (10^-6) of a meter, now renamed as the micrometer.  Abbreviated um.

MIL – Unit used to measure diameter of a wire or thickness of insulation over a conductor. One one- thousandth of an inch (.001″).

MIL SPEC – Abbreviation for military specification.

MIL STD – Abbreviation for military standard.

MIL-C – Military cable specification.

MILLIMETER – Unit of measure for linear distance. One millimeter equals one -thousandth (10^-3) of a meter.  Abbreviation mm.

MIL-W – Military wire specification.

MIN. – Abbreviation for minimum.

MM – Abbreviation for millimeter.

MULTI-CONDUCTOR – More than one conductor within a single cable complex.

NCCCS – Abbreviation nickel-covered copper-clad steel.

NEMA – Abbreviation for National Electrical Manufacturers Association.  Maintains standardization of electrical motors, gear reducers, and wire and cable specifications.

NEMA – National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

NICC – Abbreviation for nickel-clad copper. Also abbreviated as NC.

NICKEL-CLAD COPPER WIRE – A wire with a layer of nickel on a copper core where the area of the nickel is approximately 30% of the conductor area. The nickel has been rolled and welded to the copper before drawing. It has very high resistivity and can operate at extremely high temperatures.  Abbreviated NCC and NC.

NICROME® – Driver Harris Company’s trade name for an alloy of 60% nickel, 16% chromium, and the balance steel.  Used exclusively in wire wound resistors and heating elements.

NONFERROUS – Not of iron. Refers to alloys which have no iron or steel as ingredients.

NPC – Abbreviation for nickel-plated copper. Also abbreviated as NOC.

O.D. – Abbreviation for outside diameter.

OEM – Abbreviation for Original Equipment Manufacturer.

OFHC – Oxygen-free high-conductivity copper (OFHC) has 99.99% minimum copper content with an average conductivity in the annealed state of 100%.

OHM – Unit of measure for electrical resistance. The value of resistance through which a potential difference of one volt will maintain a current of one ampere.

OHM’S LAW – The electric current, I, flowing in a conductor or resistor is linearly proportional to the applied difference, V, across it.  From the definition or resistance, R, OHM’s Law can be written: V=IR (i.e., Volts = Current x Resistance.)

OSHA – Abbreviation for Occupational Safety and Health Act.

OVERALL DIAMETER – Finished diameter of a wire or cable.

OVERCOAT – Individual strands of tin copper wire stranded together and then covered with tin coating.

OXIDIZE – To change (a compound) by increasing the proportion of the electronegative part or charge (an element or ion) from a lower to a higher positive valence; remove one or more electrons from an atom, ion, or molecule.

OZ – Abbreviation for ounce.

PICK – The distance from the intersection of two opposing groups of wires to the next corresponding intersection along the length of the braid.

PICKS PER INCH – Abbreviation P/I. The number of times the carriers in a braid cross over each other in the same direction along the longitudinal axis for each inch of length. The number of picks per inch determines the density of the braid pattern.

PIGTAIL WIRE – Fine stranded, extra flexible, rope lay, lead wire.

PITCH – In flat cable, the nominal distance between the index edges of two adjacent conductors.

PLATED – Covered with an adherent layer mechanically, chemically, or electrically.

PUT-UP – Packaging of finished wire or cable.

RESISTANCE – The tendency of a material to resist the passage of an electric current and to convert electrical energy into heat energy, Symbol R. It is the ratio of the applied potential difference across a conductor to the current flowing through it (see Ohm’s Law). If the current is an alternating current, the resistance, measured in ohms, is the real part of electrical impedance, Z, given by the formula: Z = R +IX where I equals  and X is the resistance.

RESISTANCE WIRE – Wire constructed from a material, such as Nichrome® or constantan, that has a high resistivity and low temperature coefficient of resistance. It is used for accurate wire-wound resistors.  Nichrome® is a trademark of the Driver Harris Company.

RESISTIVITY – An intrinsic property of a material equal to the resistance per unit length and unit cross sectional area. Reciprocal of conductivity the lower the sensitivity of material the better conductor it is. Material can be classified as conductors, semi-conductors, or insulators according to the resistivity. Conductors have a resistivity of 10^-6 to 10^-8 ohms per meter, semiconductors have a resistivity of 10⁶ to 10^-7 ohms per meter, and insulators have a resistivity of 10^-7 to 10^-23 ohms per meter.

RESPOOL – To rerun material from one package spool to another for various purposes, such as to verify lengths, inspect for defects, or to a specified packaging by customer.

ROHS – Rohs is the acronym for Restriction of Hazardous Substances. RoHS, also known as Directive 2022/95/EC, originated in the European Union and restricts the use of specific hazardous materials found in electrical and electronic products.  All applicable products, in the EU market after July 1, 2006, must pass HHS compliance. For the complete directive see Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament.  The substances banned under RHS are lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), hexavalent chromium (CrVI), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE).

ROPE LAY STRAND – A conductor made of multiple groups of filaments. A 7 x 19 rope lay strand has 19 wires laid into a group and then 7 such groups laid cabled into a conductor.

ROPELAY CABLE – A cable composed of a central core surrounded by one or more layers of helically laid groups of wires, resembling a rope.

SAE  -Abbreviation for the Society of Automotive Engineers.

SC – Abbreviation for silver-covered copper. Also abbreviated as SCC.

SCB – Abbreviation for silver-plated cadmium bronze. Also abbreviated as SCCad R.

SCBERC – Abbreviation for silver-covered beryllium-copper alloy.

SCC – Abbreviation for silver-covered copper. Also abbreviated as SC.

SCCA – Abbreviation for silver-covered copper-clad aluminum. Also abbreviated SCCAL.

SCCADBR – Abbreviation silver-covered cadmium bronze. Also abbreviated as SCB.

SCCAL – Abbreviation for silver-covered copper-clad aluminum. Also abbreviated as SCS.

SCHSCA – Silver- coated high strength copper alloy.®

SCS – Abbreviation for silver-covered copper-clad steel. Also abbreviated as SCCS.

SCW – Abbreviation for silver-plated Copperweld® conductor. Copperweld® is a trademark of the Copperweld Steel Company.

SD – Abbreviation for soft drawn (annealed.)

SHIELD – A tape, serve or braid (usually copper, aluminum or other conductive metal) placed around or between electric circuits or cables or their components, to prevent signal leakage or interference.

SHIELD COVERAGE (PERCENTAGE) – The physical area of a cable that is actually covered by the shielding material and is expressed in percent.

SHIELDED CONDUCTOR – An insulated conductor which has been shielded by a copper braid or tape, aluminum foil, copper foil, or semi-conductive vinyl. The purpose is to confine the electrical field.

SKELETON BRAID – Widely separated braid of fiber, copper, or steel may be used to hold core together, for reinforcing jacket or for shielding.

SKIN EFFECT – The tendency of alternating current, as its frequency increases, to travel only on the surface of a conductor.

SNCCS – Abbreviation for silver-covered nickel-covered copper-clad steel.

SOLID CONDUCTOR – A conductor composed of one wire. Generally, 18 AWG through 6 AWG, used where flexibility is not required.

SP SHIELD – Abbreviation for silver-plated shield.

SPC – Abbreviation for silver-plated copper. Also abbreviated as S.

SPECIFIC GRAVITY – The ratio of the density (mass per unit volume) of a material to that of water.

SPIRAL SHIELD – A metallic shield of fine stranded wires applied spirally rather than braided.

SPIRAL WRAP – The helical wrap of a material over a core.

SPLICE – A permanent joint between two optical waveguides.

SPOOL – Circular container on which wire is wound for storage or transit, usually made of plastic, paper, or metal.

SS – Abbreviation for stainless steel.

STRIP FORCE – The force required to initiate or continue a tear in a material under specific conditions.

TC – a) abbreviation for tinned copper. b) type TC power and control try cable.

TCCS – Abbreviation for tinned copper-clad steel.

TCW – Abbreviation for tinned Copperweld®. Copperweld® is a trademark of the Copperweld Steel Company.

TENSILE STRENGTH – The pull stress required to break a given specimen.

THERMOCOUPLE – A device consisting of two dissimilar metals in physical contact, which when heated will develop an emf output.

THERMOCOUPLE EXTENSION – Same as thermocouple lead wire.

THERMOCOUPLE LEAD WIRE – An insulated pair of wires used from the couple to a junction box or to the recording instrument.

THERMOCOUPLE WIRE – Wire drawn from special metals or alloys and calibrated to established specifications such as for the U.S. Bureau of Standards or Instruments Society of American standards.

TIN OVERCOAT – Abbreviation TOC. Tinned copper wire, stranded and then coated with tin.

TINNED COPPER – Tin coating added to a copper conductor or braid to aid in soldering and inhibit corrosion.  Abbreviated as TC.

TINSEL – A type of electrical conductor comprised of several threads, each thread having a fine, flat ribbon of copper or other metal closely spiraled about it. Used for small size cables requiring flexibility and long flex life.

TINSEL CORD – Extra flexible cord made with tinsel conductors to give the ultimate in flexibility. Used mostly in the communications field on headsets, handsets, and anywhere that repeated flexibility is necessary.

TINSEL WIRE – A low voltage, stranded wire in which each strand is very thin copper ribbon spirally wrapped around a textile yarn.  Insulation is generally a textile braid. Intended for use where sever flexing is expected.

TOLERANCE – The allowable deviation from a strander, especially the range of variation permitted in maintaining a specified dimension in machining a piece.; or b) the variance between the quantity ordered and the quantity shipped generally accept in the wire industry to be plus or minus 10%.

TOPCOAT – Bare (untinned) copper wire, stranded, then coated with pure tin.

UL – Abbreviation for Underwriters Laboratories; a nonprofit organization which tests and verifies construction and performance of electronic parts and equipment.

UNILAY – More than one layer of helically laid wires with the direction and length of lay the same for all.

UNILAY CONDUCTOR – A central core surrounded by one or more concentric layers of helically wound strands in a fixed geometrical arrangement with the direction of lay the same for each layer and the central core.

WICKING – The longitudinal flow of a liquid in a wire or cable due to capillary action.

WIRE – A slender rod or filament of drawn metal. The term is a generally used one, which may refer to any single conductor. If larger than 9 AWG or multiple conductors, it is usually referred to as a cable.

WIRE BRAID – Flexible wire constructed to small size strands woven together in tubular form. Used for shielding or connections where constant flexing is required.

WIRE GAUGE – The American Wire Gauge, originally called Brown & Sharpe Gauge.  A system of numerical wire sizes starting with the lowest numbers for the largest sizes.  Gauge sizes are each 20.6% apart based on cross sectional area.  Abbreviated AWG.