Re: Need Secondary wire source

[ghub005-at-xtra.co.nz (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

On 31 Jul 2000, at 19:01, Tesla list wrote:

<snip>

> Original poster: "Gomez ADDams" <gomez-at-netherworld-dot-com> 

> > I have found some quadruple coated wire (may be overkill) but can't find a
> > supplier that will sell by the pound.
> 
> Well what do they sell by then?  The foot?  Fixed-length reels?  Who is it?
> Are their prices reasonable?  I'm looking at needing 5000 - 6000 feet of
> 12ga motor wire and was going to buy triple-build, but if you've got a cheap
> source for quad-build, I'd like to look into it.

Hi Gomez and list

All copper wire manufacturers sell the wire by the weight of the spool. 
The commodity cost of the copper is set at the start of each day and used 
as the basis of the unit cost - the unit cost includes the manufacturing 
cost of drawing the wire, adding the enamel, and the reel itself (some 
manufacturers discount their wire if the reels are returned). It is 
customary for a fixed fee (usually less than 5%) to be added to the cost 
of each order to protect the manufacturer from short-term movements in 
the commodity markets.

The tolerance of a spool is usually pretty low so there can be a large 
amount of variation in the weights of spools. You can use this to your 
advantage - ask for a end of run spool, there is usually one underweight 
spool on each pallet. 

If you buy a large amount of wire (usually more than 500kg), you can 
negotiate a fixed forward rate for the order that disregards any change in 
market prices i.e. hedging the prices against market movements.

Please note that this information only applies to the manufacturers of 
copper wire - resellers and motor winders may respool their leftover 
wire or sell small quantities by the metre etc. Try not to get wire which 
has been respooled more than once - if done roughly, it will reduce the 
mechanical and dielectric strength of the enamel.

Best regards,

Gavin Hubbard