Re: Wire Wrap
- From: "Chris" <cfoley1064@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 23 May 2005 11:15:53 -0700
GT wrote:
> I would like to wire wrap some small hobby circuits. I figure 30AWG
is
> correct for me. I see Digikey
(http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T051/1323.pdf)
> has regular wrap and modified wrap. Which one is best to use?
>
> Also I saw a post that suggested wire wrap is obsolete. I can not
imagine
> how that could be because it seems perfect for small prototype and
hobby --
> do others out here wire wrap? Is there a better way to do small hobby
stuff
> (I do like breadboad but some stuff I'd like to keep for a while and
so
> wirewrap seems better).
>
> Thanks for any advice.
Wire wrap is fairly easy, but has a bit of a learning curve, and is
difficult to do well.
As another post mentioned, the process involves twisting wire (usually
30AWG) around a square wire wrap post with a wire wrap tool. If the
job is done right, the edge of the wire wrap post will bite into the
surface of the wire, galling it and creating a cold weld. (You can
feel whether a wire wrap is good by unwinding it. If you've done it
right, the wire will pull as you unstick the gall for each quarter
wind.) If the job is done right, the cold weld joint is sturdy and
should take the same abuse as a solder joint while maintaining a good
gas-tight electrical connection. You require special wire wrap sockets
for everything you're wire wrapping, or you can solder connections to
discrete components and just use the special sockets for ICs. If you
do get those, make sure you buy the sockets that have 3-deep posts.
Otherwise, you'll run out of room unless you really think out each
daisy chain first. Obviously wire wrap IC sockets are quite a bit more
expensive than plain IC sockets.
The problem is doing it right. Most hobbyists working with a small
hand tool end up with intermittent electrical connections and a lot of
frustration in trying to debug, not to mention nicked and easily broken
wire ends where the insulation strip was a little aggressive. As an
extra added bonus, a poor wire wrap frequently results in unwinding a
lot of stuff in very cramped quarters, with the possibility of
disturbing adjacent wire wrap joints. (This is covered in the link
shown in another post.)
You can see where this is headed. I feel a hobbyist should stick with
soldered connections. A good place to start for newbies is a perfboard
with a layout similar to the protoboard you're probably already using
to check circuits out. Radio Shack sells a perfboard with 4-pad 0.1"
spacing, just like your protoboard. It's the same size as their small
protoboard, and you can transfer your circuits right over from one to
the other. If you've got a small soldering iron, some solder, and some
24- or 26-gauge solid wire, you can do this easily. It will also give
you some additional practice in soldering.
Good luck with your projects.
Chris
.
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