Essex Wire

Looking for Essex wire? View our product selection to see our stocked lines of Soderon 155 and GP/MR-200 below. Call us for a quote for other Essex wire product lines.


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Essex Wire Product Line Overview

Essex supplies many different kinds of wire, including Soderbond, Solidex, Solidon, or Thermalex lines.

Soderon 155 and GP/MR-200 are both double coated, which strengthens the wire, and increases durability, while allowing the wire to take on the properties of both insulations.

The polyester-imide insulation and polyamide-imide overcoat of GP/MR 200, for example, will allow for an increase in both dielectric properties and chemical resistance to solvents and refrigerants. Soderon 155 as a polyurethane insulation and a polyamide overcoat, increasing the wire's resistance to solvents and giving it a greater windability.


Product Line Applications Build Shape Insulation Gauge Temp.
rating
Soderon 130
Soderon 155		 Appliance motors,
relays, timer &
clock coils,
encapsulated coils,
arts & crafts		 Single
Heavy		 Round Polyurethane/Polyamide Single: 14-24
Heavy:10-24		 130°C
155°C
GP/MR-200 Transformers,
Motors, Inductors,
Output Coills, Ham
Radio Coils,
Antennas, Generators,
Tesla Coils,
Solenoids,
Electro-magnetics,
Tattoo machines,
Hook-up wiring,
Twist ties, arts
& crafts		 Single
Heavy		 Round
Square
Rectangular
 Polyester/Polyamide-imide Single:14-36
Heavy:4-36		 200°C
Formvar Oil-filled transformers,
Motors, wound coils,
solenoids		 Single
Heavy		 Round
Square
Rectangular		 Polyvinyl Acetal-phenolic Single:14-23
Heavy:4-23		 105°C
Soderbond N Helical and toroidal
coils, solenoid
coils, voice coils		 Heavy
Triple		 Round Polyurethane/Polyamide/
Polyvinyl Acetal		 Heavy:16-31
Triple:18-28		 105°C
Soderex 155 Small motors, relays
electronic coils		 Single
Heavy		 Round Polyurethane 35-46 155°C
Soderex 180 Specialty power
transformers, relays,
automotive coils		 Single
Heavy		 Round Polyurethane 32-46 180°C
Soderon 180 Bobbin-wound & paper
section coils, molded
& encapsulated coils,
small motors,
armatures & fields,
automotive coils,
toroidal coils,
specialty power
transformers		 Single
Heavy		 Round Polyurethane/Polyamide 25-46 180°C
Solidex Special transformer
coils, shaded
pole motor coils,
automotive coils,
electronic coils		 Single
Heavy		 Round Modified polyester-imide 14-45 180°C
Solidon Shaded pole motor
coils, special control
coils, automotive coils		 Single
Heavy		 Round Modified polyester-imide/
polyamide		 Single:14-45
Heavy:33-45		 180°C
Nytherm Fractional & integral
horsepower motors,
coils & relays,
control & dry-type
transformers,
encapsulated coils,
DC field coils		 Single
Heavy		 Round Polyester/Polyamide Single:14-33
Heavy:13-30		 180°C
Polybondex Clutch & brake
coils, helical &
toroidal coils,
motor field coils,
deflection yoke coils		 Heavy
Triple		 Round Polyester/
Polyamide-imide/
Bondcoat epoxy,
aromatic polamide
bonding agent		 Heavy:13-32
Triple:13-30		 180°C
Ultra Shield
Plus		 Rotating machines,
fractional & integral
HP motors, hermetic
motors, DC motors,
power tools,
automotive alternators
& generators,
transformers (dry-type,
Class 105 to 200),
control type electronics
(all coil types, Class
105 to 200)		 Heavy Round Polyester/polyamide-imide 9-30 200°C
Thermalex 200 Small appliance &
power tool motors,
sub-fractional
instrument &
servo-motors,
continuous
operation coils,
encapsulated coils		 Single
Heavy		 Round Polyester 33-45 200°C
Allex Fractional & integral
horsepower motors,
high temperature
continuous duty coils
& relays, hermetic &
sealed units,
heavy-duty hand
tool motors,
encapsulated coils		 Single
Heavy		 Round
Square
Rectangular		 Aromatic polyimide Single:14-33
Heavy:4-33		 240°C

Essex Wire Specifications


Conductor Type

Most essex wire will be copper, but aluminum is also available. Copper is the most widely used wire metal and there are numerous reasons for this.

Of all non-precious metals, copper has the highest electrical conductivity. Due to its lower conductivity, aluminum wire needs to have a cross section that is 1.6 times bigger so it can create the same resistance as a copper wire. This makes copper wire less cumbersome than aluminum wire.

In addition, Copper is 300% stronger than aluminum, allowing it to withstand more extreme conditions.


Solid vs. Stranded Essex Wire

One single strand of insulated wire is called solid wire, whereas stranded wire is multiple bare wire strands braided together to make a larger wire.

Solid wires do not have much elasticity, and are found in applications where the wires do not often move. Stranded wires have greater flexibility, which increases as the number of strands goes up;. Stranded wires will have a minimum number of seven wire strands: six wires will be wrapped around one wire in the middle.

Stranded wire is resistant to metal fatigue because of its flexibility. Fatigue happens when a wire is overused, causing the wire to begin to crack. Since it is bendable, stranded wire runs into this problem less frequently.

Solid wire is less likely to experience corrosion, though, due to having less surface area.

The wires that TEMCo sells are solid.


Solid Essex Wire Stranded Essex Wire

Pictured above: Solid copper wire (left), stranded wire (right)


Shape

Essex wires are square, round or rectangular.

The shape determines the tightness of the coil. Square and rectangular copper wires will be wound tighter than round wires since they have less space between the turns when coiled. Square wires are often used in confined spaces and in applications where higher power is required.

Rectangular copper wires can be wound the tightest because they are flat, leaving no spaces between the turns.

Round wire, on the other hand, will have more space between the wires due to the lack of edges.


Rectangular Essex Wire Round Essex Wire

Pictured above: Rectangular wire (left), round wire (right)

Color

The color of essex wire is purely aesthetic, and neither the insulation, nor any other element of how the wire will function, will be impacted.

In cases where a certain wire color is needed to differentiate wires for soldering, like if there is a need to differentiate wires coming from different circuits, some manufacturers will allow customers to specify a color for their wire.

TEMCo offers red and green Soderon 155, while the GP/MR-200 will be natural/amber.


Color Essex Wire

Insulation

Insulation protects from having its turns touch. The turns of bare wires, which have no insulation, are not able to come in contact with each other since they would short out. Turns of insulated wire, on the other hand, can be wound so that the wires touch since they have the insulation between them. Insulation is especially important for coils that requires hundreds, possibly thousands, of wire turns.


Wire Gauge

The American wire gauge (AWG) rating of the wire, used in the U.S. and Canada, represents specific characteristics of round wire, such as diameter, resistance and current.

There are 44 standard wire gauges in total, that range from 0000 to 40. As the wire diameter decreases, the AWG number will increase, so the 0000 gauge wire has a diameter of 11.684 mm, while the 40 gauge wire has a diameter of 0.0799 mm.


Essex Wire Gauge

Weight

Wire weight will also become smaller as the gauge increases.

The 0000 gauge wire will have a weight of 640.5005 lbs per 1000 feet, while the 40 gauge wire has a weight is 0.0299 lbs per 1000 feet.


Temperature Rating/Thermal Class

For a wire to have a 20,000 hour service life there is a maximum temperature at which it will have to be run, called the temperature rating. The service life of the wire increases as the temperature it is being used at decrease; the service life will also decrease if used above the temperature rating.

Thermal class is measured in degrees celsius. 130°, 155°, 180° and 200° are some common temperatures found in different types of insulation.


Bondable Essex Wire

Bondable wire has an adhesive film that can be epoxy, polyester, or polyamide that will be put on top of the regular insulation. The film activates when it is heated up and creates a self-supporting coil which gets rid of the need for the bobbins, which are spindles that the wire is coiled around.

You can bond the wire using either the solvent, oven or resistance method.


  • A solvent bonding coat will be applied by dipping the completed coil in a solvent.
  • An oven bonding coat will be activated by heat from an oven. This process can take from 10 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the coiled wire.
  • A resistance bonding coat is activated by an electric current, the size of the which, as well as how long it will take to complete the process, is determined by coil design. Resistance bonding is used for wire sizes 34 gauge or higher.

Soldering Process

When a wire is attached to another wire, or a circuit board it needs to be soldered, or fused a melted down metal with a lower melting point, usually tin or lead.

Whether or not the wire needs to have its insulation removed before being soldered is entirely dependent on the wire being used. Of the wires that TEMCo offers, GP/MR-200 requires that the insulation be removed before soldering, while Soderon 155 does not, as the insulation will act as a flux when it is heated.


Breakdown Voltage and Build

The dielectric strength of the enamel insulation of the wire is also known as the breakdown voltage, of which there are three grades. The breakdown voltage grade goes up as the insulation becomes thicker. Smaller gauges have higher breakdown voltages.

The measurement of the insulation (also known as enamel), which can be calculated by subtracting the total diameter of the wire from the total diameter of the insulation and wire together, is known as the build. Insulation build can be single, heavy, triple or quadruple. Single and heavy are the most common.

The Soderon 155 and GP/MR-200 offered by TEMCo will be heavy build.


Buy Essex Wire

Click the links below to view TEMCo's Essex Wire product offerings. Don't see what you need? Call us for a quote on any other Essex wire lines!

View Soderon 155 Wire Selection View GP/MR-200 Wire Selection
Call us at 877.474.8209