Detailed Description
- q: "What is the smallest and largest size available?"
- q: "Is the wire UL recognized, and what certification can you provide?"
a: "The product is built to UL 1569 appliance wiring material with VW-1 flame performance, and the PVC compound complies with RoHS and NP. Tell us which documents your quality system needs and we will confirm what can be issued with the order."
UL1569 hookup wire is a single-conductor, PVC-insulated appliance wiring material rated 300 V and 105 °C, built on a lead-free tinned copper stranded conductor. It is the lead you run inside equipment — between a power supply and a control board, from a terminal block to an LED driver, or through an appliance harness — where the circuit voltage stays at or below 300 V and the conductor needs to remain solderable and flexible after assembly.
What Is UL1569 Hookup Wire Used For?
UL1569 is an appliance wiring material (AWM) that equipment makers run inside an enclosure. It is equipment internal wiring, not building wiring, not house wiring, and not a fixed-installation cable. Typical locations include control panels, LED luminaires, appliance harnesses, PCB connections, security hardware, audio equipment, and similar assemblies where a single 300 V, 105 °C conductor is enough.
Because it is one stranded conductor rather than a multi-core cable, it is used for point-to-point runs where each circuit is routed on its own. Compared with solid wire, the stranded conductor is easier to route around tight enclosure corners and easier to rework during repeated assembly.
How UL1569 Hookup Wire Is Constructed
Conductor. Lead-free tinned copper, stranded from high-purity copper wire. The tin coating protects the copper against oxidation during storage and soldering, and lets the strand take solder quickly under an iron. Conductor diameter is held to ≤ ±0.01 mm so crimp terminals and insulation-displacement connectors close at their published dimensions. Insulation. A PVC environmental compound meeting RoHS and NP requirements. It contains no heavy metals, no harmful substances, and no phthalates, and the material density is ≤ 1.4 g/cm³. Overall diameter tolerance is ±0.2 mm. Jacket surface and marking. The outer surface is smooth, soft, and tough. Legend is printed clearly along the length, and the wire is supplied to the stated metre count.The construction is chosen for oxidation resistance, ageing resistance, repeated bending, and pull resistance. Conductor resistance is low, so the wire solders easily and the copper strands stay together when the insulation is stripped.
UL1569 Hookup Wire Specifications
The table below covers conductor construction, insulation thickness, finished diameter, conductor resistance, and reference current capacity from 30 AWG through 2 AWG.
| AWG | Conductor construction | Conductor dia. mm | Nominal cross-section mm² | Average thickness mm | Finished dia. mm | Conductor resistance Ω/km @ 20 °C | Reference current capacity A @ 30 °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 AWG | 7/0.10TS | 0.31 | 0.055 | 0.38 | 1.1 | 316 | 0.66 |
| 28 AWG | 7/0.127TS | 0.39 | 0.089 | 0.38 | 1.2 | 196 | 1.07 |
| 26 AWG | 7/0.16TS | 0.49 | 0.14 | 0.38 | 1.3 | 124 | 1.68 |
| 24 AWG | 11/0.16TS | 0.61 | 0.22 | 0.38 | 1.4 | 79 | 2.64 |
| 22 AWG | 17/0.16TS | 0.76 | 0.34 | 0.38 | 1.6 | 51 | 4.08 |
| 20 AWG | 21/0.178TS | 0.94 | 0.52 | 0.43 | 1.8 | 34 | 5.20 |
| 18 AWG | 34/0.178TS | 1.20 | 0.85 | 0.43 | 2.1 | 21 | 8.50 |
| 16 AWG | 26/0.254TS | 1.50 | 1.32 | 0.43 | 2.4 | 13 | 13.20 |
| 14 AWG | 41/0.254TS | 1.88 | 2.08 | 0.43 | 2.9 | 8.38 | 21 |
| 12 AWG | 65/0.254TS | 2.37 | 3.29 | 0.43 | 3.3 | 5.28 | 33 |
| 10 AWG | 105/0.254TS | 3.01 | 5.32 | 0.60 | 4.3 | 3.27 | 43 |
| 8 AWG | 165/0.254TS | 3.77 | 8.36 | 1.00 | 5.8 | 2.08 | 67 |
| 7 AWG | 208/0.254TS | 4.23 | 10.54 | 1.00 | 6.6 | 1.65 | 84 |
| 6 AWG | 263/0.254TS | 4.76 | 13.33 | 1.20 | 7.2 | 1.31 | 107 |
| 5 AWG | 329/0.254TS | 5.32 | 16.67 | 1.35 | 8 | 1.04 | 133 |
| 4 AWG | 420/0.254TS | 6.01 | 21.28 | 1.35 | 8.8 | 0.82 | 170 |
| 3 AWG | 504/0.254TS | 6.59 | 25.54 | 1.35 | 9.4 | 0.68 | 204 |
| 2 AWG | 665/0.254TS | 7.57 | 33.7 | 1.35 | 10.6 | 0.52 | 236 |
Cross-section figures are nominal; the conductor construction governs. Conductor diameter tolerance is ≤ ±0.01 mm and overall diameter tolerance is ±0.2 mm. Dielectric withstand test: 2000 V AC per minute.
Packaging is spool or bag, in three length bands:
| AWG range | Length per spool |
|---|---|
| 30-16 AWG | 610 m |
| 14-10 AWG | 305 m |
| 8-2 AWG | 100 m |
What the 300 V, 105 °C, and VW-1 Ratings Mean for Your Build
The 300 V rating sets the working voltage ceiling for the conductor. That covers the control, signal, and low-voltage power runs found inside most equipment, and it tells you where this wire stops being the right answer: anything above 300 V needs a different construction.
The 105 °C rating is the conductor temperature limit. It suits enclosures that run warm but stay under that ceiling — a driver housing, an appliance chassis, or a panel with modest internal heat rise.
VW-1 is a vertical burn rating for a single insulated conductor. It describes how the insulation behaves when a flame is applied, and it is one of the inputs an enclosure or appliance has to satisfy in its own burn evaluation. It is a wire-level rating, not a statement about the finished assembly.
How to Select and Install UL1569 Wire
Selecting the size. Match the conductor to two things: the current rating of the terminal or connector it lands in, and the reference current capacity in the table above. The reference values are stated at a 30 °C ambient, so a hot enclosure, a tightly bundled run, or a higher ambient will pull the usable current below the table figure. Stripping and terminating. The PVC insulation is formulated to strip cleanly, and a correct strip leaves the tinned strands grouped rather than fanned out. Crimp to the terminal maker's specification, or solder directly — the lead-free tin coating is there to make the solder joint fast and clean. Routing. Keep the run clear of moving parts and leave enough slack that the termination is not carrying mechanical load. Follow your own harness standard for minimum bend radius and support spacing.Available Configurations
Standard colors are red, black, white, blue, yellow, green, brown, grey, orange, and purple. The wire ships on spools or in bags at 610 m, 305 m, or 100 m per spool depending on size, and cut-to-length or broken-spool supply is available. OEM and ODM orders can be built to a customer drawing for color, length, and packing.
Why UL1569 Fits Your Equipment
For a design engineer, the useful part is the span: one UL1569 hookup wire covers 30 AWG signal leads and 8 AWG power leads, with conductor resistance and reference current capacity published for every size so the voltage drop calculation does not need a second datasheet. The lead-free tinned copper conductor is solderable and oxidation resistant, and the conductor diameter tolerance of ≤ ±0.01 mm keeps crimp and IDC terminations predictable. For a compliance engineer, the RoHS and NP material declaration, the phthalate-free PVC, and the density limit of ≤ 1.4 g/cm³ give something concrete to put in the material file. And for the buyer, one part number with ten standard colors and three spool lengths simplifies the harness BOM.
To get a quotation, send the AWG, conductor construction, color, length per spool, and quantity. The form on this page reaches our engineering team directly, and we will confirm the size, the spool length for that size, and the lead time against your schedule.