Where can I buy AWG 24 wire rated for 120V?

Question

Chandelier wiring project. Want the wire to be as invisible as possible. Each arm holds a 75W socket (110V). Ideally, I'd like AWG 24-2 rated for 120V, 100+ degrees C. But, 24-1 is fine too. I need about 35ft of wire. Tried Home Depot.. Searching the web didn't help. Thanks a lot for any pointers.

Chandelier wiring project. Want the wire to be as invisible as possible. Each arm holds a 75W socket (110V). Ideally, I'd like AWG 24-2 rated for 120V, 100+ degrees C. But, 24-1 is fine too. I need about 35ft of wire. Tried Home Depot.. Searching the web didn't help. Thanks a lot for any pointers.

Addl info: The chandelier has 12 arms and I would like to use 60W bulbs (and a 1000W dimmer). So, the amperage is less than 0.6A per arm. I need the thin wire to run from a "distributor" on the chandelier to the socket on each arm. From the ceiling to the distributor, I plan to use 14 AWG.

Thanks everyone who already responded.

Answer 1

A electrical supply house might sell cut lengths but I think the smallest spool has 250 ft. You might look for fixture wire and you will need the clear type or a yellowish clear or silverish clear to keep it as invisible as possible. A single stranded THHN would fit but I don't know of any clear colors. We brought a European fixture (8 bulb chandelier) to the states 30 years ago and now we moved back to Spain and had no problems on the 120VAC system and 60 watt bulbs. You will be loading each socket with a 75 watt bulb (max). At 120 Vac and 75 watts the current for each bulb will be 1.6 Amps. That would be the current for each individual arm. You need to use regular size 14-2 to feed the whole fixture (15 Amps) or 1800 Watts in bulbs.
I'm sure you won't need that power for the entire fixture. The wire you want is good enough for each socket individually. Be sure to make good tight safe splices in the wiring where you have all those connections coming together.
One more rule - Have the center of the socket wired to the hot side of the line on each of the arms and of course the neutral side to the threaded part of the socket. [It's the safest way and not all of the cheap fixtures have it that way].
Here are some polarity tricks.
1- Twin lead fixture wire sometimes has printing on one of the conductors. (use this for the hot line for center socket to line [black] wire).
2- Some clear or almost clear twin lead has silver colored copper in one sleeve and copper in the other. (copper to line [black]).
3- Some colored twin lead has printing on one of the conductors (use that one for the hot [black]).

Good Luck, Take you time and be safe! ! !

Answer 2

24 guage wire is to small a guage for the application you want to use it for. 18 awg thhn should probably work it's real small also, but 35 ft of wire for 1 fixture, are you running this all the way from your breaker box? How many 75 w bulbs are you trying to run on this chandelier? Usually no more than 4 or maybe 6, 75 watt bulbs would be on one fixture, and your amp rating would by far exceed the amp rating for 24 gauge and you would burn your house down. you need to run some 14 awg to a mount box where you will be mounting the fixture from the braker box, and use no less than 18 awg for the fixture it self. I have 2 sources i have checked for this and nither one even list 24 awg for an a/c application the wire is just too small it has no amp rating. My sorces are the national ugly's book and the electrical engineering pocket hand book. you should be able to buy some clear insulated 18-2 awg wire at any hardware store or home improvement store......Jack

Answer 3

If this is the wire that you are using to supply electricity to the fixture from the panel, I don't think any city will approve that. If that is your goal take a look at this: http://www.decorp.com/

If you are creating a fixture you might try to go to radio shack and see if you can find what you need there, but you might want to reconsider your selection and use a thicker wire, or smaller bulbs, or convert the electricity at the Junction box to DC and use LED's. I'm not entirely sure about selecting wire size, but AWG 24 seems awfully small for an incandescent lighting fixture.

Answer 4

24-2 is really at its limit with the voltage you require. 22 is not much larger and is very small as well.

Check your local yellow pages for Electrical supplies.

There should be a local company that will specialize in electrical. If not, call an electrician. He can direct you to a local supply house.

Good Luck!

Answer 5

If you're not exceeding 40 watts, 24 Gauge will suffice. Most manufacturers use the stranded cord with the plastic coating. It's at lowe's on the big spools. Aisle 24 in my Lowe's.

Answer 6

Have you tried your local hardware store other than Home Despot? Radio Shack might have what you need, also.

Answer 7

Try www.techni-tool.com