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Picked stranded over solid for a 30 amp run last week
Had to wire up a new dryer outlet in an old house in Denver. The conduit run had three 90s and I figured solid 10 gauge would be a nightmare to pull. Grabbed stranded THHN instead and it went through smooth in about 20 minutes. No kinks or fighting the wire. Anyone else make that call and regret it later or was I just lucky?
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max_schmidt773mo ago
Stick with stranded for long pulls with multiple 90s every time. Solid wire gets that work-hardened memory that fights you in the pipe, and stranded just coils up nicer. You made the right call for speed and your own sanity. The terminals on that dryer outlet are rated for stranded anyway, so you're not losing anything. Your mileage may vary but I've never once regretted going stranded on a job like that.
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zarat373mo ago
Stranded just coils up nicer" - that's the understatement of the year, like saying a cat just "prefers" not to be bathed. Solid wire on a long pull with multiple 90s is basically asking for a workout you didn't sign up for, and I've definitely cursed myself out for choosing it. You're absolutely right about the terminals too, nothing worse than fighting a wire that's decided it wants to be a spring instead of a conductor.
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michael8033mo ago
That 12/2 solid Romex on a 50 foot run through three 90s I did last summer made me want to quit the trade. I totally feel you @zarat37, that springy memory is the worst part, it tries to coil back on you the whole time. I switched to stranded for a similar dryer hookup in a tight basement and it was night and day, the wire just follows where you want it to go. Plus when you're trying to land that ground screw on the terminal, stranded doesn't fight back and leave you with a loose connection. Solid has its place but for anything with bends longer than 20 feet I leave it on the spool now.
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