Best wires for MK1 / MK2 Heater Board

What is the best wires for the MK1 or MK2 Heater Board?

A lot of people say 14 AWG or 12 AWG (because it is a heater circuit) and stranded wire due to flexibility. 14 AWG could handle the amps, especially at only 30cm long leads. Also, what kind of insulation material? THHN is pretty snag resistant and slick, but rubber based insulators are more flexible.

Any thoughts?

I just bought 12AWG silicone cable (The kind you'd use on a remote control car) for mine, not set it up yet through.

It's also very heat resistant.

Hi Beekeeper.

I am using standard 1.5 mm² cable (which would be 14 AMG I believe) for mine. Works fine.
As yngndrw is saying, silicone would be a good choice for flexibility, mine are PVC which is also quite flexible. The temperature of the wires (for me) is never really high (max 40°C or so) so the heat resistance is for me not a problem.

The only problem I ran into is the MOSFET. It burnt up instantly, I have now mounted a biiiig heat sink, and all is running flawlessly. Think of that before firing up your heated bed.

/Fizz

Thanks guys,

I am using 14 AWG and trying both a rubber based insulator (like extension cords) and the THHN type insulator (like in industrial power wires found in conduit). While the rubber based insulator is much more flexible, I have to use a longer length of it to stop it from getting hooked on the Y axis smooth rods etc... when the Y axis moves. The rubber flexible wires sag on the threaded rods so they have to be longer.

The industrial wires act more like a built in flexible wire way conduit since they are more rigid. I slightly twist them when I install them. The twist makes it so they don't sag on the threaded rods. I am putting both types through the paces to see which gives the best results.

Both types of insulation seem somewhat wear resistant, so I don't know which type will last the longest.

In addition, drilled holes in the HBP boards and added some wire ties to act as a strain relief for the cables. The MK1 boards don't have any through holes for the solder pads, so eventually you will rip the pads off if you don't add any strain relief. I'm sure a lot of people found this out the hard way.