http://pinrestore.com/Supplies.html Half way down the page, bare wire. Will that work ?

LTG : )

Check your local hardware store in the aisle with chain that can be purchased by the foot.
I remember seeing round braid at Home Depot or Lowe’s sold by the foot

Didn't know that from your post.

LTG : )

I’ll probably never heard the end of it but I used this throughout my Mata Hari and it works great. Ace Hardware. Same gauge that came off the machine but packaged as “picture wire” what a sin!!! Metal is metal.
$3

image (resized).jpg

Hey, if it's the same or similar to what came off and it takes solder, it's a win.
Good idea!

I think you want flat tinned copper braid. I forget the size specifications but maybe someone else can chime in. You can order this its of places, even Amazon.

I think pinrestore only charges their actual shipping costs. They have a high estimate but then refund the extra.

I think it did great but I’m a rookie. Not sure if a pic helps justify but here’s an example...

image (resized).jpg

image (resized).jpg

Cheapest place I ever found was a HAM radio supply store on the internet. They use the exact same stuff and I remember it being cheap! I used it on my The Shadow. I'll see if I can find a link

McMaster Carr has both sizes. Look under Grounding Braid. I order it by the roll from there.
Mike

Please report back with what you eventually order, price and supplier.

Pinrestore does refund all excess shipping charges back to your card. I used their bare wire ground braid in the game I’m currently restoring. It’s certainly not the cheapest option, but the quality is excellent.

I think Matt is right:

- For the lightbox panel and underside of the playfield, the picture wire is perfect and matches exactly the original Bally wire.
- For the main cabinet, you want to use flat ground braid available from Pinball Life for example. This one is not cheap... $5 a foot.

Yves

FYI, Pinball Life is not selling at $5/ft, it is actually reasonably priced for tinned braid.

Flat Tinned Copper Ground Braid - 5 Feet
Unit Price: $5.00
5-10 feet - $1.00 per foot
15-20 feet - $0.92 per foot
25-30 feet - $0.81 per foot
35-40 feet - $0.75 per foot
45-50 feet - $0.70 per foot
60 feet - $0.65 per foot
70 feet - 0.60 per foot
80 feet - 0.55 per foot
100 feet - 0.50 per foot
150 feet - $0.45 per foot
200 feet - $0.40 per foot

https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=catalog&mode=search&search_in=all&search_str=braid

Brypten,

You are absolutely right. My mistake. I actually ordered about 20 feet from Pinball Life a few days ago.
The quality is excellent.

Yves

I picked up 100ft of 1/8" flat braid off ebay from seller acdcwireandsupply. Search for:

100' Ft Flat Braided Tinned Copper Wire 1/8" Wide Ground Strap USA

I paid $40 shipped.

Support Pinside by buying from sellers here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1041-third-coast-pinball/00473-ground-braid

Isn't picture wire zinc plated steel?

Isn't the bare wire tin plated copper?

I'm pretty sure one of these conducts electricity much better than the other....

You’re probably right, but at 6 volts over 3 feet we probably lose 0.0000000089 of a volt.

What soldering iron and solder did you use bc mine is soldering the lamp sockets great but im having a hard time doing the ground braid to the sockets.it seems like it wont get hot enough

Might not be the issue, but try to avoid lead free solder. It works, but has a higher melting point. Definitely not as easy to work with as 60/40 or 63/37 lead solder with rosin. Don't use plumbers rosin, it's very corrosive (i.e. not electronics friendly).

Answering your original question - I would think a 40W would be fine. Might want to get a chisel tip (i.e. wide) to help xfer the heat.

Thank you bc I was using lead free solder

Thanks the 60/40 made a major difference

15824925000694655486804367428875 (resized).jpg

I needed flux as well but my ground braid is soldering so much nicer and neater now.

Does this look like the right stuff? $27.99

iLightingSupply 56-0836-06 18 Guage Braided Tinned Wire 250Ft Spool

amazon.com link »

Would love to have a big spool like this and never worry about it again.

I used the picture wire pictured above on my Viking pf swap and had no issues with any lamps. I was worried at first but all worked well after I flipped the power switch on the game. It's widely available and cheap. I think I paid <$3 for the 25ft length.

following

Yes it should be fine. The product was previously discussed here with pics:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/controlled-lamps-wire-size

Perfect, thank you very much