14 AWG Bare Copper Ground Wire – Uninsulated Solid Strand
A ground wire is typically a bare copper uninsulated wire that will ground the application being powered. Romex® cable is common for sending household power from the electrical box to the various outlets and larger appliances throughout your home. The ground wire is just one of the wires within the Romex® cable that will be tested.
Romex® is a cable that was created to send three or four cables from point A to point B at the same time instead of sending them individually. It seems much more attractive to have a single cable running through your basement ceiling than to have a bunch of cables running in all directions.
Romex® 14/2 is a cable made up of two 14 AWG THHN wires along with a 14 AWG bare copper wire used for grounding. Both THHN cables come in black and white with a nylon layer over the insulation to resist moisture and oils. It may also come with an additional red wire if you need three wires for your application.
If you need an insulated ground cable because your application requires the cable to run in the open air, even for part of the run, then you will need an MC cable. MC, or Metal Clad, cable has an insulated green ground wire instead of a bare copper ground so it can also withstand weather, gases, and oils it may come into contact with.
HAS 14 AWG bare copper wire it has an outside diameter of 0.064 inches, a carrying current of 5.87, and a fusing current of 166. The electrical properties should help you or your electrician understand what size bare copper you’ll need for the application you’re running. 14 AWG copper is about 81 feet in a pound, which is worth about $3.50 on today’s scrap market.
You can take any metal you have to a junkyard in your area to get cash for the full weight of it. You’ll get about 30 percent less than the NYSE price for copper, which doesn’t include the fact that they may need to strip insulation from the wire you bring in. Straight bare copper wire will yield the best rate at any junkyard.
Be sure to save all of your extra copper wire so you can charge for it later. It’s similar to keeping change in a jar until it turns into a decent amount of dollars.
Leave a Reply