military 2/18 wire cable NSN 6145005605481 and/or 7732849

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military 2/18 wire cable NSN 6145005605481 and/or 7732849

Post by g.keating » Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:29 am

I am looking for a 10/12 ft piece of the military special purpose 2/18 wire cable NSN 6145005605481 and/or 7732849. Its a simple 2/ 18 gauge contact wire with a rubber coating. It can be found on some of the old Cole dome shaped emergency lights and most likely many more applications. The 7732849 can usually be seen stamped on the wire.

I have done the search on the numbers and had contact with most of the suppliers of military / government electrical suppliers but they state don't have it or want bulk purchases, or don't deal with civilian buyers.


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Re: military 2/18 wire cable NSN 6145005605481 and/or 7732849

Post by Radtech » Tue Jan 30, 2018 6:28 pm

18/2 rubber cordage is next to impossible to find today.Back 30 years ago you could get it at the Army surplus stores.

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Re: military 2/18 wire cable NSN 6145005605481 and/or 7732849

Post by W. Winget » Wed Jan 31, 2018 4:54 am

I don't know what happened to my post yesterday, but 18/2 is available at many places, and depending on how exact you want it you have choices. Without a photo of the type it's hard to compare, but this is basically power tool cord or your wife's old hoover vacuum. two strands (white and black) of appx 16 copper stranded wire (30 total) at .230 or such outside diameter, 300 volts according to the NSN.
Home Depot sells some on-line, another place I had looked up had it for $0.46 a foot at minimum of 40 feet ($20)
If you had a remnant it would be easier to cross reference a substitute, but from the NSN it sure looks like you could use a piece of ungrounded black two wire extension or appliance cord.
V/R W Winget
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Re: military 2/18 wire cable NSN 6145005605481 and/or 7732849

Post by Radtech » Wed Jan 31, 2018 7:01 am

The correct rubber cords are hard to find.

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Re: military 2/18 wire cable NSN 6145005605481 and/or 7732849

Post by W. Winget » Wed Jan 31, 2018 8:19 am

So does it "look" like sparkplug wire, or flat, or oval or like WD-1 commo wire...what???

NSN says It has to have two conductors, one was white, one black, stranded copper in each, OD of .243 (or some such, my original post had it all written down)
https://www.wireandcableyourway.com/bel ... gJXQfD_BwE
This is red and black, but I doubt the inner wires would be seen when connected.Image

It all depends on just what your trying to accomplish. MIL SPEC does not meant it's superior in all ways to commercial items and if it's going to get paint slapped over it inside an armor vehicle, then the color of the jacket is even flexible.
Without a photo, the NSN is the only thing left to go on and "it's not available" really means 'what's the next best substitute?'

I could just post "we used to have that" ..... but I don't think that's why he asked about the wire.
Anyone have a photo of this mysteriously ancient unobtainable wire?
V/R W Winget
Looking for 1918 Standard B 'Liberty' truck parts

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Re: military 2/18 wire cable NSN 6145005605481 and/or 7732849

Post by g.keating » Wed Jan 31, 2018 2:04 pm

The reason I was asking for this particular wire was for accuracy and restoration purposes. I have found older power cord wire that is as flexible and has "the look", but was just wondering if any was available. I have found it at numerous wire companies but as stated it isn't available in small lengths,they don't deal with individuals, and/or is way to expensive.

The main reason this wire works so well for my application is that the wire needs to be able to reel in a spring loaded reel. Most common new emergency or appliance wire is not flexible enough to reel in as its to stiff.



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Re: military 2/18 wire cable NSN 6145005605481 and/or 7732849

Post by Radtech » Wed Jan 31, 2018 5:33 pm

It was similar to 2 conductor SJ cords of today but was rubber coated and extremely flexible.It was used mainly on equipment which required reel mounted cable.

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Re: military 2/18 wire cable NSN 6145005605481 and/or 7732849

Post by W. Winget » Wed Jan 31, 2018 6:29 pm

Similar to the Weasel hand spot light cord or tank spot light cord, which may yield the other results.
But no kidding, many of the vacuums use retractable reels, so they have identical requirements to go in and out of small reels, just a thought there.
V/R W Winget
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Re: military 2/18 wire cable NSN 6145005605481 and/or 7732849

Post by g.keating » Wed Jan 31, 2018 7:14 pm

thats where my "appliance power cable" came from. An old vacuum with a reel. If I can't get original or more similar, then thats what I will probably use.

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Re: military 2/18 wire cable NSN 6145005605481 and/or 7732849

Post by W. Winget » Thu Feb 01, 2018 4:03 am

I was going to say ask for a M29 weasel reel or tank spotlight reel as a possibility.
tooling around I found this on e-pay, states rubber jacket... $21 for 50' free shipping.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-50-18-2-SJ ... SwQupXWwuW

They might also be e-mailed for a photo of how it lays in the hand to check flexibility.
and lastly, there may be an old workshop drop light that has the proper soft wire out there on sale as well, somethign with a busted lamp would go cheaper, etc.
V/R W Winget
Looking for 1918 Standard B 'Liberty' truck parts


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