TXL Wire vs GXL Wire | Product Knockout

Our Product Knock-out series is a match-up between two similar products. In boxing terms, think same weight class, same caliber, same level of experience, and the amount of exposure. The purpose of these posts is for you to see a side-by-side view of two similar products, and to be able to understand how only one will be crowned the Champ for your specific purposes.  Take your seats and prepare for battle, because the gloves are coming out.

TXL and GXL are both Automotive Primary Wire used and designed for a variety of different automotive environments.  Both wires meet SAE J-1128, Ford and Chrysler standards. TXL and GXL also have a 125°C temperature rating. While these wires have their similarities, they also have their differences. Let’s take a closer look!

What is TXL Wire?

TXL wire is an extra-thin wall, stranded, single-conductor automotive primary wire. It is used primarily in automotive applications where small diameter and minimal weight are desirable. It is rated to SAE J-1128, Ford (M1L-123A) and Chrysler (MS-8288) specifications.  

What is GXL Wire?

GXL wire is a thin wall, stranded, single-conductor automotive primary wire. It is used primarily in engine compartments where high heat resistance is required in accordance with SAE. It is rated to SAE J-1128, Ford (M1L-85B) and Chrysler (MS-8900) specifications.

Comparison Table

	TXL	GXL
Conductor	Bare Copper	Bare Copper
Insulation	Cross Linked Polyethylene (XLPE)	Cross Linked Polyethylene (XLPE)
Temperature Rating	-51°C to +125°C	-51°C to +125°C
Voltage	50 volts	50 volts
Wall Thickness	Extra Thin Wall	Thin Wall
Specifications	SAE, Ford, Chrysler	SAE, Ford, Chrysler
Insulation Thickness of 18AWG	0.016 in.	0.023 in.
Weight of 18 AWG	6.9 lbs/MFT	8.0 lbs/MFT

TXL Wire vs GXL Wire

As you can see, there is a lot of overlap between TXL and GXL wire. Both of these Automotive Primary Wires have a bare copper conductor, XLPE insulation, the same temperature rating and are rated to SAE, Ford and Chrysler standards. The major differences between TXL wire and GXL wire are the application, wall thickness and weight. TXL, as stated earlier, is used for applications where small diameter and minimal weight are desired. The extra thin wall makes the wire more lightweight than GXL. GXL, however, is used primarily in engine compartments where high heat resistance is required. GXL is slightly heavier in weight compared to TXL due to a slightly thicker wall.

Winner by unanimous vote? Instead, it seems as if the match has ended in a technical decision. In this case it looks like our crowned champ depends on your specific application use.

TXL vs. GXL

If you’re unsure about what cable you’ll need in order to meet the needs of your application, consult with one of Allied’s knowledgeable sales reps by submitting an RFQ. Visit our website to learn more about TXL automotive wire vs GXL automotive wire.

Allied Encyclopedia: What is GXL Wire?

What is GXL automotive wire?

GXL is automotive primary wire and the most common type of cross-linked automotive wire.

Notable features of GXL wire include:

• Temperature range – GXL primary wire is rated from -51˚C to 125˚C. Its ability to hold up against such high temperatures is thanks to its Cross-Linked Polyethylene (XLPE) insulation.
• Flexibility – Type GXL wire typically features a bare copper conductor and is stranded for great flexibility.
• Size/Thickness – Type GXL wire has a thin insulation wall. The thin wall allows this automotive wire to fit in small areas.

GXL automotive wire is available in gauge sizes ranging from 20 AWG to 8 AWG. Allied’s GXL automotive primary wire meets Ford (M1L-85B) and Chrysler MS-8900) specifications as well as SAE-J-1128.

Applications

With XLPE insulation, GXL automotive wire works particularly well in engine compartments where higher temperature performance is required. GXL wire is most commonly found in tractors and trailers; however there are many other automotive applications for GXL such as passenger cars and boats.

GXL wire vs. SXL wire and TXL automotive primary wire

GXL, SXL and TXL are all popular types of automotive primary wire. They have many of the same features, including high temperature ratings and great flexibility. The main difference between type GXL wire and the other cross-linked automotive wires is wall thickness.

Type SXL automotive primary wire has a standard wall thickness, thicker than the insulation on GXL wire. SXL wire is primarily used in engine compartments.

Type TXL wire has an extra thin wall thickness, thinner than that on GXL wire. The extra thin wall makes this wire best for applications where space is limited and a lightweight wire is required.

Value-Added Services

Automotive wire like GXL can be customized with value-added services to make identification easy. Up to three stripes, also known as tracers can be added to wires for use in automotive wire harnesses that exceed the standard color code. Jacketing can also be printed with custom text, numbers or even a company logo.

Want to learn more about GXL and other types of automotive wire?  You can browse the full specifications for GXL automotive primary wire or check out our Cable Basics episode on automotive wire by clicking on the video below.

Kansas State SAE Team’s Car Competes in Canada

Sporting wire and cable products donated by Allied Wire and Cable, Kansas State University’s Society of Automotive Engineers formula race car and the talented academic design team, Powercat Motorsports, behind it competed in Formula North in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, on May 31 against some of the highest-ranked North American teams.

Thanks to Allied Wire and Cable’s donation, Powercat Motorsports’ car, named Ocelot, benefited from high-quality wire and cable products as opposed to off-the-shelf parts from years past. In writing Allied Wire and Cable last fall in its request for wire and cable products, the team expressed its desire to raise the bar in terms of quality and performance.

“This year, we want to … have a thoroughly designed electrical system with state-of-the-art equipment that meets or exceeds industry standards,” the team wrote in an email. “The electronics team’s goals are to create a reliable, high-quality harness that cuts down on weight, and meets Mil-Spec standards.”

At the Formula North, Ocelot successfully made it through a series of static events and received tech stickers after passing thorough inspections by a team of judges. These inspections encompassed a brake test, sound test and tilt test, the latter to ensure the car doesn’t leak liquids. The vehicle also successfully competed in Formula North’s first three dynamic events: skid pad, acceleration and autocross. Ocelot didn’t finish the overall competition because of a non-wire-related issue.

“We are already working on better design options for next year’s car and have used the experience to better our understanding of weak links and how to prevent failures,” wrote Brett Cook, Powercat Motorsports president, in a letter following Formula North.

“Thank you so much for your help!” Bailey Martin, Powercat Motorsports’ electronics design leader, wrote in an email to Allied Wire and Cable in late June. “As a first-year leader, it was a huge help! It is difficult to find wire in the small quantities we need for each year. Thank you for being so helpful and flexible.”

Each year, Allied Wire and Cable supports a number of college and university design teams by supplying wire and cable products to help power their cars. The company supplied GXL, SXL, TXL, Expando and HST products.

“The experience gained from the process of designing, building and competing for Formula SAE is incredibly valuable for aspiring engineers,” Cook wrote. “… As sponsors of this team, you are helping to prepare us students to succeed and propel our career as engineers.”

Dyson Electric Cars – Allied Automotive News

From Vacuums to Cars: the Dyson Electric Car May Arrive Sooner Than You Think

Dyson electric cars will soon represent the latest entries in the race to bring electric cars to the masses. Dyson has enjoyed a reputation for making leading-edge, future-is-now, exquisitely designed household appliances such as cordless and robotic vacuum cleaners and bladeless fans that double as heaters. Now the Wiltshire, U.K., company, launched by tycoon James Dyson in 1987, is planning a trifecta of Dyson cars—surely utilizing automotive wire and battery cable—for the 2020s.

Dyson is investing $2.8 billion into its project to produce Dyson electric cars that are touted to be radically different compared with the automobiles now on the market. The first car—a high-end, limited-edition model—is planned to drop onto the scene in 2020, with the follow-ups targeted to have greater mass-market appeal. Dyson is investing in lightweight materials and solid-state battery technology and has reported that the electric motor for the first Dyson electric car, at least, is ready. James Dyson has indicated that the company will equip Dyson electric cars with lithium-ion batteries at least in their early incarnations to ensure they meet production schedules.

The First Dyson Car to Arrive in Same Year As Next Tesla Roadster

The forthcoming Dyson cars are making waves a decade after Elon Musk’s Tesla unleashed the Tesla Roadster sportscar, which was the first production vehicle to use lithium-ion battery cells. The next iteration of the Tesla Roadster—touted to be the quickest car in the world, going from zero to 60 miles per hour in 1.9 seconds—is projected to hit the streets in 2020, making for a compelling showdown of electric automobiles bedecked with high-end designs.

Popular Automotive Wire & Cable Products:

• Shop GXL
• Shop TXL
• Shop SXL

 

It’s unclear where Dyson electric cars will be built, but they’re expected to count as British exports. The company anticipates manufacturing Dyson electric cars where it makes their batteries. Speculation exists that the manufacturing location may be in the Middle East, where James Dyson believes these vehicles will be well-received as well as throughout the Far East.

Dyson Vacuum Cleaners All the Way to Dyson Electric Cars

James Dyson invented a wheelbarrow with a ball in place of a wheel, representing his first consumer product, in 1974. A few years later, disappointed in the performance of bag-containing vacuum cleaners, which sometimes clogged, James Dyson was driven to create a superior product. Dyson drew inspiration for a bagless vacuum cleaner from a sawmill, where he observed how dust was siphoned from the air by cyclones. He developed more than 5,000 prototypes for a bagless vacuum cleaner on his way to selling his first vacuums.

In time, Dyson would later expand its reach in the household appliances market by creating well-crafted, forward-thinking products such as the Dyson Airblade hand dryer and Dyson Air Multiplier fans. Dyson also sells other air-treatment appliances such as purifiers and humidifiers along with hair dryers and lighting systems.

Dyson Electric Car a Long-Burning Desire for Company Founder

James Dyson expressed in an interview published in The Guardian that he’s had a burning desire to improve air quality since 1988, when he read a U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health paper on the connection between exhaust from diesel engines to premature deaths. Work at Dyson commenced in 1990 to create a cyclonic filter that could trap particulates.

The automobile industry rejected Dyson’s invention three years later, arguing that disposing of the soot-laden filters was problematic. “Better to breathe it in?”, James Dyson asked rhetorically in a September 2017 email, published on Twitter, to Dyson employees in which he announced the forthcoming Dyson cars. “… It has remained my ambition to find a solution to the global problem of air pollution. … Rather than filtering emissions of the exhaust pipe, today we have the ability to solve it at the source.”

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The New Tesla Roadster: the New Face of American Muscle Cars

The New Tesla Roadster: Redefining the American Muscle Car

The forthcoming automobile known as the Tesla Roadster is projected to hit the streets in 2020. It is said to be the quickest car in the world, boasting record-setting acceleration, range and performance. This souped-up, all-electric Tesla supercar can travel from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 1.9 seconds. In fact, the Tesla Roadster is the world’s first production car to climb all the way to 60 mph in less than 2 seconds. If these statistics aren’t head-spinning enough, consider that the Tesla Roadster top speed is a whopping 250 mph.

Tesla Roadster: Price and Top Speed

The Tesla Roadster price? This head-turner is fetching $200,000, with Founders Series Roadsters, limited to the first 1,000 reservations, commanding $250,000.

The Roadster’s first-rate design maximizes the potential of aerodynamic engineering, offering stunning efficiency. The vehicle can travel an astounding 620 miles on just a single electric charge. Additionally, the Roadster is the first Tesla supercar—or any car, even—to set every performance record and still have enough room to seat four.

Explore Automotive Wire & Cable Products:

• GXL
• TXL
• SXL

The Tesla Roadster is the brainchild of Elon Musk, Tesla’s co-founder, chief executive officer and product architect. Musk oversees product development, engineering and design of the company’s electric vehicles, Powerwall home battery, Powerpack industrial battery and Solar Roof. Musk even has his sights set on creating a self-sustaining city on Mars as part of his Space Exploration Technologies, commonly called SpaceX, project. Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla Roadster projects converged on February 6, 2018, when the SpaceX rocket Falcon Heavy launched a Roadster into outer space.

Musk is the co-founder and chairman of OpenAI, a nonprofit research company building safe artificial intelligence. Musk’s The Boring Company has a vision to build an underground high-speed portal, enabling travel from New York City to Washington, D.C., in less than 30 minutes. Musk co-founded and sold PayPal, the leading global Internet payment system, as well as Zip2, a pioneering Internet maps and directions service.

With Tesla and The Boring Company, Musk has enjoyed tremendous creativity in dreaming up and delivering transformative, proof-of-concept designs that are creating waves in how we travel and how we look at our power needs.

Previous Tesla vehicle models include the original Roadster sports car, which debuted in 2008, followed by the Model S Sedan in 2012. The Model X SUV launched two years later. The Model 3—a $35,000 mass-market electric car offering 215 miles of range—hit streets in 2017. With the 2020 Tesla Roadster, which is the second incarnation of the automobile, Musk and Tesla are going pedal to the medal, pushing the boundaries of what an automobile can do and doing it in an all-electric body no less.

Tesla Supercar: Set for Production in 2019

For an automobile not expected to reach the market until 2020, the Tesla Roadster has enjoyed an immense amount of publicity from the news media and attention on social media. It’s clear the technology and business worlds have their eyes on Tesla, The Boring Company and its common factor, Musk, who’s considered to be a groundbreaking force and game-changing inventor.

When the 2020 Roadster peels away in a flash from a traffic light that’s just turned green like something out of a comic book or superhero movie, the magnate Musk will already have the wheels spinning in his head for the follow-up to this Tesla supercar dream machine.

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