(M16878) – General Information

Two Ordering Options

The M16878 specification is a catch-all spec for wires with temperature ratings from -65 to 260 degrees Celsius. It is a non-Qualified Products List (QPL) wire, which means anyone can make it. There are a handful of low and high-temperature manufacturers that also manufacture other QPL specifications with similar insulations so this is still a high quality and highly reliable wire. It does not have a wide range of choices and is pretty narrow in offering either PVC, silicone, XLPE or PTFE wires.

The conductor coatings will range from tin and silver to nickel. The M16878 specification is considered to be a high-performance wire and meets requirements for flame retardancy, low flame propagation, low weight, great electricals, and high-temperature resistance. Common voltage ranges of 250 – 5000 volts make this wire ideal for electronic harness applications throughout the Military and Aerospace industry.

Even though the M16878 spec has been replaced by the NEMA HP3 and HP4 specification, all of SEA’s inventory is dual-certified to both specifications. We can ship the product the same day regardless of which specification you need.

You don’t need a decoder ring to figure out the part number scheme. Please see the charts below to break down the M16878, HP3 and HP4 part numbers. There is also additional information on the SEA Wire Wizard.

Table 1

Current Spec	Previous Spec	Jacket	AWG	Conductor Coating
/1	B	PVC	32-14	Tin
/2	C	PVC	26-12	Tin
/3	D	PVC	24-0	Tin
/4	E	TFE	30-10	Silver
/5	EE	TFE	26-12	Silver
/6	ET	TFE	30-20	Silver
/11	K	FEP	24-10	Silver
/12	KK	FEP	24-10	Silver
/13	KT	FEP	24-20	Silver
/21	E	TFE - W	22-12	Silver
/22	EE	TFE - W	12-4	Silver
/23	ET	TFE	30-20	Nickel
/25	E	TFE	22-12	Nickel
/26	E	TFE - W	22-12	Nickel
/27	EE	TFE	26-12	Nickel
/28	EE	TFE - W	12-4	Nickel
/34	EE	TFE - W	12-4	Silver
/35	EE	TFE - W	12-4	Nickel

Table 2

Letter	Description
A	Bare copper
B	Coated copper
C	Coated copper clad steel
D	Coated high strength copper alloy
E	Coated copper with overall metallic coating

Table 3

AWG	Letter
32	A
30	B
28	C
26	D
24	E
22	F
20	G
18	H
16	J
14	K
12	L
10	M
8	N
6	P
4	R
2	S
1	T
0	U
00	W
000	Y
0000	Z

Table 4

Number of Strands	Letter
1	A
7	B
10	C
16	D
19	E
26	F
37	G
41	H
65	J
105	K
133	L
168	M
259	N
665	P
817	R
1045	S
1330	T
1672	V
2109	W

Table 5

Designator	Color
0	Black
1	Brown
2	Red
3	Orange
4	Yellow
5	Green
6	Blue
7	Violet
8	Gray
9	White

Note 1

Nema Types:

E (M16878/4)
EE (M16878/5)
ET (M16878/6)

Note 2

X = Extruded
W = Wrapped

Note 3

B = Silver-coated Copper (SCC)
C = Nickel-coated Copper (NCC)
D = Silver-coated high-strength copper alloy (SCA)
E = Nickel-coated high-strength copper alloy (NCA)
F = Silver-coated copper clad steel (SCCCS)
G = Nickel-coated copper clad steel (NCCCS)

Note 4

AWG	Letter
32	A
30	B
28	C
26	D
24	E
22	F
20	G
18	H
16	J
14	K
12	L
10	M
8	N
6	P
4	R
2	S
1	T
0	U
00	W
000	Y
0000	Z

Note 5

Number of Strands	Letter
1	A
7	B
19	E
37	G
133	L
665	P
817	R
1045	S
1330	T
1672	V
2109	W

Note 6

Designator	Color
0	Black
1	Brown
2	Red
3	Orange
4	Yellow
5	Green
6	Blue
7	Violet
8	Gray
9	White