Terminal Wire & Wire Harness FAQ — Answers for Buyers
Straight answers to the questions B2B buyers ask most when sourcing terminal wires and custom wire harnesses from China. Every number below is our actual, current commercial policy — no marketing fluff.
Q1. Are your wires UL certified? Can I see proof?
Yes. We build with UL-certified wire types — UL1007, UL1015, UL1571, UL2651, UL3239, UL2468 — purchased from UL-certified suppliers, plus RoHS 2.0 compliance with test reports available. We do not claim CE or ISO (not applicable to our wire products). For your file, ask us and we will share the wire certificate and RoHS report before you order.
Q2. What is your MOQ for a custom wire harness?
3,000 pieces for standard custom orders, samples from 50 pieces. Smaller quantities are negotiable — tell us the volume and we will quote honestly; if a small order does not make sense at a fair price, we will say so instead of padding the unit price.
Q3. What is your typical lead time?
5–10 days for mass production from confirmed order (materials ready), samples in 2–3 days. For commonly used wires (UL1007/1571) we keep stock, which makes delivery more stable. Rush orders need prior confirmation against our machine schedule — we never promise a date we cannot keep.
Q4. How do you price a custom terminal wire?
Per piece, based on your drawing: wire type, gauge, length, terminal, housing and processing. We support dual quotation — tax-inclusive (13% VAT, official invoice) or tax-excluded — and can quote FOB Shenzhen/Guangzhou for export. Send us your drawing or sample; a quote comes back within 24h.
Q5. Are you a factory or a trader?
A manufacturer in Dongguan, China. We run 15 fully automatic crimping machines on site (GH1.25, PH2.0, XH2.5, ZH1.5, VH3.96 series) and do cutting, stripping, tinning, crimping and harness assembly in-house. Injection molding/overmolding is coordinated with a stable outsourcing partner — you deal with one point of contact either way.
Q6. Do you test every batch? What tests?
Every batch is 100% continuity-tested before shipment. Process control includes incoming material checks (UL supplier verification), in-process sampling (pull-force, tinning quality) and finished-goods testing (continuity, withstand voltage, resistance) plus 100% visual inspection.
Q7. Can you make custom harnesses from my drawing or a sketch?
Yes — OEM/ODM from drawing or sample. We custom-build wire type, length, color, gauge, terminal, housing, crimping method (single-end, double-end, stripping-tinning) and wire sequence. If your connector is non-standard, we discuss tooling/mold cost upfront and quote the complete price.
Q8. Do you charge for samples?
Samples are free of charge for standard specifications. Send us your drawing or specifications and we will build a free sample, shipped in 2–3 days; we recommend testing it before mass production. Samples that require new tooling (custom molds, special terminals) or special processes are quoted separately and agreed before we start.
Q9. How do I know you use pure copper, not CCA wire?
We quote pure copper by default and state the conductor material clearly on the quotation — CCA is only used if you explicitly choose it after hearing the risks. Copper-clad aluminum cannot pass UL certification, has weaker soldering (cold-joint risk at tinning points) and carries only ~60% of copper’s current. We offer dual quotes (copper vs CCA) so you see the real cost gap, and CCA projects must pass a sample pull-force test before bulk production.
Q10. What is the warranty / what if a batch fails our incoming inspection?
30-day defect replacement on standard products after 100% tested delivery. Claims follow a clear process — send us the defect record and we replace or rework; custom products follow the agreed drawing as the acceptance standard. Full policy on our Warranty & Returns page.
Still have a question?
Send your drawing or spec to our contact page — a quote with real numbers comes back within 24 hours.
Q11. Are your wires UL certified?
We use UL-rated wire (UL1007 / UL1015 / UL1571 / UL2651 / UL3239 / UL2468) from certified suppliers and can share the wire supplier certificates. We do not claim a UL listing for the finished assembly, and we do not claim CE/ISO — we state plainly what applies.
Q12. Can you provide RoHS test reports?
Yes. Wire, terminals and housings are RoHS 2.0 compliant materials, and third-party test reports are available on request.
Q13. Can you handle large-volume orders?
We run 15 fully automatic crimping machines with a daily output of 30,000+ pieces. Standard production lead time is 7 days, 5-10 working days for larger batches. For long-term high-volume programs we review capacity first and tell you plainly if we cannot take it.
Q14. Can we audit your factory?
Yes — a factory visit or a video audit is welcome. Every machine and inspection station can be shown during the audit.
Q15. Which UL wire type should I choose — 1007, 1015, 1571, 2651, 3239 or 2468?
It depends on voltage, temperature and flexibility — we keep six UL wire types so you rarely need to compromise. Rules of thumb: UL1007 (300V, 80°C, PVC) — the economical general-purpose single conductor, our most common type. UL1015 (600V, 105°C) — thicker insulation for higher voltage or hotter environments. UL1571 (300V, 80°C, thin wall) — thinner and more flexible, best for fine gauges and tight routing such as 32–28AWG. UL2651 (300V, 105°C, 1.27mm pitch) — flat ribbon for board-to-board and IDC-style connections. UL3239 (silicone rubber, high temperature and high voltage) — stays flexible at temperature and in the cold. UL2468 (300V, 80°C) — flat parallel two-core, for zip-cord style runs. Tell us your application and we will confirm the type against your drawing and the UL standard.
Q16. What wire gauges can you handle?
16–32AWG, with 22–28AWG being the most common in our orders. Fine gauges (28–32AWG) are run with UL1571-type thin-wall wire for flexibility, heavier gauges (16–22AWG) with UL1007/1015. If your design sits right at the edge of a gauge step, send the drawing — we will tell you honestly whether the gauge is practical for automated crimping or whether the next size up is safer.
Q17. Can you make ribbon cable and flat cable assemblies?
Yes — UL2651 grey ribbon (1.27mm pitch) and UL2468 flat parallel cable, cut to length and assembled single-end or double-end. We handle IDC and connector crimping, red-edge orientation and length tolerance per drawing. This covers the flat-cable side without needing a separate supplier.
Q18. Can you handle large-pitch or high-current connectors?
Yes — VH3.96 is run on a dedicated machine, alongside XH2.5, PH2.0, ZH1.5 and GH1.25. Large-pitch and high-current terminals need different crimping pressure and die sets, so they are not mixed into the fine-pitch lines; that also keeps the crimp height repeatable batch to batch.
Q19. Do you accept customer-supplied material (consigned processing)?
Yes, case by case. We run cutting, stripping, tinning and crimping on material you supply, and we inspect the incoming terminals and housings against each other before production — mismatched terminal/housing is the most common failure mode in consigned work, so we verify it up front instead of discovering it after crimping. Processing is quoted separately from material.
Q20. Can you pack and label to our requirements?
Yes — your branding, labelling and packaging requirements are honoured, and neutral packing is available. Tell us your packing spec, bag or reel quantity, carton size, shipping marks and label format; if you need bar-coded labels for your own warehouse system, send a sample and we will match it.