Litz wire, from the German litzendraht, is a conductor built from many fine, individually insulated strands woven together to reduce skin effect and high frequency resistance.
Litz wire is built from numerous fine strands, each insulated and then woven or braided in a specific pattern so every strand spends equal time at the outside and the inside of the bundle. This construction counters the skin effect, the tendency of high frequency current to crowd toward a conductor's surface, which would otherwise raise the effective resistance of an ordinary conductor. The careful weave is central to how litz wire works.
By distributing current more evenly across all strands, litz wire lowers effective resistance and reduces losses at high frequencies. In commercial and industrial equipment such as transformers, inductors, and high frequency power and signal circuits, this efficiency makes litz wire valuable where solid or simply stranded conductors would perform poorly. The result is less wasted energy and cooler operation in high frequency applications.
The benefit of litz construction grows with frequency up to a point, beyond which the insulation overhead and complexity of very fine strands offer diminishing returns, so the strand count and pattern are matched to the frequency range of the application.
At Windy City Wire, an understanding of specialized conductor constructions like litz wire reflects a broader focus on matching conductor design to electrical demands. Recognizing how strand construction affects high frequency performance helps customers appreciate why certain applications call for conductors engineered beyond ordinary stranding.
Litz wire (from litzendraht)