Choosing the right kind of cable and installation methodology is quite crucial if you want to make the most of your wires and cables. Wires and cables are manufactured by the top companies in India on the setup provided by the leading cable extruder machine manufacturer for a large number of purposes including domestic, industrial, and commercial. With a large number of wires and cables available for industrial cable line, selecting the right one really needs proper guidance and groundwork. It is important because by choosing the right kind of wires and cables, you not only can save a lot of downtimes but also safeguard your tools, machinery, and precious equipment.
This blog sheds light on the same approaches in the following points:
Be particular about the bend radius
Based on the application and design of the cable, the minimum requirements of the bend radius must be met. If the bend radius is tight, it will definitely make the conductors weaker resulting in sudden failures. To determine the minimum cable radius, a typical formula lies in the multiplication of the outside diameter of the cable by 8. This way, you will be ensuring the optimal flex-life of the concerned cable.
Size of the wire
The size of the wire or cable that you are going to install also plays a pivotal role in its performance and longevity. It has a direct impact on the operational aspects of the machines or appliances. Shorter wires and cables often result in voltage drop leading to huge power loss. On the other hand, if the size of the concerned cable or wire is longer than required, it can overheat the connected devices or appliances resulting in an electric fire. The size (length and thickness) of the cable directly impacts the level of resistance concerning the electric current. Longer wires come with higher resistance while shorter ones offer lower resistance ensuring the better functioning of the connected appliances.
Color of the cable
It might be a little bit surprising but true that the color of the wires and cables is also an important part of the electric system. Color coding makes it easy for the installer and the users as well to distinguish different types of wires and cables. And, it is necessary for the consistency of any electrical framework. Red and black cables reflect phases whereas green is used for earth wiring purposes. The red wire signifies to be a live wire indicating a phase in a particular circuit. On the other hand, the black wire remains neutral without any current or charge.
The green wire carries only earthing in an electrical circuit, and it connects only to another green wire. The green color wire directs the current flow to the ground where it is connected to a copper plate located in the ground. Therefore, to understand the usages and applications of wires and cables, knowledge of color combinations is necessary.
Cable material
Wires, cables, and connectors are manufactured making use of a wide range of metals that primarily include zinc, copper, aluminum, and cadmium. Copper is considered to be the most efficient and versatile material for making wires and cables. It is because copper is a ductile material offering versatile thermal and electrical conductivity. This material has a very low resistivity that capacitates the power source to generate current consistently.
Electric cables and connectors often experience a huge amount of power load at a certain point in time, and metals other than copper easily bend when under high loads. Copper can combat high power loads without showing any symptoms of bending or degrading. This is the reason copper is considered to be an ideal material to manufacture different types of wires, cables, and connectors. Hence, you need to be particular about materials while buying wires or cables to serve any domestic or industrial purposes.
Type of Insulation
Most of the wires and cables today are insulated either making use of PVC or XLPE. Needless to say, XLPE insulated wires and cables are richer in all respects when compared to those insulated with PVC. These cables are unmatched concerning the following parameters:
- Voltage rating
- Insulation properties
- Cross-sectional area
- Continuous current rating, and
- Short time current rating.
As for costs, the per unit length cost of an XLPE insulated cable might be definitely a little bit higher than those with PVC insulation.
Environments
Apart from different other factors including the nature of the application, you should also be mindful of the environments in which the wires and cables you are going to buy would be installed. The term environment here stands for the following:
- Abuse from abrasion or impact
- Exposure to extreme hot and/or cold environments
- Contact with chemicals resulting in a negative reaction with cable materials.
In case the application calls for dynamic flexing, then what type of movement would be there – linear motion or cable-carrier application? Doing sufficient brainstorming over understanding the nature of applications and environment is the key to choosing the best suitable cables. You should also need to understand that every circumstance calls for different electrical treatments, and to serve the purpose, any wire or cable must be chosen accordingly. In case you are finding yourself unable to decide what is best for you, then you need to seek suggestions from a professional without fail.
Concluding Remarks
Supermac Industries (India) Limited is a leading cable line and cable extruder machine manufacturer in India. It is a globally renowned company that meets the needs of numerous industries in the cables sector such as power, optical fiber, house-wiring control cables as well as medical tubing. Supermac has been awarded the ISO 9001-2018 certification for its entire range of products. Some of the top products manufactured and supplied by the company include polyethylene extrusion lines, thermoplastic machines, wire machines, capstan machines, cable lines, optical fiber cables, and fiber machines. The company has recently participated in the Sikora Global virtual meet to discuss perspectives about readiness toward new market trends.
