How to Select Equipment Wires

Conductor Selection

There are three kinds of applications:

• Low level Signal transmission e.g. sensor wire: Mechanical strength is of prime consideration over resistance. To minimize weight where mechanical strength is not required some of our customers have used a twisted shielded pair of AWG 34 conductors.
• Power transmission e.g. motor drive cables: Resistance of the wire is the basis for conductor selection (see our conductor table for resistance). For certain high power transmission we can provide wires of sizes up to AWG 4
• Signal transmission over a long distance where attenuation is important: Larger gauge offers lower attenuation

Other considerations for conductor selection are operating temperature and application. Silver Plated Copper (SPC) offers working temperature from -65° C to +200° C whereas Nickel Plated Copper (NPC) offers slightly higher working temperature from -65° C to +260° C. The benefit with SPC is solderability. NPC is slightly cheaper and can be used where crimp or lug type connections can be used.

Insulation Selection

Insulation is governed by working voltage, mechanical protection and capacitance. The standard insulations are ET (250 V AC), E (600 V AC), EE (1000 V AC).

For many applications 250 V AC rating would be sufficient from purely electrical considerations. Since PTFE is such a good insulator a mere 0.15 mm (6 mil) thick layer is sufficient for 250 V AC rating and type ET insulation is specified in many multi core constructions.

Another popular albeit non standard insulation is ET+ (thickness 0.175 mm or 7 mil) which offers additional protection against incidental damage

The most common insulation in multi core cables is Type E (600 V AC) with a minimum insulation thickness of 0.25 mm (10 mils).

Type EE offers electrical voltage rating of 1000 V AC and good mechanical protection with a minimum insulation thickness of 0.375 mm (15 mils).

Our insulation is Tape Wrapped Sintered (TWS) and is available in all solid colours (standard). Striping can also be made at slight additional cost.

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