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tri rated cable

Baloo

By Baloo
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Baloo Contributor

Baloo

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Hello again all

We have studied many recent threads on cable sizing and in conjuntion with some other reference material we have calculated the cable sizes required for our upcoming project.

 

We are just about in a position to purchase our cables but need to decide whether to go entirely with tri rated cable or just normal multistrand cable.

Midland chandlers stock all the sizes of cable we need, (3mm up to 25mm2) but it seems overpriced even with 15% discount and it is not tri rated.

 

Other places we have checked out have tri rated available but only in 100m reels... this could result in quite a bit of wastage especially for our 10mm2 cabling where we require 40m of red and 40m of black. I know it would be bad practice but cant fid any BSS guidelines on whether different cable colours must be used for the positive feeds and the negative returns.

 

your thoughts and tips are always appreciated guys!

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Tony Brooks Veteran II

Tony BrooksDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
Hello again all

We have studied many recent threads on cable sizing and in conjuntion with some other reference material we have calculated the cable sizes required for our upcoming project.

 

We are just about in a position to purchase our cables but need to decide whether to go entirely with tri rated cable or just normal multistrand cable.

Midland chandlers stock all the sizes of cable we need, (3mm up to 25mm2) but it seems overpriced even with 15% discount and it is not tri rated.

 

Other places we have checked out have tri rated available but only in 100m reels... this could result in quite a bit of wastage especially for our 10mm2 cabling where we require 40m of red and 40m of black. I know it would be bad practice but cant fid any BSS guidelines on whether different cable colours must be used for the positive feeds and the negative returns.

 

your thoughts and tips are always appreciated guys!

 

 

Unless physical space to run the cables is very tight buy whichever is cheapest. If you have done all your volt-drop calculations then there is little advantage in tri-rated cable. The calculation should automatically de-rate the cable so it never gets too hot, even when bundled.

 

I think it was introduced at the behest of vehicle manufacturers who have trouble accommodating large looms.

 

Now I wait for Chris to tell me I am wrong :D

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John Orentas Veteran II

John Orentas

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Hi Baloo.

 

Many years ago when the BS scheme was being formulated it was decided, sensibly in many peoples view that a standard of 'Flexible' cables should be imposed for boats, when the standards book was eventually printed however the term 'Multi-stranded' for some reason was used instead, not the same thing at all.. I exchanged correspondence several times with the BS on this matter but they insisted initially that the two terms had the same meaning and later when pressed they suggested that flexible cable was prone to breakage and causing 'high resistance faults' and I believe that remains their position to this day.

 

I for one would always use 'Tri-rated' cable as it has been developed to cope with conditions of high vibration in industry, multi-strand cable on the other hand was seen as a danger in domestic installations several decades ago and was withdrawn for good reasons.

 

I am sure there are suppliers out there who can supply smaller quantities, but is 100 mtrs really excessive, I am sure you will soon get through it.

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Baloo Contributor

Baloo

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Unless physical space to run the cables is very tight buy whichever is cheapest. If you have done all your volt-drop calculations then there is little advantage in tri-rated cable. The calculation should automatically de-rate the cable so it never gets too hot, even when bundled.

 

I think it was introduced at the behest of vehicle manufacturers who have trouble accommodating large looms.

 

Now I wait for Chris to tell me I am wrong :D

 

Thanks for that Tony, your website featured quite prominently in the "reference material" I used!

 

Hi Baloo.

 

I am sure there are suppliers out there who can supply smaller quantities, but is 100 mtrs really excessive, I am sure you will soon get through it.

 

Hi John, well 100m is excessive as i only need 40m of red cable and 40 m of black and so I don't want to end up with 60m spare of each as i already have made provision in my cable take off for a spare run of cable down each side of the boat.

 

I'd love to post my take off on the forum for you all to see but i don't know how to - its an excel spreadsheet.

 

Do you think inspectors would have a problem in future if they see red cables heading to the negative bus bar? or black ones coming out of the fuse board?

I suppose i could use an offcut of 16mm in the appropriate colour in the visible locations and then ccrimp on to single colour 10mm once behind the lining!!

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John Orentas Veteran II

John Orentas

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As long as you colour mark your cables clearly at both ends with sleeving or adhesive tape you should not have any problems but I still think paying for an extra 40 metres of cable is a small price to pay for correctness..

 

I don't like to contradict Tony but if you base all your cable sizes to attain only a very small voltage drop, overheating of cables will never be an issue with 12 volt systems.

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smileypete Veteran II

smileypete

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Other places we have checked out have tri rated available but only in 100m reels... this could result in quite a bit of wastage especially for our 10mm2 cabling where we require 40m of red and 40m of black.

 

Split the lighting and use 2 runs of 6mm?

 

cheers,

Pete.

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T.A Collaborator

T.A

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Tri-Rated cable was developed to integrate standards USA = UL, Canadian = CSA and British = BS6231 this was done to accomodate cross trading between Britain/Europe with our North American partners. It has resulted almost in becoming a standard multi stranded cable used throughout the UK. It is sold as standard through all the Electrical Wholesale networks ie: Newey Eyre, Edmundsons, City Electrical Factors to name just three, Also Farnell and RS Components. I would suggest if you go into a Electrical Wholesale branch and negotiate a price you will probably buy 100 mts reel for the same price as you will pay for no standard lengths you could always tell them you are starting an electrical business but wiil pay cash for this requirement thus giving them an insentive of future business.

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bottle Veteran II

bottle

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Hi Baloo

 

I realise it will be a large outlay to buy too much cable but, when finished, you could always sell it E-bay or even on this forum.

 

John is correct you could sleeve the ends but personally I do not like it, makes it difficult to trace cables visually.

 

If you are going to do a job, do it right. :D

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