We are the Electrical Wire and Cable Specialists, and with such a title comes the weight of knowledge. Though some of these facts might not come up as a topic of trivia in a local joint, but all the same, if you ever need to pull out a quick fact or a bit of information, try one of these. They’re esoteric enough, to be sure.

1.Wire and cable are not the same!

First up, it’s a really interesting one - wire and cable are not the same thing, although some people may speak of them or use them interchangeably. To keep things simple, wire is a single strand of a conductor, and cable is a bunch of small conductors braided together.

Typically, cable is made to increase the tensile strength of a material; think of rope, which is technically a cable as it is made of many small fibrous strands braided tougher for increased strength.

However, rope, like electrical cable, also has another power - increased flexibility. Oftentimes, that is the reason that electrical conductors are formed into cables. As a group of conductors increases in thickness, it has to remain a certain degree of flexibility so it can be worked. That’s another reason why so many conductors are cables instead of wires.

2.Copper is not the only thing used to make a conductor!

Copper is familiar enough as a conductor because copper is used as an electrical conductor in a ton of different scenarios. It has a relatively low resistance, which means it can be used to safety transport a current without getting too hot (all things being equal), it is ductile and malleable, and it is relatively affordable.

However, there are many other suitable conductors, some of which you can see on our website, such as aluminum. Still, other metals like gold, are excellent conductors with a low resistivity, and high ductility and malleability. Gold is also an excellent conductor because it is chemically inert. Interestingly, silver is the most conductive of all metals, but silver, unlike gold, is chemically reactive.

3.Aluminum actually has some advantages over copper - in certain situations.

To our point above, some metals are actually more conductive than copper, or more suitable as conductors although their conductivity is lower. Now, while native aluminum does not have the same level of electrical conductivity as copper, there are some situations in which it is preferred as a conductor.

For example, some tray cables that are laid over long distances are aluminum. There are a couple of reasons for this - among them are the fact that aluminum has excellent ductility, but copper has that too. Another reason is because aluminum is far, far lighter than copper, making it more economical on infrastructure to suspend it. Aluminum wire and cable are also more cost effective than copper, and has been used in times of rations where access to copper has been limited.

4.Electromagnetic energy in the air can interfere with a cable’s ability to transmit electrical signals.

On our website, when you are looking through collections such as our assortment of instrumentation and alarm cables, you will come across terms like “shielded” or “unshielded” and wonder what they mean.

These types of cables, though they only carry a low current and are rated for low voltage potentials, carry very specific and sensitive electrical signals. Other cables around them likely do as well, each of which produces a phenomenon known as electromagnetic interference, or EMI.

This electromagnetic interference can scramble or weaken an instrumentation cable’s data, which can cause confusion within systems or reduce communicative effectiveness. This problem becomes more pronounced with the density of cables in an area, but it is also any issue when these types of cables must traverse long distances. Some cables are therefore “shielded” to protect against EMI.

5.Marine “wire” is a bit of a misnomer.

In our collection of wires and cables, you will see a section devoted to marine grade cables, which are also called marine wires and marine battery wires. These are the cables that are used in the outfitting of a boat or a ship, or in other marine environments.

The thing is, marine wire is hardly ever wire at all, at least not from what we can see. It may be called wire, but due to a circumstance that will be explained more fully below, marine wire is usually actually a cable, and a very finely braided cable at that. Even when you hear it termed in the style of “wire” there is almost a certainty that is not wire at all, but cable.

6.Marine cables have a very high strand count.

As mentioned, even marine wires are typically actually cables with a very high strand count, as high as is practical possible. The chief reason for this is to increase the flexibility of the cables.

Marine environments will require a high degree of flexibility from the cables that are used in them for two distinct and applicable reasons. For one, when the cables are actually used in the power and wiring of a vessel, there will be an extremely limited amount of space through which they must be able to work. The interiors of boats and ships are very tight, with small, unforgiving recesses and angles set sharply against each other. To use wiring in this situation, it must be very accommodating. Let’s put it this way; the cable must accommodate, the ship can’t.

The other reason is because of the environment, but not the tightness of the vessel. Ships and boats are on the water where things get rough, and that also will exact a toll from the electrical wiring used on board. Even in a calm sea, a boat under power is subject to stresses and other forces. The electrical work on board needs to be able to put up with that and deliver.

7.Marine cables are not aluminum, despite the look.

One more thing on the matter of marine battery cables - if you strip one of its insulation, it’s going to look silvery. That should come as no surprise, we already explained that other metals besides copper are excellent conductors, like aluminum, which looks silvery. Only there’s a catch - marine cables are not aluminum. That silver color is not aluminum at all!

Right, you’re thinking it’s silver because only a few lines ago we hailed silver as the best metallic conductor of them all. Except it’s not silver either. Actually, it’s not silver or aluminum for the very same reason - both of these metals are suspect to corrosion, like copper.

Which it is, by the way. Marine cables are made of copper, but their strands are individually tinned to help resist corrosion. Corrosion is a terrible problem at sea. You’ve probably seen what happens to exposed steel in the ocean that has not been galvanized or treated. The same thing happens to copper, which is why these conductors are not aluminum or silver, but individually tinned copper strands.

8.The codes you see listed with our wires are very important.

Strand count and material are not the only things that matter in electrical wiring, but also the manner in which the wires and cables are insulated. You will see a number of different acronyms listed on our product pages such as THHN, XLPE, WHHW, and many others, and each of these means something unique and distinct. Generally, it denotes the insulation of the wiring and the number of factors against which the insulation should protect the cable. If you want to learn more about what these all mean, read our recent blog on these codes.

9.Colors matter.

The most important reason that electrical wires are color coded is so that electricians can help to identify the lines and keep the wires separated according to their use. In some circuits, there may be proprietary reasoning behind how and why wires are color coded, but there are a few commonalities in wire color-coding.

For example, a green or bare wire is usually a ground wire in a circuit, whereas white wires are usually neutral wires in a circuit. Black and red wires are both used as live wires in a circuit, but sometimes red is used to indicate a 220 volt circuit.

10.Welding cable looks big and stiff, but is actually more flexible than other wires of the same gauge.

Welding cable, including our welding cable for sale, looks big and tough, because it is big and tough. However, despite its thickness, it is actually more flexible than other wires and cables of similar gauge.

This is because of the situations in which welding cables must be worked and must remain practical. In many industrial settings, a welding site cannot be manipulated or relocated, so the welder must move to it. You can’t do that with a stiff wire.

11.Welding cable must be tough to be practical.

Our welding cable for sale is not just highly flexible, it is also extremely tough and durable in the face of many environmental stressors. For one thing, our cables are resistant to oil and gas. Many welding cables are also insulated with materials that make them abrasion resistant and resistant to water and some chemicals.

As mentioned, welding often takes place in tight spaces and sometimes outside. A cable could come under mechanical or environmental stresses at a moment’s notice, and must therefore be able to resist them.

12. Solar panel cables should be UV resistant.

This might not come as a surprise, but solar panel cables, also known as photovoltaic or PV cables, are typically resistant to weather as well as ultraviolet radiation. This makes sense considering where they are used and what they are used for.

Ultraviolet light is a destroyer; it breaks down things organic and inorganic, like skin and some plastics. A cable that was used in the wiring of a solar system - of all things - would do well to be able to resist this type of radiation.

13. Some cables are armored.

Speaking of environmental stresses, some agribusiness operations and industrial and mining settings present some real hazards, both to equipment and crews. That doesn’t mean they don’t need power, though.

No, what they need is armored cable, which is better at resisting mechanical strength and also at providing a certain measure of enhanced tensile strength to a circuit so that its components continue to operate as they should. The link to the armored cable above is resistant to sunlight and chemicals, and is protected by insulation as well as interlocking galvanized steel armor.

14.The smaller the gauge, the larger the cable.

One of the acronyms you will see on our site is AWG, which stands for American Wire Gauge, a scale used to measure the cross-sectional area of a wire or cable. American Wire Gauge, unlike many common systems, is an inverse measurement, however, which means as the number increases, the size of the wire decreases.

In simple terms, a 4 AWG wire or cable is therefore larger and thicker than a 10 AWG wire or cable.

15. Larger gauge does not necessarily equate to better efficiency.

Something to keep in mind about wire gauge is that it is the rating of the wire and not just the gauge that affects its fitness for a scenario. A larger wire or cable (which would be one with a smaller AWG measurement) is not necessarily better at carrying a current than a smaller cable. There are other factors at play in what makes a cable or wire more fit to a situation.

Still want to learn more about what makes our specialty wires and cables, like our welding cable for sale, so unique? That’s easy - get in touch with us. There are plenty of resources available in our blog, but if you have specific questions you need answered, you can reach out to us directly.

You can get in touch with us at sales@ewcswire.com, or reach out to us by phone at 800-262-1598. We’d be more than happy to hear from our clients, and if we can share some of our knowledge, all the better!