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Providing Some Background on Marine Electrical Cable and Other Specialty Electrical Cables

5th May 2021

Electrical wire and cable are as different as you can imagine, and not just in the color of their insulation. That is more often than not the first thing you’ll notice about them, if not the gauge of the wire (or its thickness) but in truth, electrical wires and cables are manufactured to very precise specifications in order to engender functionality to the roles for which they are reserved.

The following are some of the broad classes of electrical cables we offer here at EWCS Wire, along with the traits that make them suitable for those applications. Hopefully, at the end of this you’ll be able to walk away with a fresh, renewed understanding of what makes an electrical cable useful in its given scope,

Marine Electrical Cable

Marine electrical cable is a specific type of electrical cable that is used in the wiring of ships, boats and other vessels, although it could theoretically be used to complete wiring in other maritime settings. It is carefully designed, engineered and tested to provide a high degree of reliability, resistance and practicality in these settings, as they are ever-changing and highly demanding.

-Flexibility

Marine electrical cable is, first and foremost, highly flexible. The reason that it needs to be highly flexible is because there are narrow recesses inside of boats and ships that the cables need to accommodate or circumvent. Without a flexible cable, that would be all but impossible. In addition to the fact that the interiors of vessels are more or less unforgiving, boats and ships are always in motion, and a stiffer cable would not be as well suited to contend with constant motion, strain and vibration. If you ever strip a section of marine wire, you’ll see that it is made up of many, many fine strands of conductors.

-Individually tinned copper conductors

By the way, if you ever strip a piece of marine electrical cable to take a look at just how many thin strands of conductors there are, you’ll also notice that they appear to be silver. Despite the fact that silver actually is an excellent conductor, these cables are not made from that metal. They’re made from copper conductors that happen to be individually tinned in order to better resist corrosion. Any exposed copper conductors would not fare very well in a maritime setting, and this unique trait helps to add some longevity.

Welding Cable

Marine electrical cable is not the only type of specialty electrical cable we sell here at EWCS Wire. Among our other specialty offerings are welding cables that are expertly engineered for functionality and performance - and as you are about to see, they are useful for more than just welding.

-Flexibility

Like marine electrical cable, welding cable must maintain a high degree of flexibility. This trait is accomplished in welding cable in much the same fashion - welding cable is created with a very high strand count of fine copper conductors.

Just like marine electrical cable, welding cable needs to exhibit flexibility, but for slightly different reasons. Welding cable needs to be able to accommodate the setting in which it will be utilized. In many industrial settings where welding needs to occur, there’s no way to manipulate or move the media or the materials. Therefore, the cable and equipment must be brought on site, which can’t be easily accomplished with a stiff cable.

-Abrasion resistance

In addition to the fact that welding cables need to be brought on location and thus must be highly flexible, they should exhibit a high degree of resistance to abrasion as well. The industrial and other unforgiving environments in which welding cable will be utilized present a variety of hazards. Heavy machinery, rocks, stone, gravel and other abrasive substrate, and even harsh chemicals may be present. The cable needs to be able to withstand these if it is going to remain viable but also safe.

-Also useful as solar cable

Some of our welding cables can also be used as photovoltaic cables in solar systems. Solar systems, which are used to capture energy in the form of light from the sun and then store it for domestic, industrial or commercial use, require very special cables in order to be outfitted effectively. Not only must they be rated to operate in the right range of voltage and be abrasion resistant and flexible as stated above, they must also provide a few additional features.

-UV, temperature and weather resistant

Since solar panel cables are produced with the intention of being used in solar arrays, they need to be, among other things, highly resistant to sunlight. Sunlight is made up of a range of radiation, including the infamous UV or ultraviolet light which is not only hazardous to human health - it breaks down many synthetic polymers and organic molecules. Solar panel cable must expressly exhibit at least a reasonable degree of resistance to sunlight.

It should also be resistant to weather, including to extreme temperatures, both high and low, and a wide range of humidity. If not, it’s not going to last very long, and that will drive up the cost of maintaining the system.

-Can be used as battery cable

You may also have noticed that our welding cables are made with black and red insulation, which you’re probably familiar with as the colors typically used with leads for batteries, with red being reserved for the positive terminal and black for the negative terminal. As long as you do not exceed the specifications of the cables, they can be used as leads for batteries as well - making them a truly versatile solution in electrical cable.

Instrumentation and Alarm Cable

Instrumentation and alarm cables are used to carry low voltage loads and are used to transmit information and monitor the nodes on a system. They can be used in a variety of applications, including but not limited to security alarm systems and fire alarm systems and are highly useful for the transmission of data across a system.

-Low voltage rating: Used for transmission and monitoring

Unlike many of the other wires and cables available here at EWCS Wire, our instrumentation and alarm cables have fairly low voltage ratings, which trait is actually fairly typical of these types of cables. They’re usually not defined by the electrical load they can carry but by the fidelity with which they can carry a sensitive load, as they are used for surveillance, monitoring and control.

-Some feature a rip cord for easy stripping

A nice feature of some of our instrumentation and alarm cables, but one that is not entirely necessary, is the presence of a rip cord that facilitates stripping the cables. Since the wiring completed using instrumentation cables is often highly involved, it’s beneficial to have a nicety like this baked into the design of a cable.

-Riser rating

You will also see that many of our cables have special ratings and designations, among them being “riser ratings” and “plenum ratings.” A riser rating is actually fairly straightforward; it means that the cables themselves are rated to be used in the riser space - the vertical space - that runs between floors on a building. Some of these types of wires also will self extinguish if they happen to catch fire, since fire usually burns vertically and that is a concern in riser space.

-Plenum rating

Whereas riser space is the vertical space between the floors of a building, plenum space is the space above a drop ceiling that is reserved for conduits, electrical wire, HVAC ductwork and sometimes more. Because this space can be demanding on the equipment it contains, plenum rated cables, like riser rated cables, often exhibit some degree of resistance to heat, flame or smoke, among other adverse factors.

-Shielded vs. unshielded

Instrumentation cable is unique in that it does not just carry power but sensitive data in the form of electrical energy. Because of the sensitive nature of the data it carries, fidelity and security are prime concerns. Electrical settings create fields and result in a phenomenon that is known as electromagnetic interference, or EMI. EMI can negatively impact or scramble the signals carried by instrumentation cable, so some cables are shielded to protect them from this - although some cables are not.

-Fire alarm cables have a few additional features

In specialized alarm cables, such as fire alarm cable, you’ll come across a few different additional features as well. Considering the nature of its utility, fire alarm cables should be insulated with a material that is resistant to flames and that does not produce toxic smoke even when it does burn. To learn more about fire alarm cables, please see our page featuring them.

Aluminum Cable

Copper is not the only material that is used to produce electrical conductors. Sometimes, aluminum is used instead of copper due to a range of advantages that it can offer.

-It’s very lightweight

First and foremost, aluminum is significantly lighter than copper. This makes a huge difference in wiring with weight is a concern, such as when cables must be born aloft or laid on trays. The lighter the cable, the less strain on the system.

-Lower conductivity, but better conductivity to weight

Objectively speaking, copper is a superior conductor to aluminum, but if you consider conductivity-to-weight, aluminum takes the edge. That is to say, per unit weight, aluminum is actually more efficient at carrying a current than the same mass in copper.

-It can be cost-effective

If aluminum can be safely used in the setting in question, another benefit it has over copper is that of cost. Aluminum is typically a lot more affordable than copper and on top of that in some situations it might be more readily available. That’s also one of the reasons that aluminum has been used as a conductor when copper was rationed.

-Aluminum cable is highly flexible and malleable

Another draw of aluminum cable is that, just like copper, it is highly flexible and malleable. The difference is that aluminum is lighter, so it is easier to work with.

One thing to note about aluminum cable is that it has a slightly higher resistance than copper, which means more heat is produced as electricity flows through it. When not properly installed and maintained, aluminum cables have been implicated in fires and may even pose a fire risk; if you’re considering the use of aluminum cables, be sure to consult your electrician or an electrical engineer.

Tray Cable

Another broad class of specialty electrical cables that we sell here at EWCS Wire are tray cables, which are used in trays as opposed to conduits. Unlike conduits, which totally enclose the cables in order to protect it over the course it runs, trays are open, lighter, and present a range of benefits over conduit.

-Easier to install and maintain

Because trays are open and conduits are closed, it is understandably easier to install, service and maintain tray cables. They can be laid along trays instead of having to be drawn through them, which is more cost-effective as well.

-Better at dissipating heat

One other advantage that tray cables offer is that they are superior at dissipating heat, especially when compared to conduits, which trap heat in. This is a significant advantage in any situation in which a lot of heat will be produced or emitted from the wires carried by a tray.

Something to remember about trays is that despite the fact that they are better at disseminating heat and easier to install and maintain, they don’t present the same degree of protection to the cables they carry.

Contact Us for More Details

Want to learn more about the specific or unique traits of the electrical wires and cables that we carry? Get in touch with us at Sales@ewcswire.com or at 800-262-1598 and we’d be happy to fill you in on the details.

Otherwise, let us know what you need. We have excellent customer service and our products are guaranteed to arrive and perform as advertised - and if you need additional help in your search, just contact us via the particulars above.