If you’re a welder and you’re actually reading this, you’re probably more interested in the quality of the cable and ensuring that you get your work done on schedule and according to standard requirements than you are about the nature of flexibility in the cable you use. However, it does affect you and your work, and if you’ve never paused to consider it, now’s the time.

We can’t imagine the conditions that you, personally, work in, but for the benefit of our other readers, consider the following. Welding takes place all around the world, in both commercial and industrial settings. Taking place all around the world means taking place in a huge range of environments; and happening outside means that the weather doesn’t always cooperate.

Also, welding in an essential process in actually building infrastructure, that is, infrastructure that doesn’t exist yet. That means you need to get the tools and gear to the job site. That means that the welding, his welding equipment, and his cable need to be brought on location, no matter where it is.

Flexibility in 4/0 Welding Cables: It Comes at a Premium

Whenever you see welding cable advertised or promoted, there are usually two traits that really stand out. One is the quality of durability and the other is the quality of flexibility. The flexibility is necessary because as we have explained, the welder, welding equipment and cable need to be brought to the job site. So why is a high strand count so important in welding cable?

Take a look at our 4/0 gauge welding cable for an illustration. This welding cable, which has a diameter of .720 inches, is one of the thickest welding cables that we offer. It’s rated to 600 volts and weighs 734 pounds per 1,000 feet. That’s heavy; it’s almost a pound per foot of length. Imagine, for a moment, how stiff this wire would be if it was a single conductor? That is to say, a wire made of approximately .720 inches in diameter?

Stiff would be an understatement; it would have current carrying capacity but it would be all but impossible to use in any practical fashion. Yet gauge is directly correlated to current carrying capacity, so the thickness is necessary. What the manufacturer does in situations like this is raise the strand count drastically. This preserves much of the current-carrying capacity and makes the cable significantly more flexible. The cable in question is made from over 2,000 - 2,000! - thin strands of individual copper conductors.

What Else Should You Look for?

As you can see, flexibility in welding cable is critically important to the functionality of the cable itself, but it is not the only thing to look for. Among other things, you should consider welding cable that is not only flexible but possesses some combination of the following traits:

●A high degree of durability and abrasion resistance: Our welding cables are made with EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) rubber that is mechanically tough and highly resistant to abrasion. Whether you need to drag your cable over lumber, gravel or concrete, expect ours to perform admirably.

●Resistant to oil and gasoline: A lot of electrical wires and cables are made with rubber insulation that is not particularly resistant to oil or gas. However, these fluids are common on jobsites, and so at least some degree or other of resistance is valuable.

●Resistant to UV radiation: As many welding cables are used outdoors, a fair degree of resistance to sunshine is important; otherwise, the insulation will break down more quickly.

●General resistance to weather and temperature stability: As stated, being used outside requires resistance to the elements. Among these conditions are temperature and humidity, and our welding cables are resistant to both.

Good news on this front; our welding cables all possess these traits to one degree or another, which means, in addition to flexibility, they are ideally suited for use in a wide range of conditions for welding applications.

Does 4/0 Welding Cable Have Other Uses?

In addition to being used most practically for welding applications, our welding cables (including but not limited to our 4/0 welding cables) are also useful for several other applications. They can be used as photovoltaic wire (PV wire, AKA solar cable) in solar arrays, as well as being suitable as leads for motors, generators and batteries. To make them more practical for these ends, we sell them color coded in two colors; red and black, which are perfect for use as battery leads.

To recap, welding cable is made with a ridiculously high strand count to ensure that it stays as flexible as possible. This is because you need to get the cable to the job site and can’t bring the job site to the cable.

If you’re looking for more information on our welding cable, make sure you get in touch with us at 800-262-1598 or by email at sales@ewcswire.com. If there’s a cable or wire you need, we’ll make sure you find it.