Extra flexible main lead

Is it possible to get more flexible 13 Amp mains lead to replace those leads which hardly seem to bend?

I guess that these "inflexible flexes" are made of tough version of PVC and contain and fewer but larger individual wires in the cores.

Presumably having fewer cores is a cheaper way to make a mains lead. is this correct?

Reply to
Alex Coleman
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You need the type with fabric woven in, used to be cotton. They used to be utilised on electric irons etc, since the outer braid does not melt. Lots of strands of loosely wound conductor and cotton. Not sure of the current rating for these. Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

Artic flex is better than straight PVC, but rubber better still. But 1 mm rubber is over twice the price of 1mm PVC in the TLC cat.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

My Bosch SDS has very flexible cable (and a good useful length of it, too). No sign of any fabric in it. IMHO the fabric stuff is no better than normal mains cable wrt flexibility.

So, yes, you can get it but I have no idea where.

MBQ

Reply to
manatbandq

As much as I love rubber, I've stopped using it in favour of arctic flex. The main reason is abrasion resistance - the latter is much tougher than rubber.

I bought a 100m drum of 1.5mm yellow arctic flex, and am still working my way through it.

Reply to
Grunff

You can get ultra-flexible flex. However, it tends to be rubber based, so has a shorter life expectancy even if not continuously flexed.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

Harmonised standard reference for what was 'TRS' or Tough Rubber Sheath is HOFR

- Heat Oil Fire Resistant or HO7.

Also CSP for extra fire/temperature resistance.

Both available from wholesalers, we use up to 16mm twin in HOFR, find it is better on outdoor rail equipment where the ground is likely to be granite chippings are wet.

Artic grades are normally only available up to 2.5mm IIRC.

Welding cable is the most flexible and has CSP double sheath in the version we buy, not available for mains voltages though.

Peter

-- Peter A Forbes Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk

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Reply to
Prepair Ltd

;-)

Is it permissible to use yellow arctic on visibility grounds on 240V or does it have to be blue? (Yellow is 110V and blue is 240V in standard BS4343 connector colouring, for those across the pond.)

Owain

Reply to
Owain

Strangely all the cables sparks use for lights on location filming are rubber. And they get a fair amount of abuse.

It's TRS which I think is stronger than some rubber cables but still pretty flexible and coils well/ lays flat.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Good question - I don't know. I've mainly used it to replace short mains flex on power tools etc., where it is always terminated in a 13A plug.

Reply to
Grunff

Arctic is availible upto 6mm sq local to us.

Reply to
Stephen Dawson

Yes, I think there are supplies of larger sizes, but 'normally' assumes normal outlets rather than 'specialist' wholesalers. We use a couple ourselves, most wholesalers run a mile if you mention 16mm twin TRS! :-))

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes Email: snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Web:

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Reply to
Peter A Forbes

It should certainly be possible. The first thing to think about is "why a 13A mains lead?". Is your computer really likely to be consuming over

2.8kW? (220V X 13). A 5A mains lead would still allow you over 1kW and that should be enough for even a wildly overclocked SLI system. I've had great luck with electrical cords made with fine stranded conductors combined with a silicone rubber insulation although where I'd look for one in the UK I have no idea.
Reply to
John McGaw

In article , Dave Plowman (News) writes

We use rubber (or rubber compounds) in the railway industry for signalling because it has great abrasion qualities. You pull several cables over each other in a run and rubber shrugs it off. Use PVC outer sheathes and before long you have melting (localised heating) or splits.

The biggest problem is when you mix different sheaths - they then react with each other and cause no end of problems.

Reply to
John

Must be a bugger, getting a 1 mile reel of 16mm into the back of the Transit.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

You posted to several groups, it might be prudent to mention the APPLICATION of this cable, all those little specifics that resulted in there being myriad types of cable on earth.

In general, yes having more and smaller strands will make it more flexible, as will looser bundling and certain insulators. Cable can get expensive fast, the more details you post the more likely the cost effective solution can be found.

Reply to
kony

kony wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

One thing I didn't see mentioned yet is the twisting. People have said that loose bundling makes more flexibilty, but looser bundling usually means less twist, and actually more twist makes better flexibility. Try it for yourself, that will show you better than anything I can tell you. (How it works is, when one conductor is on the outside of the bend, it very soon is on the inside again to give slack to itself on the outside bend. This allows tighter bend radius as well as better flex and wear resistance).

Interesting thread, this. Now, if anyone would be willing to tackle my far less interesting Frequency to Pitch voltage conversion question in group sci.electronics.components, I shall be extremely grateful. :)

Reply to
Lostgallifreyan

Fortunately, we only buy it in 100m at a time, which is heavy enough.

We did locate some 25mm twin and have a bit left, but I believe that it was discontinued due to lack of demand.

We use this cable for the outputs of our mobile chargers:

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output with 16mm is 50A or 100A, we go up to 2 strands of 50mm welding cable for the 200A. Cable lengths are fairly short because of volt drop, usually

5metres or 10metres for the 50mm.

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes Email: snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Web:

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Reply to
Peter A Forbes

How does the price of arctic flex compare to regular flex?

Reply to
Alex Coleman

Is silicon flex more flexible than regular PVC?

Can anyone compare the quality or merits of the two?

Reply to
Alex Coleman

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