Cable Size and Electrical Installation

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Cable Operating Temperature Insulation Degradation

Ok so you have just created a new small electrical installation with your preferred electrical software, whether you have used AS/NZS 3000:2007 or bs 7671 you have used all the correct cable de-rating factors to produce a wonderful fault free electrical design, and yes it does meet all the electrical wiring regulations. Does this software include your cable operating temperature. My reason for asking is: You may have 3,4,5 or more circuits running in a trunk on a tray or in a duct all bunched together and as i have already stated complied with the de-rating factors as laid out by your particular country's wiring regulations. Lets us say, you have different cables bunched together, for instance you may have mineral insulated metal sheaved, a V75 and a V90 this is where you may run into trouble.
The full load operating temperature of the V90 is 83.6 Degrees is there a possibility of the V75 (because times are a bit tight you have chosen to use the lightest allowable cable for the run with an operating temperature for the V75 being 73 degrees) exceeding it's recommended maximum operating temperature and resulting in Cable Insulation Degradation and I am sure you know the potential hazards faced in this situation. Therefore I would be inclined to say the cable operating temperature is definately an important consideration when choosing your electrical software.

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