MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL WORKSHOP PRACTICE
LESSON 3
(ELECTRICAL WORKSHOP PRACTICE)
CABLES AND SIZE
Parts of a cable
Most cables can be considered to be constructed in three parts:
• conductor which must be of a suitable cross-section to carry the
load current
• Insulation , which has a colour or number code for identification
• Outer sheath which may contain some means of providing
protection from mechanical damage
PARTS OF A CABLE
COMMON TYPES OF CONDUCTORS
• The conductors of a cable are made of either copper or
aluminium
• Solid conductors are used in wiring installations
• Stranded conductors are more flexible and conductor sizes from
4.0 to 25mm2 contain seven strands.
• Flexible cords have multiple strands of very fine wire, as fine as
one strand of human hair. This gives the cable its very flexibility
quality
COLOUR CODES FOR WIRING CABLE
• Single-phase supplies red/brown line conductors, black/blue
neutral conductors and green combined with yellow for earth
conductors.
• Three-Phase supplies red, yellow and blue line conductors, black
neutral conductors and green combined with yellow for earth
conductors.
TYPES OF CABLES
I. PVC insulated and sheathed cables
• Used for domestic and commercial installations
• May be clipped direct to a surface, sunk in plaster or installed in
conduit or trunking.
• It is the simplest and least expensive cable.
• The conductors are covered with a colour-coded PVC insulation
and then contained in a PVC outer sheath.
Figure 6.1 shows a sketch of a twin and earth cable
II. PVC insulated steel wire armour (PVC/SWA) cable
• Used for wiring underground between buildings, for main supplies to
dwellings, rising sub-mains and industrial installations.
• They are used where mechanical protection of the cable conductors is
required.
• They are covered with colour-coded PVC insulation and then contained
in a PVC sheath.
• Around this sheath is placed an armour protection of steel wires
twisted along the length of the cable, and a final PVC sheath covering
the steel wires protects them from corrosion.
• The armoured shealth also provides the Circuit Protective
Conductor (CPC)
a four-core PVC/SWA cable
iii.Mineral insulated (MI) cable
• Has a seamless copper sheath making it waterproof and fire-and
corrosion-resistant.
• These characteristics makes it suitable for hazardous or high-
temperature installations e.g oil refineries, chemical works, boiler
houses and furnaces, petrol pump and fire alarm installations.
• Has small overall diameter when compared to alternative cables
and may be supplied as bare copper or with a PVC oversheath.
• It is colour-coded orange for general electrical wiring, white for
emergency lighting or red for fire alarm wiring.
Types of cables
• The copper outer sheath provides the CPC.
MI cable with terminating seal and gland
Types of cables
iv. High-voltage overhead cables
• Suspended from cable towers or pylons
• Overhead cables must be light, flexible and strong
• The cable is constructed of stranded aluminium conductors formed
around a core of steel stranded conductors.
• The aluminium conductors carry the current and the steel core
provides the tensile strength required to suspend the cable between
pylons/poles.
• The cable is not insulated since it is placed out of reach and insulation
would only add to the weight of the cable.
Types of cables
• SINGLE CORE CABLES
• Solid (Single) core cables are used in buildings for fixed wiring &
lighting, electric switches, distribution boards, internal wiring in
apparatus, for earthing purpose, etc. Voltage range includes
450/750 V.
Cable size and selection
The size(cross section area) of a cable to be used for
an installation depends upon:
➢the current rating of the cable(current capacity)
• under defined installation conditions and It
ensures the cable does not overheat, which could
cause insulation damage, fire, or equipment failure
➢Voltage drop
• the maximum permitted drop in voltage as defined
by regulation 525 which states that states the drop
in voltage from the supply terminals to the fixed
current-using equipment must not exceed 3% for
lighting circuits and 5% for other uses of the main's
voltage
The factors which influence a cable current rating .
1. Design current : Every cable is designed to carry the full load
current.
2. Type of cable:
• PVC, MICC, copper conductors or aluminium conductors. For
example, copper has higher conductivity than aluminum hence a
small cross section area of copper cable is needed to carry load
current and
• if you’re using aluminium which has lower conductivity, it will
requiring a larger size for the same current rating.
3.Installed conditions:
• which directly affects its ability to dissipate the heat
generated by the current flowing through it.
• for example a cable that is clipped to a surface is able to
dissipate heat than a cable that is installed with other
cables in a trunking, hence a cable that can easily loose heat
can carry more current
4.Surrounding temperature: Cable resistance increases as
temperature increases and insulation may melt if the
temperature is too high.
5.Type of protection: For how long will the cable have to carry a
fault current?
Cable rating and sizing
• Standard cable size for 230 V domestic installation
