Reverse engineering wire or cable is commonly performed to determine:

• Conductor stranding and material.
• Cable construction
• Insulation and jacket materials

Custom wire and cable manufacturers routinely reverse engineer wire and cable to identify the materials used and the cable construction. It is best to provide a sample between 1 to 2 feet if possible and keep in mind it will be dissected in the process.

Outer jacket
Reverse engineering wire and cable begins with measuring the outside diameter (OD) of the wire or cable. The longer the piece the better it is to obtain the nominal OD. The outer jacket is carefully removed to expose the core. Normally, cross sections are taken of the outer jacket to measure wall thickness. Jacket material is tested to identify the type of material used.

Braid, shield or tape
If there is a braid or shield the construction will be examined. The pitch, number of ends, material and coverage can be determined at this point. If there is a tape wrap present, the overlap,  type of material and size will be examined.

Core construction
The next step is to examine the cabling construction. Once the shield and/or tape is removed the following can be determined: Cable lay or twists per inch, filler material used, the use of strength members, number of conductors and conductor color code.

Conductors
The conductor material, plating used (if any), gauge and conductor strand count and construction are checked. A cross section of the conductor will identify the wall thickness of the insulation and OD. At this point the insulation material will be identified.

Insulation and jacket materials
There are several ways to identify the materials used for insulation and jackets.  The obvious is the look and feel of the insulation or cable jacket. Computer analysis and burn testing are also used. Plastics and rubber each have distinct characteristics when placed on a flame. Experienced engineers can determine the type of insulation material by whether it burns, melts, or self extinguishes. The odors produced when burned also are distinct to each type of material. Burn testing should only be done by experienced individuals in a controlled environment, gases can be toxic as well as the risk of fire is present.

Failure analysis
Failure analysis is another reason for reverse engineering wire and cable. When a cable fails, determining the cause can many times be done  with reverse engineering to pinpoint the problem. Common problems with handheld devices with poor strain relief is damage to conductors or conductor stranding due to excessive bending. Shielding material can over time damage conductor insulation. Dissecting the cable at the problem area can expose the problem. Custom wire and cable manufacturers can make material suggestions such as the use of higher conductor stranding or alloys, insulation materials or cable construction design alterations based on the findings of reverse engineering.

Contact Calmont for assistance with identifying your cable or enhancing your current design. There is no charge to reverse engineer wire and cable. Click HERE to view Calmont’s capabilities.

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Rope stranded conductor

High flex cycles and repetitive flex wire and cables are specialized for these types of applications. Whether you are working with a custom wire and cable manufacturer or buying commodity robotic cables, special attention should be taken with regards to the conductor stranding and  material.  Specifying a high strand count alloy conductor in your wire and cable design is key to the longevity of the cable. Lower strand count conductors such as a typical 19 strand will not last long in a hi-flex environment, as the individual strands break due to the stress and fatigue, the weaker and less conductive the conductor will become until it inevitably fails. High strand conductors can be constructed in a way that the stress of flexing is absorbed by the large number of fine strands and having a few strands break will not affect the conductivity as would in a 7 or 19 strand construction.
The use of high strength alloys is recommended for hi flex life. They offer high breaking strength and greater flex life with only a small increase in DC resistance. Cadmium-chromium copper, cadmium copper, chromium copper, and zirconium copper are most frequently used. View our conductor stranding page for types of conductor configurations available and our wire gauge table for stranding options.

Hi-flex and repetitive flexing applications can be found in:

• Robotic and automation
• Medical and surgical hand pieces
• Sensors and instrumentation
• Aerospace

Flexible wire and cable in terms of limpness also requires high strand conductors but may not require the use of alloy materials depending on the application. Descriptions of this type of wire include:

• Ultra flexible wire
• Noodle wire, noodle like
• Hi flex
• Limp wire

Super flexible 6 AWG

The other key to flexible wire is the insulation or jacket material choice. There are many flexible materials depending on your requirements. The most flexible insulation material is silicone rubber, but depending on your application it may not be right for you. When discussing your flexible wire requirements with a wire and cable company be as descriptive as possible and discuss the application in order to narrow down your material choices. Flexible wires are available in most gauges. The wire pictured here is a 1050 strand 6 AWG was manufactured by Calmont and is extremely flexible and quite limp. Custom wire and cable manufacturers usually stock high strand conductors for flexible and hi-flex wire applications.

Feel free to contact Calmont Wire & Cable with any questions you may have or for assistance with your flexible wire applications. Don’t forget to follow Calmont on facebook for product updates and more.

Custom Cable Braids

Wire and cable manufacturers are not all the same. Depending on your needs, finding the right wire and cable manufacturer can be difficult. If the wire and cable you need is not easily found through distribution, chances are you will need to find a manufacturer to design and manufacture it. Wire and cable manufacturers can be categorized as follows:

• Commodity – This includes Mil-Spec, industrial, wire and cable. Their products are easily purchased through distribution. Commodity wire and cable manufacturers usually have their manufacturing lines dedicated to the products they produce regularly so when ordering a custom wire or cable from these types of manufacturers usually results in long lead times and high minimum orders. Why? They have to place the custom wire or cable order into their production schedule, set up the equipment, and stop production of their regular product on that line. Simply put they are not set up to switch out machines for every order.

• Custom – Custom wire and cable is made to order to your specification. Custom wire and cable manufacturers are basically job shops, they set up the production lines and schedules based on their orders and this is figured into their cost. This is why you can order custom wire and cable in smaller quantities and shorter lead times than from a commodity wire manufacturer. Ordering commodity cables from a custom wire manufacturer can be costly due to the sheer volume commodity manufacturers produce these products. What makes a cable custom can be a simple as a unique color or more flexible design of a commodity cable to complicated composite cable designs.

• 

  Small Gauge Custom Wire

  Specialty – Specialty wire and cable can include extremely small gauges such as 50AWG or smaller, unusual or molded shapes, or unique materials. These custom cable manufacturers do fall into the custom category but are known for their specialties throughout the industry. Many custom wire and cable manufacturers have a specialty product or a niche market.

Working with custom wire and cable manufacturers is easy, whether you have a design, need a design or are not sure what you need. Most custom wire and cable design engineers can assist you in choosing the right materials and construction to meet your requirements. Finding the right manufacture is not difficult by using Google or Global Spec you can do keyword search or ask other industry professionals. It’s a small industry.

Contact Calmont today for assistance with your custom wire and cable needs. If you like this article, please share it or subscribe to be notified of new ones. Your comments are always welcome.

1. Really expensive – People that are new to designing products often think they need thousands of dollars or need to buy thousands of feet to have a custom cable made. The truth is for as little as $500 (sometimes less) you can have custom wire or cable made to your specifications. When comparing custom wire and cable to the “off the shelf”, custom is obviously more expensive, but we are not comparing apples to apples here. Custom wire and cable is designed to your specific product or application requirements and sometimes may require special materials or construction. In the early stages of product development where small prototype quantities are needed, the cost of the cable can be higher than with production quantities. It’s important to get pricing based on your estimated production usage as well.

2. Huge minimums – Using a custom wire and cable manufacturer is important when avoiding large minimums. Custom cable manufacturers are set up to run many types of materials and cable constructions and usually have to set up the machinery for each job. Minimums are small or non existent. Commodity/off the shelf manufacturers normally are running the same materials and construction over and over, so for this type of manufacturer to stop production to make an unusual cable is costly. If you approach a commodity manufacture, it is not uncommon to be quoted a 10k-15k minimum. Unless you are using an unusual or uncommon material that itself has a minimum buy, you can order small quantities from the custom cable manufacturers.

3.Expensive tooling charges – Custom cables do not normally do not require special tooling. Tooling charges or N.R.E. can be expected for custom printing, unusual shapes and  flat ribbon cables which require special dies to maintain wire pitch and extruded shape.

4. Long lead times – Custom cable lead times can vary depending on material availability and construction. On the average hook up wire can have a 2-4 week turn around and cables can run 3-6 weeks. Commodity cable manufacturer lead times for custom cable can run 8-14 weeks or longer.

5. “I need to know all about wire & cable” – Design engineers sometimes shy away from custom cable designs because wire and cable is not their forte. Custom cable manufacturers have engineers and custom wire and cable designers on hand to assist their customers with choosing the right materials and construction. It’s like having a wire and cable expert on your team. Cable designs are usually at no additional cost.

Of course there are exceptions to the  statements listed above. Lead times and minimums can be affected by material choices and complicated cable designs. When considering custom wire and cable designs for your product, be sure to contact a custom cable manufacturer. Working with a company that manufactures custom cable products enables you to buy smaller quantities, faster turn around, and you buy a cable specifically made for your application.

For more information on custom cable designs contact Calmont Wire & Cable.

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Medical Applications

Medical cables are manufactured using a variety of materials. Reusable medical cables often times are subjected to sterilization processes and are built to endure extended cycles of sterilization. Understanding how a wire or cable will be sterilized is crucial to determine what materials to specify when designing a medical device. Insulation and jacket materials vary when it comes to resistance to chemicals, heat and other sterilization techniques.

Common types of sterilization include:

• Heat/steam – Autoclave
• Chemical
• Irradiation – E-Beam & Gamma Ray

Autoclave (heat/steam) resistant materials for reusable medical cables include FEP®, TPE, silicone or with TPR or silicone rubber jackets. Radiation resistant medical cables can be made with silicone and Teflon® (if water is not present). TPE and PVC can be made for Gamma sterilization with limited sterilization cycles. PVC is not commonly used with chemical sterilization, alcohol based liquids can break down the plasticizers (an additive for PVC) and can make the PVC brittle and damage the insulation or jacket. PVC is more commonly used with disposable applications.

It is always best to discuss with your custom cable manufacturer what types of sterilization and how many sterilization cycles the cable will be subjected to. Cable manufacturers experienced with medical cables and their applications can help narrow down your choices based on sterilization techniques, bio-compatibility and other requirements.

To find out more about medical cables and sterilization compatibility contact Calmont today. If you liked this article please share it or leave us a comment.

Applications suitable for silicone cables include:

• Arthroscopic
• Surgical Robotics
• Electrosurgical
• Implantable
• Ophthalmic
• Foot Switch
• Patient Monitoring

What makes a material medical grade? Materials are tested for bio-compatibility and are categorized to be used for medical applications. Medical grade materials are generally grouped into three categories: non implantable, short term implantable and long term implantable. Materials approved as USP Class V and VI can be considered medical grade, most medical grade silicone is at least Class VI certified.

Uses for medical grade silicone cables include:

• Tubing/Lumen
• Drains
• Feeding tubes
• Catheters
• Implants for long and short term use
• Sensors

Three layered custom silicone cable

Co-extruded and multi-layer silicone cables can be used for high voltage applications such as X-Ray and MRI equipment which require electrical noise suppression and limited power loss . Co-extrusion involves extruding a semi-conductive silicone layer around the conductor to remove air thus reducing corona. Extruding both semi-conductive layer and jacket simultaneously insures no air or particles are caught between the layers. Benefits for co-extruded silicone include corona, moisture & ozone resistance, lightweight and flexible cable design, radiation resistance to name a few.

When working with your custom cable manufacturer, it is crucial to provided them as much information as possible about the application, the environment, sterilization and bio-compatibility requirements. The more information you can provide to your silicone cable manufacturer will help in determining if silicone is right for your application and to offer you material choices that will enhance your product’s performance.

Contact Calmont Wire & Cable today for more information or if you have questions regarding medical cables, silicone or material choices for your project.

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Silicone Wire

Silicone wire is extremely flexible and resistant to high temperatures, everyone knows that. There are some misconceptions regarding silicone wire and silicone cables. Listed below are five things you probably didn’t know about silicone insulated wire that I get asked frequently.

1. It doesn’t have to be tacky. Recently at a trade show I handed a visitor a sample of our silicone wire and he said: “Wow, this isn’t sticky, we stay away from silicone because it’s always sticky.” Silicone rubber is normally tacky, this can be a problem especially in medical applications where you don’t want dirt sticking to the cable. Silicone cables can be made so they are not tacky or sticky. This is accomplished with manufacturing techniques and formulas can be used to make the jacket smooth and not tacky. Normally silicone wire and cable is coated with Mica to keep it from sticking to itself during the manufacturing process, this coating is not acceptable in some applications that requiring clean environments. The alternative is to manufacture the silicone so it is not sticky from the start.

2. Available in ribbon cables. Silicone cables can be manufactured as ribbon cable a few different ways. Silicone ribbon cables can be extruded, bonded and even molded into ribbon and flat cables. Silicone ribbon cables can be extruded as a ribbon cable which offers the tightest center to center tolerances. Bonding the ribbon cable involves extruding the individual silicone wires separately then they are bonded together, this method is less expensive than extruding the ribbon cable because there normally isn’t any additional tooling involved.  Molded ribbon cables are usually silicone wires encapsulated with a silicone outer jacket, this method allows for unique flat shapes.

3. Low outgassing formulas are available. Aerospace, specifically space applications often have outgassing restrictions for the wire and cable. Recent advancements with silicone formulas and manufacturing techniques have created low outgassing silicone wire and cable. For space craft and satellite applications Calmont manufactures silicone wire and cable products which meet NASA .01% TML requirement. Depending on your outgassing requirements, check with your silicone cable manufacturer to find out what is available. Click here to view Aerospace insulation properties chart.

4. Reinforced silicone is available. High strength silicone formulas are now being used to increase abrasion resistance of silicone wire and cable. Fluorosilicone has better abrasion resistance than the standard silicone. Additional measures can be taken to reduce abrasion such as strength members between layers and nylon outer braid to protect the silicone insulation.

5.  Doesn’t burn. Silicone insulation is self extinguishing, it will not burn. Flame retardant additives can be added to meet flame requirements such as VF1.

To learn more about insulation properties including silicone insulation view our chart HERE or contact the experts at Calmont today to have your questions answered. Calmont Wire & Cable is an experienced silicone wire and cable manufacturer which can answer your questions and provide suggestions for your cable design needs.

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High Strand Conductor

A super flexible wire design requires two things, a flexible insulation material and the right conductor stranding. Even with the most flexible wire insulation, the flexibility of the wire will depend on the conductor stranding. Conductor construction is key in achieving a noodle like flexible wire. There are two things to look at when choosing the right conductor:

1. Number of strands. Conductors are made of many fine strands which are cabled together to meet the required gauge size. Conductor stranding is available from one strand (solid) to hundreds depending on the gauge size. The higher the strand count the more flexible  and resistant to flexing fatigue the wire will be. For example a 24AWG wire, the stranding options are from 1 strand (solid) all the way to 105 strands. That’s quite a range.

2. Conductor construction. How these fine strands are put together is as important as the strand count. The most common configuration is concentric. Concentric conductor may be defined as: a central wire (strand) surrounded by one or more layers of helically laid wires in a geometric pattern. Rope stranding has the advantage of increasing flexibility by using a larger number of finer strands while maintaining a tighter diameter tolerance than a simple bunched construction. to read more in depth about conductor construction read our conductor stranding page on this blog.

Flexing vs. Flexibility

High Strand Silicone Wire

To some flexibility means to withstand repetitive flexing, while to others it means how much the wire will bend and rigidity. For both types of applications a high stranded conductor is recommended. For repetitive flexing one should consider using an alloy material for higher strength and flex cycles. For noodle like flexibility a standard copper conductor is fine.

Flexible cables

Flexible cables also use high strand conductors, but there are more factors involved controlling the flexibility; Such as, Shielding, outer jacket material, cable lay construction and type of conductors  just to name a few.

It’s always best to discuss your flexibility needs and the conductors available with a wire and cable manufacturer, especially one that works with high strand count conductors. Off the shelf (commodity) wire manufacturers usually work with solid, 7 and 19 strand conductors which are less flexible than the high strand conductors. For more information or to discuss your requirements, contact Calmont today.

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Aracon® Braid

The aerospace industry has applications which can be very critical of weight; Such as, missiles, rockets and satellites. When looking for ways to cut down equipment, payload, or satellite weight, the cable can be the last thing considered. One way to accomplish weight reduction in aerospace cables is to use metal clad aramid fibers for the shield and braid material instead of the standard copper. Aracon® is one such material which provides exceptional EMI shielding, strength and flexibility. Typically Aracon® fibers can reduce weight 60% in the weight of the braid over copper braids. Aracon® is combined with DuPont Kevlar® to provide high tensile strength and excellent conductivity. The large number of fine threads and the tendency of yarn to flatten and spread give this material more shielding coverage than copper. In the first photo you can see the amount of fibers on the end of the braid.

Aracon® Braided Cable

Benefits for switching from copper braid to Aracon include:

• Overall cable weight reduction
• Added flexibility
• Increased strength
• Withstands repetitive flexing
• Improved EMI shield coverage

Aracon® fibers are manufactured by only one company Micro-coax Inc. The Aracon® braid can be purchased either with the braid only (sock) or having the braid manufactured onto cables by cable manufacturers such as Calmont Wire & Cable. Calmont has had great success manufacturing cables using Aracon® for the space and military related applications.

The cost of using this type of material is considerably more expensive than the standard copper braid. The cost savings for applications such as satellites where weight savings equate to rocket fuel cost, definitely makes it a value. An example of cost savings is the  SBIRS (spacebased infrared system) project. The cable harness for the SBIRS antenna weighs about 3.5 pounds (1.6 kilogram) less than equivalent cables using metal braid and alternative insulation and jacket materials.

‘With payload weight valued at $90,000 per pound at the time, the lightweight cable saves the SBIRS program $95,000 per satellite after accounting for the additional cost of the Aracon® braid compared with metal” Says Don Dodge VP research & Development for Calmont Wire & Cable.

Watch the video about Aracon®

Depending on your shielding requirements, Aracon® is available with several metallic coatings, thickness and fiber sizes to meet your resistance needs. Consult your cable manufacturer or Micro-Coax for options available to you.

If you would like to learn more about EMI shielding, Aracon® or similar materials contact Calmont today. Your comments are welcome and if you find this article useful, please share it.

 ARACON® is a registered trademark of Micro-Coax, Inc.
KEVLAR® is a registered trademark of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company