UNDERSTANDING CLASSES of ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS - lets get counting!
If you look at a datasheet for cables and wires you'll often see conductor class mentioned?
The class of conductor determines how flexible the cable is, the diameter and the resistance.
The subtle difference between the different types can have a dramatic effect on the specification of an electrical installation.
== 🕐 Time Stamps - Cut to the action 🕕 ==
00:00 Electrical conductor classes as defined in IEC 60228. (bs en 60228)
01:02 Common cables and their conductor classes.
01:59 Class 1 conductor - solid copper
03:00 Class 2 conductors - min 7 strands
03:35 Class 5 conductor - e.g Tri-rated cable and flex
04:10 How many strands in a 16mm sq class 5 conductor
05:23 Maximum strand diameters to make a conductor and resistance
05:54 Class 6 conductor - very, very flexible!
06:30 How many strands in a 16 mm sq class 6 conductor
07:46 Missing strands in sub-standard cables
08:40 Stranded conductors have a slightly higher resistance
09:10 Conductor diameters
10:07 Flexible conductors on RCBO"s and consumer unit connections.
================================
📍SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL
eFIXX is here to help electrician's, electrical contractors, building services engineers and electrical apprentices. Watching our videos, you'll discover new products, explore new applications and find answers to your technical questions. So if you've been on the tools for years or just starting your electrical journey, we'll help you stay up to date with the latest regulations and developments in the electrical industry. hub.efixx.co.uk/youtube-subscribe
================================
📺 NEW TO THE EFIXX CHANNEL Watch our essential videos playlist
hub.efixx.co.uk/essentials
📺 CATCH UP ON THE LATEST VIDEOS
hub.efixx.co.uk/latest
📺 ELECTRICIANS' TOOL REVIEWS
hub.efixx.co.uk/tools
================================
🔴 eFIXX LIVE
Join us for our youtube live stream twice a month - features product sneak peeks, challenges, giveaways and live electrical banter.
NEXT STREAM HERE
👉 hub.efixx.co.uk/next-live-stream
Catch up on previous episodes
👉 hub.efixx.co.uk/livestream
================================
🆕 FREE CPD
Learn about new applications, regulations and best practices with our FREE CPD modules. - New modules are released every month covering everything from surge protection to lighting
hub.efixx.co.uk/CPD
================================
📝 APPRENTICE HUB If you're an electrical apprentice, retraining as an electrician or looking to refresh your knowledge, then please check out our apprentice hub. It contains thousands of multiple-choice questions to help prepare for electrical installation exams.
hub.efixx.co.uk/apprentice
================================
📩 eFIXX NEWSLETTER Sign up to find out about our live events, competitions and product giveaways.
www.efixx.co.uk/sign-up
================================
FOLLOW US on your favourite social networks for behind the scenes action, breaking news and competitions.
🟠 INSTAGRAM hub.efixx.co.uk/Instagram
🔵 LINKEDIN hub.efixx.co.uk/linkedin
🟣 FACEBOOK hub.efixx.co.uk/facebook
🟡 TWITTER hub.efixx.co.uk/twitter
==================================
❌ This content on this channel is for electrical professionals.❌ ==================================
📹 Presented by
Gary Hayers - Editor eFIXX
Gordon Routledge CEng MIET - Technology Editor eFIXX
===================================
#efixx #electricalinstallation
***********************************************
Get Counting To Ten by Twin Sisters here t.lickd.co/0JAX7rWDv1w License ID: pM57Q2v0ogj Get this and other songs for your next KZhead video at lickd.co
I found if you put plenty of current through any cable at a certain point it becomes a class 6, usually just before it burst into fames !
😂🔥❤️🔥
Hmm, I found the conversion from classes 2, 5, and 6 to class 1 to be easier when undersized for the current. Unfortunately, the insulation rarely survives; and even when it does, it tends to be both brittle and far darker than the original color.
Gary counting the strands! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Send your cables in to Gary! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Happy to help out with my counting skills 🤣
Cracking bit of comedy thrown in there with counting the conductors!
Thanks for Very Informative Video.
Great content…. Keep them coming 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I love your lesson. And I'll like to see a video of explaining cable sizes and where to use them
You guys kill me. Lmao. Even though I'm across the pond, and there's some differences here, I do learn from you. Thanks!
I love a little sprinkling of copper in my Pot Noodle.
If iron is good for us then why not a bit copper, anyone know the RDA for copper lol
it's a real interesting subject when you get into class cables on larger diameter , esp in the industrial sector when a lot of machinery comes fitted with class 5 and 6 cables and the spark has used a standard copper lug , different lugs are used for class 5 and 6 .. i had the pleasure of doing a course on BS7609 & BS 7727 .. that would make a good video :)
Yes 👍- a great idea - we’ll put it on the list!
We find that on pump cables which are all class 6. Had one connected to a VFD via a JB and it caught fire due to the incorrect lug and crimp used
@@pauljones908 i see it a lot .. over crimps under crimps , lugs that are different to tool being used.. it's a whole can of worms waiting to be opened.. similar to when efixx first showed ferrule crimpers and then you saw a lot of youtube sparks fitting them on class 1 and 2 cables ... which made me chuckle ... loads!! it's a great course if you do enough of it..
@@pauljones908 Is this what ferrules do in C/Us ? Is that why they catch fire ? LOL
@@efixx Anyone know of a source of class 6 or 5 50mm^2 twin cable ?
Being an electrician here across the pond in the states makes this video so much more interesting. We deal alot with your brown, blue, and green yellow color setup over here quite a bit though
Just remember Scott its colour 😂
@@efixx hahaha, 😁😅
Nice refresher
Thanks for commenting and watching 👍🏻
4:29 comedy GOLD 🤣
Industrial electrician for over 40 years and I found that interesting, especially the core counting, done that got the tea shirt😂 class 5/6 we used to refer to as welding cable. Try getting a lug on some 240mm2. Seen class 5 cable that was used in machines sliding back and forth shoot the cores out through the insulation, it’s amazing what constant flexing can do to a cable, you wouldn’t believe it
interesting, thanks guys
Perplexed by the missing classes 3 and 4. Seems they were removed when IEC 180 was replaced in 1966, but I haven't been able to find out what they used to be!
Update us when you have 👍🏻
@@efixx We still use class 4 in my country (Argentina). To make a quick comparison, a class 4 2.5mm2 cable has 19 strands while its class 5 counterpart has 40 strands. Our regulations describe class 4 as flexible cable while class 5 is described as extra flexible. I'm actually a bit surprised you guys don't have class 4 in the UK.
The jacket of the cable should define strand count although the print can be hard to read. Lots of interesting stuff here, thanks for making these.
Interesting. So given manufacturers use class 5 and 6 inside a CU what's the reason we can't buy (double insulated) class 5 meter tails?
Informative video, I sub. Tnx, I learn something.
Good’ay! Question - can class 2 conductors be compacted?
How does the AC skin effect work on finely stranded cables?
Please tell me if we can use class 5 copper wire in residential purpose with Air conditioner
I've seen electricians use Ferrules ls on class 2 conductors, would you guys do this?
🤣🤣🤣 “Gary can you count the number of strands”
6:52 comedy GOLD mark 2 🤣🤣
Something I have noticed in recent years is the upgrading of wires within the home but the mains supply has not changed why?
So a cable 5 would be NYAF (H07V-K)? If so what would 6 be please?
The electrical systems and switching that you guys use in homes in the UK is far more complex than what is considered standard in most homes built in the last 10 years. North America doesn't have hardly any electronics or solid state equipment installed in the load center as standard equipment, that will eventually change though. It's still fairly primitive with magnetic fault switches and stuff.
Where do I send my cables in to get counted? I think I need to send them in to you to be counted before I use them. I can count to 10 but after that I'm screwed, I don't have the same skills as you guys.
😂
Gentlemen, Where would I utilise this information? I'm going to listen again in case I missed anything. Gaz, you impress me . Boss Gordon gave you several tasks to do and you just put your head down and got on w/ it. I dare say, you had something to say in your mind, but you kept it contained... sort of. Keep up the good work please.
It’s useful when looking at specifications for cable on data sheets. It’s well known in eFIXX that Gary never grumbles 😖
I would think they would want to use ferrules on those class 5 and 6 conductors going into a CU, as not to damage those extra thin wires.
Which conductor class is better and why...Can you make a video on it
Try this 👉kzhead.info/sun/qrxmfr17fJiMn6M/bejne.htmlsi=AysYljmTf7OXUZXr
Counting strands vs coffee drinking? You might do a calculation instead: 16mm² / π(0.21mm/2)² is about 462 strands at least in order to comply to the standard. An easy way to bundle large numbers of strands is by doubling up several times, resulting in powers of 2 in total. In this case 512 strands might be practical to manufacture.
😂😅 LMAO ! Informative and entertaining ! Well done chaps, hope you didn’t lose any wayward strands didn’t end up in your Pot Noodle 🤦🏼♂️😖
Thanks for the great comment
Class 1, solid, is used for 2.5mm cable, which is intended for _fixed_ installations. But we use 2.5mm solid to connect up sockets, which by definition need to be pulled in and out, meaning the wires to the back of a socket should be Class 4 or Class 6 - _flexible._
Sockets are fixed, you’re only pulling them off for maintenance, not regularly.
@@toddbod94 The cables *are* solid. Not meant at any time for flexible applications, no matter how infrequent. Solid cables on the terminals of a socket can have stress on them (maybe give a poor connection or pop out) while flex cable does not. Use the right cable for the job. Having the solid cables in Wagos, completing the ring, in the backbox and flex to the sockets from the Wagos is the best way. Quicker as well.
whats the advantage of so many strands that big strands in stranded wire?
More strands makes the cable more flexible - used for battery leads when the cable needs to be moved frequently
I would have cut of a meter of cable without the insulation and weighed them all. Then weighed an individual strand. Dividing the smaller into the larger will give the total number of strands. A lot quicker and probably more accurate than counting.
Quicker to look at the datasheet. Besides, do you really believe he counted them
Why a meter ? Any length of conductor would work. Regardless, extremely accurate scale would be needed to accomplish this. Btw, When I sell scrap wire the buyer weighs a length with, then without insulation. Payment is based on percentage copper of the total weight.
Strandeage (this is for hardcore sparks only!)
More hardcore content on the way!
I've tried catching feral cables but they always run away. Boom Boom (as Basil Brush would say)
What happened to classes 3 and 4?
They don’t exist - you know we don’t follow logic in this industry
Got a link to that ..wire stripper Gaz Gordon or Joe ..
kzhead.info/sun/pquFhcykhIOFrYE/bejne.html - link should be in the description under this review
@@efixx Thanks Guys ✅👌
I'll send you some welding cable so you can spend hours counting the wire strands.
If class 2 cables are stranded the surely classes 5 and 6 are also class 2?
the tall dude is talking too fast in a non tangible way
He's talking in a way that can't be touched? 🤔