SWA conductor gauge

[Softus]

Heres a 12kW instant water heater

Thanks DO!

You'll need a decent plumber then to ascertain that the pipework is sufficient

I think I know someone who can handle that.

 

[TicklyT]

I was looking up SWA cable dimensions myself recently.
When I googled SWA cable I found quite a few tables from different manufacturers quoting different sizes for their products.
There were quite a few 'overlaps' - some manufacturer's 3 core 6mm cable has a larger OD than another manufacturer's 3 core 10mm etc.

 

[plugwash]

yeah, it depends how thick the insulation packing and sheath are, also it seems to me that modern SWA is thinner than old stuff.

also for some sizes you can get both round and shaped conductors, i'm pretty sure shaped starts being availible at 25mm but i'm not sure when round stops being availible.

the only reliable ways to size cables are either by reading what is printed on the sheath or by disconnecting them and checking the bare core (note: unless you are very good at this you will probablly need either another cable to compare to or a verniar caliper, rememer you will need to convert your measurement from diameter to CSA)

 

[festa]

When i come across a cable where i cant see the size and need to be 100% sure,i use a micrometer i bought from screwfix.

Item code 36839 £11.49.

 

[plugwash]

yeah sure a micrometer will do the job, probablly overkill though

 

[festa]

yeah sure a micrometer will do the job, probablly overkill though

Overkill??

Saves carrying lots of sample cables to compare to though,as was mentioned above!

Stop bein a tight wad plugwash and spend some of ya millions!!!

 

[Softus]

horses do not need Hot water, they will be pleased and surprised if it is above freezing.

The horses already have hot water, but my customer wants more of it. I don't tell people what they should and shouldn't have.

When i come across a cable where i cant see the size and need to be 100% sure,i use a micrometer i bought from screwfix.

Aha! I have a micrometer, so that will save me collecting samples.

So, is this as simple as measuring the OD of a core and then using Pi * r² ?

While I'm here, thanks to everyone for the overwhelming helpfulness of your replies.

 

[Spark123]

I don't know about lots of sample cables, a short piece of 4mm, 6mm, 10mm and poss 16mm is all that you'd probably need. Working it out from Pi R² will need you to work out an individual strand (theres likely gonna be 7 strands) of copper and multiply the area by 7.

 

[Softus]

Oh b*llocks. OK, back to the samples. Thanks Spark123.