Armoured Electrical Cable

[Craig Farrall]

I have recently been given the attached armoured cable and I was wondering if you anyone can tell how many amps this will produce?

I don't know if this is a daft question and it can't be determined by the picture, but I thought I would try. If not, is there a way I can find this out myself?

 

[conny]

You want to know how many amps the cable will safely carry, not how many it will produce. Cables don't produce amps, (current), devices such as washing machines, kettles, TV's etc are the things that produce current.
There should be some markings on the black insulation, (may be raised lettering/numbering). If you can find these then post what they are and someone may be able to tell you what the rating is. i.e. how much current it will safely carry.
I am guessing that is 2.5sq mm but could be wrong.

 

[Craig Farrall]

Yeah the terminology and the way I explained it probably didn't make sense, as I am not an electrician and know very little about this, hence why I am reaching out for help.
I will have a look shortly to see if there is any lettering/numbering on the cable itself.
I ask this question because I want an armoured cable running up to my pergola area and I plan to have a hot tub running (13 amps). I do plan on having a few other things as well such as lighting and at times a heater etc. When I had electricians over to quote on the job (before I was given the cable), they mostly did this to cover the hot tub and general usage - but mentioned that if I had a heater going at the same time for example, this could be more than it can handle. So I ideally wanted to future proof things and have a cable capable of running those at the same time - but as I was given this wiring and it can save money, I thought it best to use it - but I just don't know what the cable is capable of producing - if that makes sense.
The obvious answer would be to ask the electrician, but most of them won't come out a second time to quote and most of the electricians have let me down, with most not even providing me with a quote and just disappearing.

 

[Taylortwocities]

There should be some markings on the black insulation, (may be raised lettering/numbering). If you can find these then post what they are and someone may be able to tell you what the rating is. i.e. how much current it will safely carry

Look at the cable and answer conny's question.

Also, how long is the run of cable, where would it be run from?

 

[conny]

I'm afraid, no matter what the size of the cable, your inexperience and lack of knowledge would not really be helpful to you if you decide to do this job yourself. It is a skilled job and needs someone qualified, or at the very least, someone competent.
I advise you work out exactly what you want and then contact an electrician for a quote.

 

[Risteard]

devices such as washing machines, kettles, TV's etc are the things that produce current.

They consume current - they don't produce it.

 

[JohnW2]

They consume current

What on earth does "consuming current" mean?

Unless you want to do war with Mr Kirchoff, you surely aren't suggesting that less current can come out of one end of a conductor than goes into the other end, are you?

 

[winston1]

but I just don't know what the cable is capable of producing - if that makes sense.

It doesn’t. You have already been told cable doesn’t produce anything.

 

[Alec_t]

A close-up, well-focussed photo of a ruler against the cable might help us to judge the wire diameter.

 

[bernardgreen]

cable doesn’t produce anything.

heat is produced, too much if the cable is overloaded,

 

[chivers67]

Looks like 6mm to me depends on method of installation but roughly 40Amps

 

[Risteard]

What on earth does "consuming current" mean?

Unless you want to do war with Mr Kirchoff, you surely aren't suggesting that less current can come out of one end of a conductor than goes into the other end, are you?

Utilisation is a better term in my view, but consumption is a recognised term.

 

[DIYWell]

Have you checked the cable for markings and codes as @conny suggested? You might see something like 6943X which is the specification and easy to look up.

@chivers67 is probably correct.

 

[JohnW2]

Utilisation is a better term in my view, but consumption is a recognised term.

Not 'recognised' by me (in the context of cables) - which is why I asked you what on earth was meant (in relation to cables) by your "They consume current".

Indeed, "They utilise current" would also seem to me to be a very odd thing to say - equivalent to saying that "pipes utilise water"!

 

[Craig Farrall]

I have checked the cable and it says the following:

ELECTRIC CABLE 600/1000V BS 5467

Does that help? I am not an electrician (obviously an electrician will be doing the work), but I was wondering what the capacity this would be able to provide in terms of amps used from it?