Cable size Aluminium cable

Storm93 · Oct 22, 2021

Hello all, recently been asked to look some incoming power supplies for some future works , and I’m trying to determine the size of these incoming aluminium cables as it’s not something I work / see on a regular basis. Would anyone be able to give me some inside to what they believe the incoming cable size could be? My belief is that is looks to be 35mm, as I feel 25mm is too small and 50mm to large , I know that old aluminium cable sizes can be misleading due to the sheathing so any advise would help , please see pics attached

westward10 · Oct 22, 2021

Are you certain they are aluminium and not tinned copper, red white and blue identification could easily make them tinned copper.

Storm93 · Oct 22, 2021

westward10 said:
Are you certain they are aluminium and not tinned copper, red white and blue identification could easily make them tinned copper.

Could be possibly , if so what size would you go for?

SparkySy · Oct 22, 2021

I reckon @westward10 is right pic 2 at the terminal base it looks like tinned copper! It could be 35mm or its equivalent but it's really difficult to tell from a picture!

Storm93 · Oct 22, 2021

SparkySy said:
I reckon @westward10 is right pic 2 at the terminal base it looks like tinned copper! It could be 35mm or its equivalent but it's really difficult to tell from a picture!

My initial thought it 35mm or equivalent when on site , harder to tell with the older cables !

Yozza19 · Oct 22, 2021

I’d guess 50mm if I had to take a chance

westward10 · Oct 22, 2021

It is as said difficult to say unless you are there. Considering it is almost certainly imperial if you think 35.0 then it could be 19/.064 which puts it at 38.70 in metric terms.
It would be unusual construction if it were aluminium as I would expect less and thicker strands.

Storm93 · Oct 22, 2021

westward10 said:
It is as said difficult to say unless you are there. Considering it is almost certainly imperial if you think 35.0 then it could be 19/.064 which puts it at 38.70 in metric terms.
It would be unusual construction if it were aluminium as I would expect less and thicker strands.

Storm93 · Oct 22, 2021

That would make sense , I believe with the sizing on site looking larger than 35mm yet less than 50mm, do you know of any guides in terms of current carrying capacities of this cable vs what we use now?

westward10 · Oct 22, 2021

This table gives single phase ratings but you may have to take it with a pinch of salt.

Comparison of imperial & metric conductor sizes

The table in this article show the comparison of imperial and metric conductor sizes in detail

www.daenotes.com

Storm93 · Oct 22, 2021

westward10 said:
This table gives single phase ratings but you may have to take it with a pinch of salt.

Comparison of imperial & metric conductor sizes

The table in this article show the comparison of imperial and metric conductor sizes in detail

www.daenotes.com

Thankyou for this , it shows no cable equivalent size for 50mm metric? Was there not a cable made between these sizes at the time? Which would make sense as the next size up at 64mm would be definitely too large for what I’m seeing on site.

westward10 · Oct 22, 2021

Not really sure maybe at the time it wasn't a required size for the circuit protection of the time. I notice on the imperial table the strand size which maybe .064 in your case isn't unique to that cable size it is used elsewhere, this doesn't happen with metric conductors they are unique to each size but just guessing.

Storm93 · Oct 22, 2021

westward10 said:
Not really sure maybe at the time it wasn't a required size for the circuit protection of the time. I notice on the imperial table the strand size which maybe .064 in your case isn't unique to that cable size it is used elsewhere, this doesn't happen with metric conductors they are unique to each size but just guessing.

I guess the only was to check for sure is with callipers!

westward10 · Oct 22, 2021

If you have pieces of 35.0 and 50.0 and it appears to be inbetween then assume it is 19/.064. You need to confirm it is tinned copper though.

Storm93 · Oct 22, 2021

westward10 said:
If you have pieces of 35.0 and 50.0 and it appears to be inbetween then assume it is 19/.064. You need to confirm it is tinned copper though.

I believe it is from other photos, I think I will go for 19/.064