Crimping compacted conductors

[workbelt12]

Hi - how does everyone get on crimping these compacted conductors. they are way smaller diameter than standard
equivalent size. Icould get a 25mmlugonto a 35mm conductor. whats best practise?

 

[Marvo]

Yeah, compacted strand is a standard wire construction but it's not very common to come across this type of wire in general electrical work.

 

[happysteve]

The PDF that Archy links to above (from a manufacturer selling lugs specifically for these "compacted conductors") says (p6):

Modern compacted conductors are much thinner than their comparable predecessors. So nowadays, cable manufacturers can often save on sheathing and insulation. This difference is not always obvious at first glance. But it does mean that tubular cable lugs and connectors that look as if they fit have too much play and can no longer be crimped as required. In the past, you have only been able to reliably avert this safety risk using additional sleeves on compacted conductors.
​

Perhaps the last sentence answers the original poster's question - use sleeves.

 

[Darkwood]

I was going to post the exact same thing.. but got sidetracked, strange the OP brings up an issue then links us a site that gives the answers and explanation. :juggle2:

 

[davesparks]

there is no such thing as a compacted conductor, post a link to the cable.

it will be tri-rated

There is, if you look at 10mm singles for example the individual strands are round, wheras 10mm SWA cores will have shaped strands which interlock closer with less spaces between them. Thus compacted conductors are made.

 

[Marvo]

I think the standard copper SWA cables are more compressed strands than true compacted.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Agreed - don't use undersize lugs. The tube is designed to deform by a certain amount during crimping and an excess cross-section of copper will prevent this, leading to a weak crimp. In theory the crimping compacts the conductor completely no matter how it starts out, so a lug of the correct CSA may work on a compacted conductor so long it remains properly centralised, but that is uncertain. Hence, the cable-specific crimps are best.

 

[ElectroChem]

The way I've been taught is that if you have a compacted/shaped conductor, use the right lug and crimp. The contact should be OK as Lucien said. If need be, then swap one die for the next size down and re-crimp. For triangular Al cables, DON'T just jam them in whatever round lug fits, they need a matching lug that is then indent crimped.

 

[Bobster]

The way I've been taught is that if you have a compacted/shaped conductor, use the right lug and crimp. The contact should be OK as Lucien said. If need be, then swap one die for the next size down and re-crimp. For triangular Al cables, DON'T just jam them in whatever round lug fits, they need a matching lug that is then indent crimped.

I wouldn't ever consider doing this, you risk deforming the lug and ending up with a poor joint.

 

[ElectroChem]

I wouldn't ever consider doing this, you risk deforming the lug and ending up with a poor joint.

My bad, I got confused with the technique for using an over-sized lug on large flexible cable.

 

[workbelt12]

I was hoping for educated replies. If you Google 'Compacted Conductors' before making uninformed
replies you could possibly learn about issue. Then post meaningful & helpful replies

 

[workbelt12]

Thanks for all replies

 

[Darkwood]

I was hoping for educated replies. If you Google 'Compacted Conductors' before making uninformed
replies you could possibly learn about issue. Then post meaningful & helpful replies

This is an Electricians Forum and you posted a question more suited to Electrical Engineering, the use of these cables is outside the scope of most members on here and those that may have come across them would use the term Shaped conductors, now looking into it it seems this is more common for the big heavy cabling associated with large LV supplies or HV where saving on materials can mean many thousands if using a lot of it.
You have chosen a question that overlaps two bounderies of electrical work thus the original confusion, if I post any number of questions both an Electricians Forum and an Engineering Forum I would in some cases expect 2 contradicting answers due to the nature of differing terminologies and practices.

Yes your question was a good one and you provided a link which I asked for, but I was writing my post as your posted a link before I requested it...just forum timing and order of posts.

Please don't take the confusion and replies as uninformed babble it was just one of those questions that caught us off guard, even me who is industrial, I still know these cables as shaped conductors and was taught that way, if other sectors call them different then fair do.