Screened flexible cables (wires) - specifications & sources (suppliers) - Page 5

cncb · #**121** Sun 11 October 2009, 13:19

I'm getting samples next week from IGUS for their chainflex, and at $1.10 a foot, no minimum order or cut charge I can't complain. Beats buying a whole spool and its made specifically for our use.

Mike O. · #**122** Sun 11 October 2009, 19:17

Brian, I'm planning a 14' table, which will require about 400' of cable. If I order 500' at 350 dollars that will be 90 dollars less than the igus and give me a hundred feet of spare. Additionally, the alpha wire is specifically made for continuious motion, robotic and extreme high flex use. I am however interested in what you decide to go with and why. Are you sold on the braid, the availibilty of larger 20 or 18 guage or is it the igus name? Let me know, after you receive the samples, which specific cable you choose.
Thanks

cncb · #**123** Sun 11 October 2009, 22:29

I understand, you need quite a bit. I'm sure you could get a better price on a spool though with Igus. Will keep posted which I go with but I'm almost certain it will be the chainflex from Igus. They had me sold on availability, prompt response and support, pricing and the quality of the cables they produce. Never used their cables before, just the carriers so I'm anxious to see the samples of the exact cable I want to use.

Mike O. · #**124** Mon 12 October 2009, 09:10

Brian, Thanks for your responses... Did you talk with igus directly or one of their distributors? Can you supply me with a specific Igus product number? I'd like to call them and see what kind of pricing I can get. Do you have a phone number or an individual you think I should speak with? Thanks again...

cncb · #**125** Mon 12 October 2009, 12:03

Mike,

I spoke with the local sales rep for my area which is the best person to speak with, check out their map on their site and see who your local rep is and call them directly. Inquire about pricing and samples if you want to play with the cable in hand, tell them your application and get any feedback you can. I've inquired about the CF140, and the CF140US, one having euro certification and one having us. Its a 4c 18ga shielded/braided cable.

Mike O. · #**126** Wed 14 October 2009, 18:40

Brian, Thanks for the information. I spoke with a gentleman at Igus today, and it looks like I might have to call your local rep because the prices quoted to me are much higher. For less than five hundred feet of the 4 conductor, shielded, 20 gauge chainflex I was quoted $1.87 per foot, for five hundred feet the price is $1.72 per foot. Often, manufacturers will not under cut their distributors and that may be what’s going on here. I had them quote the 20 awg. thinking it would be less expensive but in retrospect this may not be true if they manufacture more of the 18 awg. Bob at Igus is sending me a sample and was very helpful so I’ll give them serious consideration but at 2.7 times the cost of the alpha wire mentioned above its not likely. Thanks for your help.

cncb · #**127** Wed 14 October 2009, 20:50

Np, never hurts to shop around! Here is a copy and paste from the local sales rep for an official RFQ I received. With Igus there is no minimum order quantity and up to 10 cuts free of the same cable.

Quote:

Pos Part Quantity UOM Price $ $ Total
1 CF140-07-04 1.00 $/Ft $1.15

They post current pricing on their site online too. Maybe he misquoted you? Was it indeed CF140 because CF140 is the cheapest of its class, they go up fast in price accordingly. But get the sample and play with it, the braided screen is so strong, without a relief cut along the cable to peel back the jacket you cannot pull it off it is so strong and the cable itself is super flexible. I like the conductor coding system too, having all black conductor insulation and just number coding each conductor.

Note: I had missed the note on their spec sheets prior to requesting the sample in regards to a ground/bonding/pe wire being included in the conductor counts. So a 4c18ga is really 3 conductors numbered and 1 yellow/green striped ground. Debating whether or not to just go with 4C and tube that conductor black as well (since not using a ground for 4 wire stepper motors) or to order a 5C18ga and snip the ground back and do it proper.

Gerald D · #**128** Wed 14 October 2009, 23:43

Guys, please guard against repeating quotations out here on a public forum, because this sometimes results in the big corporate clamping down on distributors who sell cheap.

cncb · #**129** Thu 15 October 2009, 04:57

Sorry Gerald. I tried to remove it. Btw this is not a quote from a distributor this is from corporate, IGUS sells directly.

Gerald D · #**130** Thu 15 October 2009, 05:46

Brian, the above stuff is not serious enough to start deleting yet - I just wanted to put a general note to everyone to be careful with comparing prices in public.

cncb · #**131** Thu 15 October 2009, 10:42

Gerald,

I understand your concern, will be a bit more careful with it.

Mike O. · #**132** Thu 15 October 2009, 16:31

Gerald, Sorry - I'll keep all mention of prices to private email. My apologies to Brian also, it seems when I misbehave I insist on dragging good people with me.

cncb · #**133** Thu 15 October 2009, 17:09

no worries we are all friends here. All I will say though is I'm thoroughly impressed with Igus's service and products. Can't wait to order a spool of this stuff.

smreish · #**134** Thu 15 October 2009, 19:02

I will say I have had impeccable customer service from Igus in the past. Good to hear. They also have a great website that allows you to download all other their products in 2d and 3d dxf drawing files. Very helpful.
Sean

javeria · #**135** Mon 09 November 2009, 10:15

Hi all - i recently had a cable (same on my Mechmate) put on a machine which I help to revive (victor cnc) some folks might have seen it on the cnczone -

now what has happened is that the cable has started to give up - shorts and cuts and all that.

I know that the small radius has caused this - so when I asked lapp to give me a suitable cable they guided me towards FD series - wow! that cable unscreened is like 7.5USD per meter.

the question is for short radius - do i need to get that sort of cable - or there are suitable quality substitutes - ??

Gerald D · #**136** Sat 14 November 2009, 06:57

Irfan, the cable chain and the cables must be compatible - you need to find a balance between the radius of the cable chain/carrier and the bend radius of the cable itself. I think your problem is caused by the small radius of your chain?

Sherman McCoy · #**137** Thu 31 December 2009, 23:48

Just got a quote from a Lapp distributer in the USA for 2 cables:
4 Core 1.00 mm2 [18 AWG] 100' P/N 1136204 $ 5.02/ft
7 core 0.5 mm2 [21 AWG]100' P/N 1136107 $ 7.34/ft

Ouch! I should have known when the guy called in response to my e-mail, and took a day to work up a quote, that I was going to get bent. Oh yeah, 8 week delivery time.

Also seeing 25' lengths of 18/4cy NuFlex 1000 Shielded Flexible Control Cable(http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT) for $1.84/ft on E-Bay.

Not familiar with the brand, but the price seems reasonable. A lot of dealers on E-Bay seem to want to sell 1000ft spools. Most of the items that look like they might work are off-brand. Does brand matter? The Skycraft Surplus store seems to only have coaxial cable. I did notice that Quest uses shielded 21/7 when they install phone lines. I cut off a piece from a spool I buried, and although its not very flexible, it is well shielded. It's got to be cheaper than $5/ft.

paul60 · #**138** Thu 07 January 2010, 09:14

a link to a shielded cable supplier.
http://www.action-electronics.com/wirecable.htm
http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCCNCNoise.html

jestah · #**139** Tue 09 February 2010, 12:58

Hi guys,

Just got off the phone to the NZ rep for lapp cables and he told me that using the 115c cable would not be wise in drag chain as over time the conductors would brake. Has any one found this with the cable they have been using and if now how much time has your cable been flexing for?

thanks
jestah

KenC · #**140** Tue 09 February 2010, 19:25

I don't think you MUST use Lapp cable, you would probly have a better chance walking into any electrical/electronics hardware shop & ask for "CY cable", you need 18 AWG (or 1mm2)4-core CY cable.

Gerald D · #**141** Tue 09 February 2010, 20:09

Jestah, that rep for the cable was just feeding you salestalk. Any cable can be used in a drag chain - it depends on radius of bend and number of cycles. Some hi-tech machinery out there move fast and through tight corners, while our MechMate is a plodder by comparison.

sailfl · #**142** Wed 10 February 2010, 03:45

Those that need cable.

I will go to Skycraft and talk with them about seeing if they can find a source of the cable that Josh just bought. It is 4 wire foil shielded at a price of $0.30 a foot. The also have 7 wire foil shielded for $0.35 a foot. This is the kind of wire that Sean and I have used and I believe a couple other builders have used. It may take them some time to find it. As they like to remind me when I am looking for stuff, they are a surplus store.

I will get back with you.

smreish · #**143** Wed 10 February 2010, 05:44

Nils,
Double check, I think 18/4 with foil also had the braided shield as well. I seem to remember extending that braided shield via soldered jumper!

"how's the mailbox? My truck misses it! LOL

swatkins · #**144** Wed 10 February 2010, 18:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailfl

Those that need cable.

I will go to Skycraft and talk with them about seeing if they can find a source of the cable that Josh just bought. It is 4 wire foil shielded at a price of $0.30 a foot. The also have 7 wire foil shielded for $0.35 a foot. This is the kind of wire that Sean and I have used and I believe a couple other builders have used. It may take them some time to find it. As they like to remind me when I am looking for stuff, they are a surplus store.

I will get back with you.

I need enough for a standard setup on a 50" x 100" table if you can find it

sailfl · #**145** Thu 11 February 2010, 04:55

I will make it a point to visit today and see what they have left and what they can do to buy more. Yesterday was not a good day for a visit.

sailfl · #**146** Thu 11 February 2010, 06:17

Steve,

You need to determine how much wire you want. The amount varies based on the location of the controller box to the table. You want to have no breaks between the motor connector and the controller box.

So you need the length for the motors, proximity sensors and the push buttons. I can also provide 14/3 shield power cable to run to the router / spindle.

sailfl · #**147** Thu 11 February 2010, 09:45

Steve,

I have some bad news. They have less than 50' of the 18 ga 4 shielded wire. I even looked for 18 ga 5, 6 or 7 shielded wire without any success. I will check with them when I stop in.

They do have 14/3 shield wire for power cord to spindle around .38 a ft.

They also have 20 ga 7 shielded wire.

swatkins · #**148** Fri 12 February 2010, 22:07

Thanks for all your trouble Nills...

Here is what I need...

42 feet of 2 core 20 ga
42 feet of 7 core 20 ga
140 feet of 4 core 18 ga (if all one length)
35 feet of 3 core 14 ga

I looked on skycrafts website but it lists almost nothing... If they had it I could just call them and pay for it....

Thanks again
Steve

Regnar · #**149** Sun 14 February 2010, 15:34

Steve have you figured in Proximity switches? When I was there I didnt notice any 2 core shielded but I believe I read that you can use the 4 core and slice 2 get 1.

swatkins · #**150** Sun 14 February 2010, 16:37

Russell I have not gotten that far

I was just thinking that this stuff is hard to find, at a good price, and as long as the surplus store had some I might as well purchase what they had and get the rest later...

Nils made a good point about measuring the machine ( In a PM ) and making sure I had enough.. So I am going to follow his advice and wait a bit....