Mounting the cables in the cablechain – fairly loose or tight up ?

[Barman]

I noticed that one motor of the x-axis made some strange noises always at the same place.
When I disconnected the motor from the rack , it sound ok .
After a while the gecko of that same motor wet on failure.

I measured the resistance of both windings .
A = 1,2 ohm
B = 128 kohm
So ,there was a break in one of the cores of the cable .
This one I have to replace .

When I looked at the cabels in the cablechain it looked like a buch of spagettie.
Although , I placed all the cables nicely to each other when I mounted them and tied them up whit tyraps .

My question is:

Should I leave all the cables fairly loose whitout tyraps ( and let it look like spagettie )
Or should I put them fairly tight and fasten with tyraps (This is what I have done in the past , but I think they all will break at a certain moment ? )

Any suggestion ?

[Alan_c]

Tying them to the cable chain or in bundles may cause extra tension as the cable chain flexes, especially if they are pulled too tight along the length. I tried a different approach that seems to be working so far. I arranged the cables in groups - motor cables, signal cables, 220V cables and then put in cable ties around a pair of cross bars to act as seperators between the groups every 6 or so links. This leaves the cables free to adjust within the cable chain but still keeps them together and prevents them from getting tangled.The cables themselves are only cable tied at the entry and exit to the cable chain with enough "slack" so they are not tensioned at the bend.

[Gerald D]

I very much doubt that your cable was broken because of something in the cable chain. Did you cut open your cable and find the break point?

[javeria]

Bart what brand of cable did you use - also what is the bend radius of the cable chain - small bend radius cause the cable to fail very fast.

[Gerald D]

Bart, to answer your original question, you should not "tyrap" the cable the chain.....the cable must be free to move (slide a little bit) inside the chain.

[Barman]

Hey thanks you for the reply.

Gerald,

Yes , I disconnected the cable from the cablechain.
By shaking and wiggling I could easily find the place where the bad connection was .
Then I have cut open the cable and looked at the cable cores .
I could’n see somthing bad at the cores but when I pulled at them , core 2 broke easily .
First I fixed core 2, but apparently there was more than 1 fraction.
Therefore , I cut off the cable about 30 cm before the bad connection and link this to another not so flexible cable ( spare ).
This to check I was right .
And indeed everything worked again.
So I have to replace it .

Irfan,

The cable I use is the one that is mentioned in this forum.

LAPP KABEL OLFLEX CLASSIC 115 CY 4 x 0.5
So , I think it’s ok .

Alan ,

I did tyed them in bundles of 2 and didn’t give them enough "slack" .
This was to prevent twisting ,but I was wrong about it .


Now , I think I should give them more “ slack “ .

But what I have learned from the past:

More “slack “ = they will soon all get twisted and look like a corkscrew .
(What is also bad , I think .)

In any case ,I ‘ll order some extra meters Lapp Cable and maybe a 4 x 1 mm instead of 4 x 0,5 .

[Barman]

Is this Bad ?

[javeria]

Bart - you can probably use the Oflex FD 810 CY 4G1,

[Gerald D]

Bart, your cables do not look happy. Two cables look okay (top and bottom) but I don't understand those sharp sideways kinks in the other 2 or 3 cables? It looks as if the cable was "forced" into the chain - maybe the cable was installed by threading one chain link at a time? or the cable was twisted?

The cable should be gently unrolled flat along the floor and all twists must be removed first. And then the cable must be gently installed in the chain without making sharp kinks between the links. The cable must be anchored with "tyraps" at each end of the chain after the chain is bent to the correct shape.

[Barman]

I ‘m sure there was no twist in the cables during the installation .
I slided one cable at the time through the chain and fixed them at the begin and end with tyraps with sufficient slack .
The funny thing is that the cables from the Y-car still looks good ( no twist ).
I think the problem occur because the cables are not all next to each other but also over each other.

Is it advisable to disassemble all the cables back from the chain and try again ?
(Before it gets worse ) .
Pitty it's a " non snap-open " chain .

[Barman]

Irfan,


If I had read this document before I had not made certain mistake .

It is certainly good info for people who still have to do this .

[Red_boards]

I'm thinking of putting cable ties "vertically" in the cable chain every 200mm or so to keep pairs of wires separated. By vertically I mean between the top and bottom walls of a single cable chain cage.
Am I likely to create another problem?

[KenC]

I tie the cables onto the trunking during installation, remove the tie after all the cables are laid. The cables are still very tidy inside the cable chain until now.
If you wanna keep cable from interfering with each other, you would need at least 50mm air between them... I don't think it is practical with a since cable chain & you already use shielded cable right from the start...
Don't get suck overly into the EMI RFI thingy, as long as the cable shield are grounded & cable not twisted excessively, your cables will be happy.

[Alan_c]

Red, that will not cause any problems, I have done the same on my cable chains to keep the cables organised. The cable chain manufacturers actually supply little dividers for that exact use - but cable ties work just as well and are much cheaper.

[smreish]

i used cable ties and and an air hose. That 20mm hose makes a great seperator.

[Red_boards]

Good to know. Thanks