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brianafischer

Cable and Connector Selection Discussion

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This purpose of this topic is to gather strategies for cable and connector selection in industrial control design. Cable Selection When do you use twisted shielded?mV signals that have a differential input When is a braided shield acceptable? Is it cheaper? When is a combination of foil and braided shield necessary?Braided is good for high voltage and VFD signals, but usually use Bedfoil AND braided How to check prices/what web sites do you use? (Belden vs Carol vs ...)I use newark.com and alliedelec.com Who is the most "cost effective" cable you have found?General Cable or "Carol" is sold at Grainger (The Belden to Carol Cross Reference here is useful) It seems that most use Computer Cable instead of the Industrial Automation & Control (Cost Savings)? When have you used industrial automation and control cable? What does one make of the insulation types? (Polyolefin, Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Plenum) What is the typical insulation type, and when to move to others?Looking at the 9502 Computer Cable, it is suggest "For Plenum" to add an 8 in front (89502). When is plenum necessary? Do you use any mixed-gauge wire?This can be useful for solenoid manifolds (where the common is returning the current of ALL solenoid coils) Where do the UL AWM styles come from? Is there some sort of lookup table?I found some info here Multiconductor Cable When is it OK to mix low-power (< 25W) signals (120VAC/24VDC) in a multi-conductor cable? Junction Boxes/Shielding/Connectors If junction boxes are involved. How do you route the wiring? Do you maintain the shields through the terminals, or do you ground shields at the junction box? At the main panel Do you combine shields through a single pin on the connector, or do you terminate on the connector? What type of connectors do you use with multiple cables? (Example: Multiple Belden 9501 in conduit, harting connector, circular connectors, and so on...) What type of sheating do you use around multiple cables?I like to use Braided Polyester Mesh Sleeving [*]What type of connectors do you use for high power VFD applications (480VAC > 100A)? Tips and Techniques I like to look at the AB knowledgebase for recommended cable types (i.e. RTD = Belden 9501 or 9533). I will look for a matching AB PLC module, and then use the cable type specified by the AB document. The Belden Cabling 101 document located here is a decent reference. Please add your advice to this thread, any info is appreciated! Thanks... Edited by brianafischer

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While you are at it, take a look at AB's premade cabling systems. They are awesome. When you put one of these in, you can spread out your IO cabling to make connections far easier since it has a short cable attached to a large terminal block instead of the dinky on-board ones. Second, consider going to the newer micro-style connectors. You can get nearly everything with these on the devices these days. The cords are all PUR/PVC. Both ends you just push on and finger-tighten the sleeve. Very rugged and makes changing sensors out trivial. I also like 30mm or 18mm round sensors or the flat ones that mount on DIN rail. Again...very quick changeout and diagnostics. A second option is that if the sensor has a conduit threading on it, then thread an LB connector right on the back of it. Inside the LB connector, connect the sensor with wire nuts. Then any time you need to work on the sensor, simply open the LB and the connections are right there. This even works as a hybrid with the above. Terminate onto an LB and screw a cord connector into the end of the LB. Use the "micro" or "AC" connector on the sensor, but run the cable pigtail back through the cord connector and terminate right inside the LB. This works best if the rest of the run is in conduit. You can buy fancy boxes that have micro connectors on the ends. But they are VERY expensive for what they do. Hence the reason that a conduit-based solution is more cost effective unless you are running your IO exposed such as via AB's "ArmorBlock" type IO, or DeviceNet with "vampire" connectors.

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"Polyester Mesh Sleeving" Is this basically the same thing as like a wire mesh or wire cloth material? As in this type of stuff..... http://www.bwire.com/

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I think it would be more like this: http://www.mouser.com/catalog/637/1025.pdf

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