Hook up Cable, Colour

[Titus A Duxass]

The yellow are only rated for 110v and you are advocating use for 240v? It is rated at 110v for a reason.
Not very good practice or advice.

Makes no odds if it's 110 or 240 as long as it can cope with the current.
Mines red by the way.

[1664]

Makes no odds if it's 110 or 240 as long as it can cope with the current.

Of course it does - you wouldn't use a cable rated at 12v would you? Voltage is a measure of electrical 'pressure'; it's ability to force it's way to it's objective (usually ground in the shape of neutral or earth). Insulation is constructed in order to (amongst other things) guarantee resistance to this pressure up to a specified maximum amount and is assigned a BS or BSEN number to verify it's particular voltage ceiling. Applying a voltage to a cable in excess of it's insulation's capability is destructive, it insidiously and slowly breaks down the insulation over time.

This however may be besides the point, a yellow 110v cable may well be rated for 240v. You need to find the cables actual BS number which (if you're lucky) will be moulded into the outer sheath. Here's two 'Arctic' cables, one yellow, one blue

http://www.discount-electrical.co.uk/pr ... 0f81c4082f" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.discount-electrical.co.uk/pr ... -100m-reel" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Both are voltage rated to BS 6500 which is 300/500 volt. However, this standard was introduced in 2000 so if your cable is older than that it will only comply with an earlier BS which may well not cover it for the higher voltage. Basically, find the BS and google it.......

Then make sure the conductors are a minimum of 2.5mm c.s.a copper.

There are other standards that apply to flexible cables such as resistance to chemicals, UV radiation, mechanical damage etc but I'm not going there!!

[meggles]

Think I'll buy a "made for the job" one with safety in mind. Hello ebay

[Oldiebut goodie]

The yellow are only rated for 110v and you are advocating use for 240v? It is rated at 110v for a reason.
Not very good practice or advice.

Makes no odds if it's 110 or 240 as long as it can cope with the current.
Mines red by the way.

That it just the sort of attitude that causes fires etc.

[Titus A Duxass]

The yellow are only rated for 110v and you are advocating use for 240v? It is rated at 110v for a reason.
Not very good practice or advice.

Makes no odds if it's 110 or 240 as long as it can cope with the current.
Mines red by the way.

That it just the sort of attitude that causes fires etc.

If both cable are rated (insulation) 300/500v as is the standard then it makes no odds.

[Red Westie]

This brings a smile to my face just thinking about the French/Dutch and Germans who typically use cable no thicker than your average Hover Mower lead. I would say...just shop around, my orange 20metre hookup complete was just £15.00....
Although I believe they are £26.95 for 25metres now (nottingham trailer supplies)

Martin

[Oldiebut goodie]

Makes no odds if it's 110 or 240 as long as it can cope with the current.
Mines red by the way.

That it just the sort of attitude that causes fires etc.

If both cable are rated (insulation) 300/500v as is the standard then it makes no odds.

It is rated at 110v though. It may well be to the standard of 300/500v (which - there is 200v difference there).
Try saying that to an insurance company in a claim and see how far you get!!
There is no way that I would use your 110v lead to carry 300 to 500v just because you feel it is safe. If that's what you think to be true here, that 110v lead would already be rated at 240v.

[VWCamperfan]

Both leads are identical in electrical charictaristics. The 110v one isn't rated at 100v, it's the colour that defines it's use for 110v applications, that's why it's advertised for 110v use, because it's yellow!

[1664]

Both leads are identical in electrical charictaristics. The 110v one isn't rated at 100v, it's the colour that defines it's use for 110v applications, that's why it's advertised for 110v use, because it's yellow!

My point was that whilst that may certainly be true now, it may not have been when cables were manufactured years ago - available materials and technology changes. The only way to be sure is the BS number or spend a while researching old cable BS numbers to see if there were different ratings applied to different cables - the yellow cable may well have been rated for the higher voltage years ago, but I was told in no uncertain terms as an apprentice to NEVER use a 110v flex for a 240v application. That was admittedly though a long, long, long, long time ago...............

[lloyd]

Amps x Volts = Watts!!!
16amps x 240volts = 3840watts, but 16amps x 110volts = 1760watts. A 110volt cable would need bigger wires to carry the same wattage. The higher the voltage, the smaller the wire needs to be. Therefore it's usually more dangerous to use a 240volt cable for 110volts then it is to use a 110volt cable for 240volts... assuming they both have plenty of insulation. What 1664 is saying is the insulation needs to be thicker when the voltage is higher.

If the insulation on the 110v cable is the same as on the 240v cable, they are both safe for 240 volt.

E D I T: Hope that makes sense.

E D I T: Wire size determines amps, insulation determines volts.

[Ian Hulley]

Ermmmm ... like I said 'Arctic' 2.5mm in what-ever colour you can kin see in't dark, in fact I'm amazed no-one has come up with glow in the dark cable cover yet

[VWCamperfan]

If you use 1 amp cable you can get it glowing nicely... Excellent for the dark!!!

[lloyd]

If you use 1 amp cable you can get it glowing nicely... Excellent for the dark!!!

[Titus A Duxass]

Both leads are identical in electrical charictaristics. The 110v one isn't rated at 100v, it's the colour that defines it's use for 110v applications, that's why it's advertised for 110v use, because it's yellow!

Thank you.