How can you truly tell the difference between high-quality and low-quality cables and wires?
May 15,2019
It may be even harder to detect whether the cable length is accurate if the manufacturer has tampered with the meter markings, since customers typically don't have equipment to measure cable length precisely. In such cases, using a weight-based measurement method can still help determine whether the cable meets the specified length. Alternatively, having the factory print meter markings during production is also a good approach—but keep in mind that cables with diameters smaller than 5 mm cannot have meter markings printed on them.
Foot-square copper is a precious metal. If the diameter of the copper wire is slightly undersized, it can significantly reduce raw material costs. In such cases, a micrometer must be used to measure the diameter of the copper wire. If a micrometer isn't available, an even simpler method is to weigh the entire coil of wire and see whether it’s noticeably lighter than a high-quality cable. Alternatively, you can refer to the nominal weight provided by the manufacturer. Some manufacturers tend to understate the nominal weight, which naturally compromises product quality.
How to identify the quality inside wires and cables:
High-quality copper cables use high-purity oxygen-free copper; the copper core has a bright, lustrous color, whereas inferior copper wires have a relatively dull surface.
Extruder
The plastic used is high-quality virgin plastic with excellent bendability; when bending the cable, no visible texture will appear. In contrast, inferior recycled plastic will develop noticeable textures after just a few bends and will eventually crack after repeated bending.
Cable equipment
To ensure the cable maintains a round and uniform shape, multi-core cables are typically filled with padding material inside the conductors. Additionally, the cable’s outer jacket is made relatively thick. If the cable you receive feels noticeably irregular or not perfectly round, it indicates that little padding has been used and the jacket has been made too thin.
Cable equipment
During production, multi-strand copper wires are bundled to enhance the tensile strength, roundness, electrical performance, and tight adhesion of the copper core to the insulation layer. However, since bundling increases the amount of copper used, many manufacturers skip this step. To distinguish whether bundling has been omitted, simply cut open the cable’s core wire and check whether the copper strands inside are neatly twisted together in a regular pattern.
Cables with copper-mesh braiding layers are widely used; the braiding layer accounts for a significant portion of the cable’s raw material cost. The coverage rate of the braiding layer directly affects the cable’s electrical performance. Moreover, a tightly woven braiding layer can enhance the cable’s mechanical strength and reduce the degradation of its electrical performance when the cable is bent. Therefore, assessing whether the braiding layer has high coverage and is uniformly and densely woven is an important criterion for distinguishing between high-quality and low-quality cables.
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We primarily manufacture ten major product series, including communication and mining RVVZ-series cables, power cables, control cables, flame-retardant and fire-resistant cables, rubber-sheathed cables, shielded cables, high- and low-voltage insulated overhead conductors, pre-branched cables, mining cables, and various types of bare wires.
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