Motor Cables in IGUS Energy track.....

milmat1 · Jun 10, 2015

What type of motor cables do you run inside Energy track that moves back and forth.
I have always used Igus superflex cables but they are very expensive. Are there any other options for running wires that have to go through these movable tracks ?

I'm referring to the energy track such as used on robots and moving machinery etc. That rolls back and forth. "Caterpillar Track" "Energy Track" etc

ndzied1 · Jun 10, 2015

We use Olflex Cable.

http://www.lappusa.com/sect6contents.htm

jraef · Jun 10, 2015

If the motors are coming off of VFDs or servo drives, you must use shielded flexible cables (which is what he linked you to). If not, regular SO cord is fine.

Racer5039 · Jun 10, 2015

I have had great luck with TPC. We where able to cut down time do to broken wires in the cable chain.
http://www.tpcwire.com/products/wir...trex-onics-extreme-cold-temperature-vfd-cable

califflash · Jun 10, 2015

If the motor is run from a vfd, depending on the total length of the fun you may be able to get by without vfd cable, but you need to go through the manufacturer data. You obviously want a constant flex rating, but I would stay away from SO cable. I would be very surprised if getting a cheaper cable will save you money in the long run, downtime is very expensive. In an application like this I don't think cost really matters all that much.

I am a huge fan of Lutze cable. It's worth every penny.

OkiePC · Jun 10, 2015

+1 for Olflex, +1 for TPC Trexonics and Supertrex

kolyur · Jun 11, 2015

+1 for Olflex.

We've also been using high flex cable from Turck. They have varieties rated for 2 and 20 million flex cycles. I've found it to be generally less expensive than Olflex.

geniusintraining · Jun 11, 2015

milmat1 said:
I have always used Igus superflex cables but they are very expensive.

1st... I am all for saving money, but when it comes to replacing or finding a broken wire in a Igus tray I only use the best that I can find, if superflex was working for your application I would keep using them

My old app was on a pick and place, replacing them would take a 1-2 days (3 shifts) so the loss downtime was not worth the saving the cost of the cheaper cables or the cross wires and troubleshooting when you were terminating then new wires, we had about 150-200 terminations.

If its not a critical piece of equipment then I think its a good idea to give others a try

Just my thoughts...

TConnolly · Jun 11, 2015

Here are somethings to ask yourself: "If I needed to spend money on a cable carrier, why would I then cheap out on the cable? If a cable carrier is needed in the first place, then why is a cheap cable then OK?"

After decades in the industry I have seen over and over again that the cost of wire and cabling (and cable identification) is often omitted from a project. It gets relegated to secondary status to all the instrumentation and controllers as a negligible cost, line item lumped into the budget under miscellaneous, and a completely wild guess is made. When I was younger I did it that way too. Finally, installation and start up time comes, the project is running late, it is over budget, and the controls guys are working ridiculously stupid long hours trying to complete the project because now that all the capital is sitting there it is very visible that it is late. And even though the controls integrator was not allowed onsite until way after the deadline, now the missed deadline is on him. And then he needs an expensive cable, and the miscellaneous budget is long gone. DAMHIKT. Do yourselves a favor, and put line items in the project budget for the right cables and wiring.

milmat1 · Jun 11, 2015

Thanks everyone for the great replies. And yeah the Igus super flex has always performed quite well. And like said above, nothing is more costly than downtime...

milmat1 · Jun 11, 2015

TConnolly said:
Here are somethings to ask yourself: "If I needed to spend money on a cable carrier, why would I then cheap out on the cable? If a cable carrier is needed in the first place, then why is a cheap cable then OK?"

After decades in the industry I have seen over and over again that the cost of wire and cabling (and cable identification) is often omitted from a project. It gets relegated to secondary status to all the instrumentation and controllers as a negligible cost, line item lumped into the budget under miscellaneous, and a completely wild guess is made. When I was younger I did it that way too. Finally, installation and start up time comes, the project is running late, it is over budget, and the controls guys are working ridiculously stupid long hours trying to complete the project because now that all the capital is sitting there it is very visible that it is late. And even though the controls integrator was not allowed onsite until way after the deadline, now the missed deadline is on him. And then he needs an expensive cable, and the miscellaneous budget is long gone. DAMHIKT. Do yourselves a favor, and put line items in the project budget for the right cables and wiring.

So Spot ON with this whole statement. We have a project nearly complete and I needed 250' of VFD cable to run thru two different tracks, cost was nearly $1400.00
I had a lot of explaining to do on that order....

But you are exactly correct about the wire and cable getting neglected until last minute. But with todays non linear loads and harmonic / noise mitigation, Cabling has gotten to be a Component in itself..

Motor Cables in IGUS Energy track.....

milmat1

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ndzied1

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kolyur

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TConnolly

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milmat1

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