How to Choose Electrical Wires and Cables?

Electric Wires and cables are the main carrier of power transmission and are indispensable for every family. The quality is directly related to the people’s safety and properties. However, in the current electric wire market, there is a mixed bag. Due to the lack of professional knowledge, it is difficult for ordinary consumers to directly distinguish the quality.We has been engaged in wire and cable manufacture for many years, and has accumulated some common experience in judging the quality of Electric Wires and cables from the appearance. Specifically, it is “five look & one comparison”.

Electric Wires and Cables

1. Look at the packaging.
Ordinary Electric Wires and cables are usually packed in roll, each roll about 100 + 0.5m». Good wires are packed neatly, the plastic film is intact, and the product label is attached. It’s better not to buy wires without outer packaging or with severely outer packaging damaged.

2. Look at the label. When buy wires，first look at the label quality.
Qualified manufactures’ label quality is good, the format is standardized, and the handwriting is clear; the second is to observe whether the label is marked with electrical product certification marks, product names, product models, rated voltages, implementation standards, date, factory name, address, especially the name and address of the manufacturer, some small factories that produce without a license are usually ambiguous in the name and address and some do not even mark it.

3.Look at the color.
Generally, the insulation low-voltage wires colors are red, yellow, blue, and black. Good wires have uniform color and good texture. And mark the manufacturer’s name, model, and rated voltage on the insulation for easy identification. If there is no continuous mark or difficult to distinguish, it is difficult to guarantee the quality of such wires.

4, Look at the insulator.
The insulation material of the wire should be made of new rubber and plastic materials. In order to reduce the cost, some manufacturers use a large amount of recycled materials which reduce the insulation performance. Consumers can pull out one end of the wire, observe the insulator cross-section under bright light. Good insulators are tightly organized, no pores, good flexibility, are not easy to peel, and have no “eccentricity” with the conductor. Insulators mixed with old materials are usually loose,with pores, brittle and easy to peel off.

5.Look at the conductor.
Conductor resistance is an important measure of wire quality. It is impossible for ordinary consumers to buy wires with instruments. They may ascertain the quality of conductors from the following two aspects. One is to look at the color of copper (aluminum) conductors: conductor with more impurities is darker,good conductors is bright; the second is to look at the thickness of the conductor: a 1. 5mm2 wire with a diameter of 1. 38mm. Consumers can roughly estimate the size of the diameter when buying wires. If it is obviously too thin, do not buy it. Some wires outlook is very thick, but the conductors are very thin. Such wires are generally difficult to meet national standards.

6. compare prices.
As the saying goes, “shop around”, consumers can go to more shops to compare and take a look. If same specifications, models and length, generally speaking, the price higher, electric Wires and cables quality will be better.