Is "welding cable" sized differently from "wiring cable"?

[Crossy]

Had to replace the cables on our welder, 10m of "35mm²" rubber sheathed welding cable, 750 Baht, no complaints about the price from a big-box outlet.

 

The cable does the job just fine with many (a LOT) of very fine strands, molto-flexible, but there's no way it's 35mm² in my electrical book. It fits very nicely in 16mm² ferrules so that's what I used.

 

So is welding cable actually sized differently, or is this a case of TiT?

[Crossy]

 

Cable is marked "35mm²", not sent, bought in a big-box seller.

 

The strands are way too fine for me to measure with the kit I have and they are far more in number than I'm prepared to count anyway.

 

Like I said it does the job just fine (and is rather fatter than the cable that came with the welder), not complaining just interested.

 

[userabcd]

I would say yes welding cable is a specially designed/made cable of fine strands for flexibility (higher strand count more flexibility) and to deal with high currents.

 

You were looking for a 35mm2 which corresponds to AWG2 for welding cable and would have a nom outside dia. of 10.16mm, a conductor dia. of 7.62mm and conductor stranding of 624/30 - 206Amps.

Take a look at this lincolnelectric website for selecting welding cable (www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/support/welding-solutions/Pages/selecting-proper-size-welding-cables.aspx)

 

 

Edited July 4, 2021 by userabcd

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, Crossy said:

So is welding cable actually sized differently, or is this a case of TiT?

I would guess so having Chinese suppliers who sell cheap stuff.

[impulse]

35mm2 is 35mm2 cross sectional area of actual copper regardless of how it's stranded.  Stranded conductor diameter should be around 7.6-7.8mm depending on how it's stranded, with welding cable usually a lot of small strands, for flexibility.  Solid 35mm2 should be 6.68mm OD.

 

ID of a 16mm2 lug should be 5.5mm, so your 35mm2 cable shouldn't fit if both were properly sized.  (35mm2 sleeves should be 8.2mm ID)

 

I'm not sure whether you have a TIT situation, or a Belt and Road situation.  I have a $20 digital caliper I use to check my cables, lugs and sleeves.

 

On a related note, did you get copper, or did they foist CCA on you?  (copper coated aluminum)

 

Edit:  Also wouldn't surprise me if the 35mm2 was the area of the entire cable, including the insulation.  But that would be dodgy, and not in accordance to DIN, JIS or even Chinese GB standards.  But I've seen stranger claims...

 

 

Edited July 4, 2021 by impulse

[Crossy]

Thanks everyone.

 

So it seems that the answer to my original question is a resounding "No", 35mm² is (should be) 35mm² of copper. 

 

The cable is branded "FIVE STAR WELDING CABLE 35SQMM", I found the same stuff on Lazada 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/fivestar-20-35sq-800-i302936295.html

I'm assuming the "800" in the description is "800 strands"

 

I'm 99% sure it's solid copper, I can't see any silver on the cut ends with my loupe.

 

I think we simply have cheapo cable, no problem, like I said it does the job just fine.