SUMMER TRAINING AT

ECKO Cables Private Limited

C-113, Phase VII, Industrial Area
MOHALI

Parteek kansal
En. No. 070244
B.Tech Electrical Engineering
IIT Roorkee
ECKO CABLES
Ecko cables was first produced in 1958 and found an
instant acceptability in the market.

In 1969, Evershine - KDK Brand was introduced for

eastern India market as a running mate of ECKO.

Presently, ECKO & EVERSHINE - KDK cables are

being produced at three different manufacturing
facilities belonging to ECKO GROUP.
Products
● Building (House Wiring)&Industrial Wiring Cables

● Flame Retardant Low Smoke (FRLS) Cables

● Railway Signaling Cables

● Control Cables

● Power Cables
COMPONENTS
Conductor
Conductor is a current carrying element made up of
Aluminum or Copper with a specific cross section for
the assigned rating.
Electric Insulation
● Insulation is provided over the conductors to electrically
isolate them from one another.
● An insulated conductor is termed as Core. In twin,
three & multi-core cables, the cores are laid up together
with a suitable lay; the outer most layer has right-hand lay
and the successive layers are laid with opposite lay
direction.
Inner sheath (bedding)
● Cables with stranded cores are provided with Inner Sheath
applied either by extrusion or by wrapping.
● It is ensured that the shape is as circular as possible. Inner
Sheath is so applied that it fits closely on the laid up cores & it
should be possible to remove it without damage to the insulation.
Armour
● A wire, strip or a tape applied helically over the cable, to
protect the cable from penetration by sharp objects,
crushing forces, and damage from rodents or boring insects,
is termed as Armour.
● Armour is applied over the insulation in case of single
core cables & over inner sheath in case of twin, three &
multi core cables.
Outer Sheath
● Outer sheath /Jacket is usually an extruded plastic cover
over the laid-up or armoured core. PVC is a common
sheathing material.
● The colour of outer sheath is normally black.
Conductor Manufacturing
● Material Selection
For efficient distribution of electric power, the conductors must be
produced from a high conductivity material. Copper and aluminum are
received as large coils of round rod.
● Wire Drawing
In wire drawing, the copper or aluminum rod is drawn through a series
of successively smaller dies to reduce the rod to a wire of the desired
diameter. The quality of the wire surface depends on sufficient drawing and
reduction to eliminate surface defects.
Annealing
● Drawing copper or aluminum wires increases the temper of the metal.
Therefore, the wire is exposed to elevated temperatures well in excess of
emergency operating temperatures of the cable.
● This is accomplished in a large oven.

Stranding
● Stranded conductors use a number of smaller wires the sum of which
total the desired conductor cross sectional area. The machines used in
stranding apply successive layers of strands over a central core made up of
one or a number of strands.
Nominal Cross- Solid/Stranded Flexibility Class
section(mm2)

Copper Al

--- 1.5 Solid Class1

1.5-6 2.5-10 Solid/Stranded Class1 for

solid/Class2 for
stranded
10 + 16+ Stranded Class 2
Screening in Cable(Phase voltage> 1 kv)
●Above certain voltages, as a means of containing the electrical field within the
insulation, semiconducting screens are applied over the conductor & insulation.
Screens are provided to achieve symmetrical dielectric fields within the cable
structure & carry current during short circuit. By this it is possible to eliminate any
electrical discharges arising from air gaps adjacent to the insulation.
●During the early 1960s semiconducting tapes were applied at the conductor but
these have since been superseded by an extruded layer. This has the advantage of
providing a smoother finish as it fills the interstices between the wires.
● The semiconducting layer is compatible with, and bonds to, the insulation and a
nominal thickness of 0.7 mm is typical.
Insulation
The conductor shall be provided insulation through a process called extrusion.
Extrusion
Compound, in the form of pellets or strips, is fed into the back of a screw that rotates in
a barrel. The material advances down the screw and is melted during the advance.
In general, the barrel is divided into zones that are individually temperature controlled.
There are some extrusions where the barrel is heated at the start of the
extrusion, but as the extrusion continues, the mechanical shear and
friction results in sufficient heat generation that barrel heating is no
longer required. In fact, depending on compound and extrusion
parameters, barrel cooling may be required. Properly executed, the
compound is all melted and forced through a die-head arrangement
that deposits the melt on the core being passed through the head. This
core may be a bare wire or cable in some stage of completion.
Thickness of insulation
The average thickness of insulation shall be not less than the nominal value (Ti) specified in following tables:
For PVC:
Thickness of insulation
Nominal Area of conductor Nominal thickness of Nominal thickness of
insulation(Ti) insulation

1.5 1.1 0.8

2.5 1.2 0.9
4 1.3 1.0
6 1.3 1.0
10 1.3 1.0
16 1.3 1.0
25 1.5 1.2
35 1.5 1.2
50 1.7 1.4
70 1.7 1.4
95 1.9 1.6
120 1.9 1.6
150 2.1 1.8
185 2.3 2.0
240 2.5 2.2
300 2.7 2.4
400 3.0 2.6
500 3.4 3.0
630 3.9 3.4
800 3.9 3.4
1000 3.9 3.4
For XLPE
Nominal Area of conductor Nominal thickness of insulation(Ti) Nominal thickness of insulation

1.5 1.0 0.7

2.5 1.0 0.7
4 1.0 0.7
6 1.0 0.7
10 1.0 0.7
16 1.0 0.7
25 1.2 0.9
35 1.2 0.9
50 1.3 1.0
70 1.4 1.1
95 1.4 1.1
120 1.5 1.2
150 1.7 1.4
185 1.9 1.6
240 2.0 1.7
300 2.1 1.8
400 2.4 2.0
500 2.6 2.2
630 2.8 2.4
800 3.1 2.6
1000 3.3 2.8
Comparison of XLPE cables with PVC cables

● The important difference is the extra toughness of insulation and, in

particular, the ability to withstand much high temperature without
deformation due to mechanical pressure. The better physical properties of
XLPE enable the insulation thickness to be reduced and hence overall size of the
cable.
● The continuous temperature rating is increased from 70°C to 90°C and the
temperature for short circuit ratings for the cable from 160°C to 250°C.
Cooling
Single layers that are relatively thin may be cooled in a water trough following extrusion. In
the case of polyethylene, care must be taken to avoid too rapid a quench. This rapid cooling
can result in locked-in mechanical stresses that will result in shrink-back of the material on
the wire.
Heavier thermoplastic layers, such as encountered on primary cables, require gradient
cooling to avoid these stresses in the polyethylene.
Cooling zones are used to control the cooling process for water-cooled cables.
CORE IDENTIFICATION
Cores shall be identified by different coloring of PVC insulation by adopting the following
Scheme:
1. a) 1 Core: red, black, yellow, blue or natural (non-pigmented);
b) 2 Cores: red and black;
c) 3 Cores: red, yellow and blue;
d) 4 Cores: red, yellow, blue and black;
e) 5 Cores: red, yellow, blue, black and grey; and
f) 6 Cores and above: Two adjacent cores (Counting and direction core) in each layer, blue
and yellow, remaining cores Grey, or in accordance with the scheme mentioned in (2)
2. For cables having more than 5 cores, as an alternate to the provisions of (1),
the core identification may be done by numbers. In that case, the insulation of cores
shall be of the same color and numbered sequentially, starting with number 1 for the
inner layer. All the numbers shall be of the same color which shall contrast with the color
of the insulation.
LAYING UP OF CORES
In twin, three- and multi-core cables, the cores shall be laid up together with a suitable
lay; the outermost layer shall have right-hand lay and the successive layers shall be laid
with opposite lay; where necessary, the interstices shall be filled with non-hygroscopic
material.
The recommended lay-up for cores up to 100 is given in the table on the next slide.
NO. OF LAY-UP NO. OF LAY-UP NO. OF LAY-UP
CORES CORES CORES

(1) (2) (1) (2) (1) (2)

2 2 36 0-6-12-18 70 2-8-14-20-26
3 3 37 1-6-12-18 71 2-8-14-20-27
4 4 38 1-6-12-19 72 2-8-14-21-27
5 5 39 1-6-13-19 73 3-9-15-20-26
6 6 40 1-7-13-19 74 3-9-15-21-26
7 1-6 41 1-7-13-20 75 3-9-15-21-27

8 1-7 42 2-8-13-19 76 3-9-15-21-28

9 1-8 43 2-8-14-19 77 3-9-15-22-28

10 2-8 44 2-8-14-20 78 4-10-15-21-28

11 3-8 45 2-8-14-21 79 4-10-16-22-27

12 3-9 46 3-9-14-20 80 4-10-16-22-28

13 3-10 47 3-9-15-20 81 4-10-16-22-29

14 4-10 48 3-9-15-21 82 4-10-16-23-29

15 5-10 49 3-9-15-22 83 4-10-17-23- 29

16 5-11 50 3-9-16-22 84 5-11-17-23-28

17 5-12 51 4-10-16-21 85 5-11-17-23-29

18 0-6-12 52 4-10-16-22 86 5-11-17-23-30

19 1-6-12 53 4-10-16-23 87 5-11-17-24-30

20 1-7-12 54 4-10-17-23 88 5-11-18-24-30

21 1-7-13 55 4-11-17-23 89 0-6-11-18-24-30

22 2-7-13 56 5-11-17-23 90 0-6-12-18-24-30

23 2-8-13 57 5-11-17-24 91 1-6-12-18-24-30

24 2-8-14 58 5-11-18-24 92 1-6-12-18-24-31

25 2-8-15 59 5-12-18-24 93 1-6-12-18-25-31

26 3-9-14 60 0-6-12-18-24 94 1-6-12-19-25-31

27 3-9-15 61 1-6-12-18-24 95 1-6-13-19-25-31

28 3-9-16 62 1-6-12-18-25 96 1-7-13-19-25-31

29 4-10-15 63 1-7-12-18-25 97 1-7-13-19-26-31

30 4-10-16 64 1-7-13-18-25 98 2-8-13-19-25-31

31 4-10-17 65 1-7-13-19-25 99 2-8-14-19-25-31

32 5-11-16 66 1-7-13-19-26 100 2-8-14-20-25-31

33 5-11-17 67 2-8-13-19-25

34 5-11-18 68 2-8-14-19-25

35 5-12-18 69 2-8-14-20-25
INNER SHEATH (COMMON COVERING)
The laid-up cores shall be provided with inner sheath applied either by extrusion
or by wrapping.

Calculated diameter over Calculated diameter over Thickness of inner

stranded cores(over) stranded cores (up to and sheaths(min)
including)

---- 25 0.3

25 35 0.4

35 45 0.5

45 55 0.6

55 ---- 0.7
ARMOURING
● Armouring shall be applied over insulation or non-metallic part of insulation in
case of single core cables and over the inner sheath in case of multi core cables.
● The armour wires/strips shall be applied as closely as practicable.
● The direction of lay of the armour shall be left hand. For double wires/strips
armoured cables, this requirement shall apply to the inner layer of wires/strips.
The outer layer shall, except in special cases, be applied in the reverse direction
to the inner layer, and there shall be a separator of suitable non- hygroscopic
material, such as plastic tape, rubber tape between the inner and outer layers of
armour wires strips.
Type of Armour
1. Where the calculated diameter below armouring does not exceed 13 mm, the
armour shall consist of galvanized round steel wires. The armour of cables having
calculated diameter below armouring greater than 13 mm shall consist of either
galvanized round steel wires or galvanized steel strips.
2. In the case single-core cables, the armouring shall be of non-magnetic
material.
3. Dimensions — The dimensions of galvanized steel wires/strips shall be as
specified in following table:
 Nominal
Calculated diameter Nominal diameter of
of cable under thickness of round armour
armour steel strip wire

A)For all 0.8 4

diameters in
excess of 13

B)---- 13 ---- 1.40

13 25 0.8 1.6

25 40 0.8 2.0

40 55 1.4 2.5

55 70 1.4 3.15

70 ----- 1.4 4.0

OUTER SHEATH
The outer sheath shall be applied by extrusion. It shall be applied:
a) Over the non-magnetic metallic tape covering the insulation or over the nonmagnetic
metallic part of insulation screening in case of unarmoured single core cables, and
b) Over the armouring in case of armoured cables.
The colour of outer sheath shall be black, unless any other colour is agreed to between
the purchaser and the supplier.
Thickness of Outer Sheath
Unarmoured Cables —The thickness of outer sheath of unarmoured cables determined
by taking the average of a number of measurements shall be not less than the nominal
value specified in column 3 of following table and the smallest of the measured values
shall be not less the minimum value specified in column 4 of given table.
 Calculated diameter under the Thickness of outer sheath for Minimum thickness of outer
outer sheath unarmoured cable sheath under armoured cables

Over Up to and Nominal Minimum

including

---- 15 1.8 1.24 1.24

15 25 2.0 1.40 1.40
25 35 2.2 1.56 1.56
35 40 2.4 1.72 1.72
40 45 2.6 1.88 1.88
45 50 2.8 2.04 2.04
50 55 3.0 2.20 2.20
55 60 3.2 2.36 2.36
60 65 3.4 2.52 2.52
65 70 3.6 2.68 2.68
70 75 3.8 2.84 2.84
75 ---- 4.0 3.00 3.00

Armoured Cables — The thickness of outer sheath shall be not less than the minimum value specified in column 5 of above table.
 Tests
Classification of tests
Routine Tests
Tests made by the manufacturer on all finished cable lengths to demonstrate
the integrity of the cable.
a) Conductor resistance test
b) High voltage test
Type Test
Tests required to be made before supply on a general commercial basis on
a type of cable in order to demonstrate satisfactory performance
characteristics to meet the intended application.
NOTE — These tests are of such a nature that after they have been made, they
need not be repeated unless changes are made in the cable materials of
design which might change the performance characteristics.
a) Tests on conductor
i) Annealing test (for copper)
ii) Tensile test (for aluminum)
iii) Wrapping test (for aluminum)
iv) Resistance test
b) Tests for round steel wire/formed steel wire (strip) armour
1) Dimensions
2) Physical tests on round/formed wire
i) Tensile strength
ii) Elongation at break
iii) Torsion test for round wires
iv) Winding test for formed
v)Resistivity
c) Test for thickness of insulation and sheath
d) Physical tests for insulation
i) Tensile strength and elongation at break
ii) Ageing in air oven
iii) Hot set test
iv) Shrinkage test
v) Water absorption (gravimetric)
e) Physical tests for outer sheath
i) Tensile strength and elongation at break
ii) Ageing in air oven
iii) Loss of mass in air
iv) Shrinkage test
v) Hot deformation
vi) Heat shock test
vii) Thermal stability
f) Insulation resistance (volume resistivity test)
g) High voltage test
h) Flammability test
Acceptance Tests
Tests carried out on samples taken from a lot for the purpose of acceptance of the lot.
a) Annealing test (for copper),
b) Tensile test (for aluminum),
c) Wrapping test (for aluminum),
d) Conductor resistance test,
e) Test for thickness of insulation and sheath,
f) Hot set test for insulation,
g) Tensile strength and elongation at break test for insulation and sheath,
h) High voltage test, and
j) Insulation resistance (volume resistivity) test.
Optional Tests
Special tests to be carried out, when required, by agreement between the
purchaser and the supplier.
a) Cold bend test for outer sheath
b) Cold impact test for outer sheath
.