ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Modern cable

Rodalco, I've a hunch that Bunnings' cable comes from Fiji via Australia.

How long before the electrician is forced to wire a whole house in cheap cable supplied by the builder or owner who bought it at Bunnings ? Is this already happening ?

In NZ at the moment there is a big drive for businesses to supply compliant products.
But what are the implications of Joe Cowboy installing cheap cable ?

Shouldn't cable be stamped with the standard it complies to rather than just printed on a drum label ? Once its rolled out in a roof space who can tell if its compliant or not ? A voltage stamp alone is not really holding the cable manufacturer responsible.

Why so expensive there? At the current exchange of £1 = NZ $2.61, those prices are all well over double what I pay.

But still less than what you pay in Sweden...

Trumpy said:

Chicago supposedly insists on everything having to go in pipe. Usually those are just individual wires being fished into the pipe.

Some commercial buildings are wired this way, to make it easier to rewire a circuit without ripping holes in the wall, I suppose. I know that's how my office was done.

The armored clad cable I talk about uses a spiral, flexible steel jacket that protects the cable. It's meant for indoor use and essentially done like this:

Individually insulated conductors bundled up with an aluminium "bonding strip" (that is NOT supposed to be used as a ground).

This is wrapped up in strong brown paper. In turn, the spiral metal sheath is wrapped around this entire bundle. Tough stuff. You won't have rodents chewing their way into this.

Shock us then! How much?

I don't buy this type of cable, but 3G1.5 in bulk quantity after discounts around SEK 400 or NZ$80 per 100 m. 3G2.5 is much rarer and cost twice as much. Cables commonly used for visible installs is also about twice as expensive.

The supply houses price lists are just bollocks, because they give you a 75% discount as soon as you say "Hi!". (Yes, 75% is the actual figure, not a figure of speach)

Here are some consumer prices, no discounts available, VAT included. Still compares well with supply houses.

Consumer prices

(The OBS!!! in the first description is a caution that quality is substandard. At least they are honest...)

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 01-27-2006).]