That means that under that standard, cables used to carry the Standard Low Voltage here, have to have a Voltage rating of 600V/1000V.
I think I saw a notice that this has been changed to 450/750V. Look at the "thin" cable and see what the voltage rating is. From a NZ manufacturer:
"General Cable have been manufacturing Flat and Circular TPS for over 3 decades. These products are offered to AS/NZS 5000.2 (450/750) or the more robust construction of AS/NZS 5000.1 rated at 600/1000V.
TPS or tough plastic sheathed cables can be split into two categories.
Flat TPS trades some of the toughness for an easi peel sheath and is commonly used for the fixed wiring of domestic and industrial lighting, power outlets, and heating.
Circular TPS retains the tough plastic sheath and is more commonly used for commercial and industrial wiring to motors, heating, and lighting, and areas where glanding is required."The reduced size of conductors is almost certainly an illusion. This was also reported by Americans when the thickness of NM-B was reduced.
For comparison: Europe requires 300/500V for fixed cables and North America 600V. For flexible cords these figures are 300/300V and 300V respectively.
Side note: There have been suggestions from cable material manufacturers to reduce the thickness of the insulation further in Europe. The reason being that some modern halogen-free cables aren't very fire-proof. With less insulation they would add less heat to the fire. The good old PVC doesn't burn well in the first place.
[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 09-08-2005).]
