Looking for wire type suggestions

[homebuilt burner]

I am a fleet mechanic not an electrician. Where I work I am the only mechanical person so I end up wearing many hats, sometimes I work on electrical things. End of disclaimer

We have pallet wrapper on site. It is old and breaks down from time to time. the problem that it is having lately is the carriage that goes up and down has about 20 different wires running to it. These wires flex during up/down travel and have been breaking inside of the insulation. It works, then not, then it works. You get the picture?? I have been able to find these breaks with a DVOM on continuity. I have replaced the wires only to have the same ones break again or a different one. I only have plain Jane 14 ga. automotive wire on site. What type of wire should I be using?? Is there something better??

They are all individual wires running together through a flexible chase similar to split loom but not split. It is not ribbon cable and is not a prewired assembly each wire is individually terminated to a j-box.

 

[bzinsky]

just google "continuous flex cable" and you will see several options

 

[theoldwizard1]

If these are low voltage (<50V) then I would recommend flexible silicon wire like they use in RC cars. It have a very high number of strands so if it much less prone to break from flexing. Kind of pricey - 14 gauge, 50' $30 on eBay.

Different gauges available, but limited colors.

 

[nadogail]

IMHO, I suggest you consider festoon (sp?) cable as used on the automated hoists on electroplating lines.

Install terminal blocks at each end and connect the flat flexible cable assembly between the blocks. The plating lines I maintained would operate for a year or more without broken conductors. The festoon was supported by trolleys and worked hard 5 or 6 days a week, for years between failures.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

How about a picture of the machine,whats the voltage/amp draw?

 

[wyliesdiesels]

^^^

 

[Stuart in MN]

I'm having brain fade today and can't find a link, but what you need is flexible wire that uses more strands of finer gauge. Using 14 awg wire as an example, the typical MTW/THHN/THWN type of wire will have 19 strands. The super flexible stuff will have probably twice that many strands.

 

[PCustoms]

Look at Igus Chainflex cable. Another brand is Lapp Kable.

The key is that it is rated for continuous flex, which is a more flexible jacket and finer wire strands. You can get virtually any # of conductors, and while initially pricey compared to what you have been using it will be a fix it once situation.

 

[nadogail]

Try a shop in your area that services cranes and hoists, they have solved this problem lots of times.

Why try to reinvent the wheel?

 

[rlitman]

That, or the "traveler cable" used in elevators. That's the best stuff for this job.

Another important part is making sure that the cable isn't kinked. Flexing up and back is one thing, but only if a large radius bend is maintained.

 

[homebuilt burner]

I was able to source flex rated wire from one of my suppliers. It has a higher strand count for the same gauge size wire and a flexible insulation. I rerouted to minimize the amount of flex needed. Thanks for the help gentlemen.