Cold weather can wreak havoc on your skin, your heating bill and the air pressure in your tires, but did you also know that it can destroy your cabling if it’s not handled properly?
THHN cable by nature can become stiff at lower temperatures. Made of thermoplastic materials like PVC and Nylon, temperatures lower than 14°F can make it susceptible to cracking.
To make sure that your THHN cable doesn’t crack during installation, there are a few simple steps to follow:
Store cable indoors when the weather turns cold; a stable temperature of 65°F is best.
If this is not possible, bring the cable inside at this temperature for 24 hours before installation
Never install THHN when the temperature outside is below 14°F
While exposed to cold temperatures, do not drop it to the floor and protect the cable from impacts from other objects as this can crack the stiffened material.
After proper installation, THHN cable can safely operate in outside temperatures below 14°F given that it remains stationary.
The new year has just begun, and we’re already seeing the impact of escalating increases in the price of copper.
In an alert released on Monday, January 4th, we detailed the recent increases: +$0.20 since December, +$0.50 since September and almost +$2.00 since this time last year. An integral material to the industry, an increase in copper prices usually leads to manufacturers’ increasing their prices to offset rising costs.
On January 5th, General Cable announced two specific increases that will go into effect January 11th:
7-10% increase in prices for their Carol® Brand, Sheer Wire™ Series and Isotec® Brand electronics
3% increase in prices for Carol® Brand Cord, Cordsets and Industrial Flex products
As always, we will continue to update you on the current copper situation and any price increases that occur as a result. For some ideas on how to lessen the impact of copper prices on your organization, please see the Copper Survival Guide from our May 2008 newsletter. If you’re in need of any General Cable products, including those involved in the price increase, you can submit a RFQ online here at any time.
Kalas Wire has announced a new product to their line of tracer wire. According to their product flyer, 12 and 14 gauge Solid HF-CCS Tracer Wire is “ideal for trenching” and “UL approved for direct burial.” There are several features that make the HF-CCS Tracer Wire an ideal choice: stable pricing due to minimal copper usage thanks to copper cladding over solid copper, durable HDPE coating and 4 readily available colors (black, yellow, blue and green) with specialized options available when requested.
For more information about Kalas Wire’s products, including their new tracer wire, please send us an e-mail at info@awcwire.com or submit an online RFQ now!
Everyone uses extension cords, from contractors in major build sites powering tools to most families across the country and the world powering their Christmas trees. With all of the seasonal decorations going up using more and more extension cords, we thought it might be worthwhile to define those pesky letters found on some cord packaging and on cable manufacturer websites.
The same rules apply to extension cords that apply to any other cable: voltage ratings, temperature ranges, environmental resistances, etc. On the packaging of some cords (and on all of the portable cords on our website as well) you’ll see a set of letters, up to 4 letters long. These letters indicate the set of ratings applicable to the cord.
Charity Week will cap off a great year of giving for Allied, and we’ve created a video detailing all the effort our employees have put in this year to give back to those less fortunate. We hope you enjoy the video, and thank you to everyone for helping us help others!
UPDATE: If you’re having trouble viewing the video, you can also watch it here on our website and here on YouTube’s website.
December is the time of year where lingering feelings of giving thanks hold on from the feast the week or so earlier (in the US at least) and the Christmas spirit grabs on as well. The holidays aren’t really about receiving…they’re about the joy of giving. It is during this time of year that Allied holds its annual Charity Week. We select a week, usually the week before Christmas, to set aside a percentage of sales to donate to a particular charity.
In past years, we chose to give to an employee stricken with cancer and The Make-A-Wish Foundation, a charity we’ve supported for a long time due to their worthy cause of granting wishes to seriously ill children. But this year, we changed it up a bit – Because YOUR orders supply the donation, we wanted YOU to choose the charity! And what do you know, they picked Make-A-Wish too! We included other well-deserving charities to pick from in our poll: American Farmland Trust, ASPCA, Autism Speaks, Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, Meals on Wheels Association of America and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. In the true spirit of the holidays, no one is left out. Each of these charities will receive a $250 donation as well.
There are plenty of confusing terms in the wire and cable universe. With all the abbreviations and complicated verbiage (aromatic cable, does it smell good?), even seasoned veterans to the industry might not know what every single term means. That’s why we’re going to start a new series on the AWC blog, called “Allied Encyclopedia,” where we’ll investigate those illusive terms and flush out a good definition.
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Flip through any wire and cable catalog and you’re sure to come across cable that’s been given the title “Harmonized.” That sounds pretty, but what does it mean?
The quick answer to this question is that harmonized cables carry the HAR mark, which is a voluntary European mark that has a scope outside the European market. In general, harmonization is the process to bringing together two or more differing/opposing things and merging them together. Therefore, a harmonized standard is a compromised standard that encompasses the needs of each separate standard in one.
There are hundreds upon thousands of blogs out there, and it’s tough to keep track of them all. Well, WordPress has just made it easier to do that.
As you can see on the right sidebar, there’s a new section titled “E-mail Subscriptions.” If you’d like to receive an e-mail whenever we update, just enter your e-mail address and click “Sign me up!”
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