Crimping compacted conductors

[Lucien Nunes]

Agreed - don't use undersize lugs. The tube is designed to deform by a certain amount during crimping and an excess cross-section of copper will prevent this, leading to a weak crimp. In theory the crimping compacts the conductor completely no matter how it starts out, so a lug of the correct CSA may work on a compacted conductor so long it remains properly centralised, but that is uncertain. Hence, the cable-specific crimps are best.

 

[ElectroChem]

The way I've been taught is that if you have a compacted/shaped conductor, use the right lug and crimp. The contact should be OK as Lucien said. If need be, then swap one die for the next size down and re-crimp. For triangular Al cables, DON'T just jam them in whatever round lug fits, they need a matching lug that is then indent crimped.

 

[Bobster]

The way I've been taught is that if you have a compacted/shaped conductor, use the right lug and crimp. The contact should be OK as Lucien said. If need be, then swap one die for the next size down and re-crimp. For triangular Al cables, DON'T just jam them in whatever round lug fits, they need a matching lug that is then indent crimped.

I wouldn't ever consider doing this, you risk deforming the lug and ending up with a poor joint.

 

[ElectroChem]

I wouldn't ever consider doing this, you risk deforming the lug and ending up with a poor joint.

My bad, I got confused with the technique for using an over-sized lug on large flexible cable.

 

[workbelt12]

I was hoping for educated replies. If you Google 'Compacted Conductors' before making uninformed
replies you could possibly learn about issue. Then post meaningful & helpful replies

 

[workbelt12]

Thanks for all replies

 

[Darkwood]

I was hoping for educated replies. If you Google 'Compacted Conductors' before making uninformed
replies you could possibly learn about issue. Then post meaningful & helpful replies

This is an Electricians Forum and you posted a question more suited to Electrical Engineering, the use of these cables is outside the scope of most members on here and those that may have come across them would use the term Shaped conductors, now looking into it it seems this is more common for the big heavy cabling associated with large LV supplies or HV where saving on materials can mean many thousands if using a lot of it.
You have chosen a question that overlaps two bounderies of electrical work thus the original confusion, if I post any number of questions both an Electricians Forum and an Engineering Forum I would in some cases expect 2 contradicting answers due to the nature of differing terminologies and practices.

Yes your question was a good one and you provided a link which I asked for, but I was writing my post as your posted a link before I requested it...just forum timing and order of posts.

Please don't take the confusion and replies as uninformed babble it was just one of those questions that caught us off guard, even me who is industrial, I still know these cables as shaped conductors and was taught that way, if other sectors call them different then fair do.