What is the Difference Between Power Cables and Control Cables?

Different Appearance Between Power Cables and Control Cables

The color of the insulated core of the control cable is generally black and white, and the low voltage of the power cable is generally color-separated. The standard for control cables is 9330, and the standard for power cables is GB12706. And the power cable requires the wire sheath to have sufficient compressive strength, tensile strength, temperature resistance and corrosion resistance. Control cable requirements are relatively low. When the industrial electrical power cables and control cables of the same specification are produced, the insulation and sheath thickness of the power cables are thicker than those of the control cables.

Different Function Between Power Cables and Control Cables

The control cables directly transmit electrical energy from the distribution point of the power system to the power supply connection lines of various electrical equipment and appliances, while power cables are mainly used in power generation, distribution, transmission, transformation. In the transmission of strong electric energy in the power supply line, the current passing through is large, and the power cable is used in the main line of the power system to transmit and distribute large-scale electric energy.

Different Section Between Power Cables and Control Cables

The power cable is a primary load wire, the current carrying capacity increases with the increase of the power. And the application section of the wire must also increase with the current. So the specifications of the power cable are generally larger, as large as 500 square meters (the range that conventional manufacturers can produce). There are relatively few manufacturers who can do it.

And the control cable is a secondary command wire, which controls the current-carrying operation of devices, the load current is extremely small. And the wire cross-section is extremely small. So the cross-section of the control cable is generally small, and the maximum is generally not more than 10 square meters.

Different Feature Between Power Cables and Control Cables

The difference between the rated voltage of the power cable and the control cable: the rated voltage of the power cable is generally 0.6/1kV and above, and the control cable is mainly 450/750V.

The number of cores of the power cable is less, there are single-core, two-core, 3-core, 4-core (three-phase four-wire system), 5-core (three-phase five-wire system), according to the requirements of the power grid, the maximum is generally 5 cores. The control cable is used to transmit control signals, and the number of cores is large, ranging from 2 cores to 61 cores, or even more. The control cable also adopts various core structures, shielding and other measures to obtain satisfactory electromagnetic compatibility effects.