JJWalecka
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
Would a shielded 4 wire work in place of 22/2 + 18/2 Automation/Control Cable?
22/2 + 18/2 Automation/Control Cable question
- Thread starter JJWalecka
- Start date
MD Automation
Senior Member
- Location
- Maryland
- Occupation
- Engineer
Could be problematic.
Assuming there is some communication aspect to this cable, do you know what kind of fieldbus the cabling is using?
Examples would be Profibus, Modbus, CANOpen, DeviceNet, etc.
If it's anything like the CAN cabling I am used to, the #18 would be for control voltage (like 24VDC) and the #22 would be for the communication (like CAN Hi and CAN Low). But there is very specific and unique insulation for the comm wires. Typically, even though the comm wiring is smaller in copper gauge, it ends up being larger in overall diameter because of the insulation. And the comm wires would be twisted and shielded separately from the DC power wires.
Here is a quick pic of some Turck CAN cabling. The Red wire is for 16 ga DC Power and the Blue wire is a much smaller 22 ga but with so much more insulation it ends up bigger than the #16.
On a long run, especially in a noisy (EMI) environment, the wrong insulation (and incorrect twist) might cause problems.
Assuming there is some communication aspect to this cable, do you know what kind of fieldbus the cabling is using?
Examples would be Profibus, Modbus, CANOpen, DeviceNet, etc.
If it's anything like the CAN cabling I am used to, the #18 would be for control voltage (like 24VDC) and the #22 would be for the communication (like CAN Hi and CAN Low). But there is very specific and unique insulation for the comm wires. Typically, even though the comm wiring is smaller in copper gauge, it ends up being larger in overall diameter because of the insulation. And the comm wires would be twisted and shielded separately from the DC power wires.
Here is a quick pic of some Turck CAN cabling. The Red wire is for 16 ga DC Power and the Blue wire is a much smaller 22 ga but with so much more insulation it ends up bigger than the #16.
On a long run, especially in a noisy (EMI) environment, the wrong insulation (and incorrect twist) might cause problems.