A SURVEY re S W A CABLE

[Marty48]

Yes its that prat that bangs on about s w a but its important.
1 Need to know if you use it.
2 How many times per year (ROUGHLY)
3 Have you ever injured yourself stripping it back for the gland.
4 Have you encountered problems-not cutting strands enough so they dont break/cutting too much.
5 Having to use it in confined awkward spaces where getting your hacksaw in is a pain etc.etc
6 Any other points you want to add.

If poss can you indicate how long in this line of work,if employed how big the firm is .maybe your self employed. have you seen someone else injure themselves or cock up a gland. I confess to injuring myself on more than 1 occasion and cocking up a gland so your honesty would be appreciated.

Would you consider buying a tool that does all the cuts so you dont need a hacksaw and stanley, cost hopefully less than £80.
Please dont post if just to take the p!!!!

 

[montybaber]

1. yes
2. this is a tough one, as a maintenance spark not too much but prob 20-30 times a year
3. not yet
4. not really (sorry)
5. Sometimes in panels etc it can be tight so do use my runner occassionally
6. on a fridge plant install the control panel is quite dangerous as whoever installed the SWA feeding compressors etc had cut the inner insulation (inside sheath) far too deep and cut through to the copper, we are planning to replace it all soon.

I have been a maintenance electrician for 12-13yrs, work for a small section in a food factory.

It would have to be considerably cheaper than £80 for me to replace my hacksaw and toucan

Hope that helps

 

[sparkyork]

hi mate,


i use it maybe 10 times a year (depending on what work comes in), never injured me self doing the gland, sometimes dont cut through armoring enough but just tidy it up with the side cutters. not really had much of a problem with installing it in tight spaces as ive always left enough to terminate with then dressed the cable in.

been sparkying about 10 years, self employed 4 months, cocked the odd gland up in the past by cutting to short etc, but quickly learn by the mistake and will prob never do it again! if i landed a job that had lots of swa's to do then id maybe consider but would check what else is available, and how much other devices are.

for the price of around 80 or below it does limit i reckon to who would want one, its like having a conduit bender that only gets used every now and then work permitting

rich

 

[spark-doctor]

1) Yes i use it all the time
2) About once a week at least (i mainly do industrial/commercial).
3) Never.
4) No
5) I tend to fit the gland to the SWA first and then install the completed gland into the enclosure and fit the nut.

I think that the people that will buy a tool that you are thinking about are mainly in the industrial/commercial side as a house basher would hardly ever use it.

It must have some sort of cutting blade, how long will it last? how heavy is it? What sises of SWA will it cut.

I might consider buying one if i had some more information although £80.00 does sound a bit steep for a normal every day installer.

I do think that the market is going to be limited as most people will think "why should i spend £80.00 on a tool that a hacksaw and Stanley can do just as well" but in saying that there will be a market. I recently done a job in a caravan park installing a new supply network for 150 caravans, there were over 300 SWA joints and i would of considered buying one for that job alone.

I have cocked glands up in the past but not recently. When you are a sole trader you learn quick
Hope this has been some help and good luck.

 

[Spudmiester]

All of the above.

Used it every week for about 20 years. Installed miles of the stuff and done loads of ends of all sizes.

£80 too much for me as well !

 

[tony.towa]

Quote
"1 Need to know if you use it.
2 How many times per year (ROUGHLY)
3 Have you ever injured yourself stripping it back for the gland.
4 Have you encountered problems-not cutting strands enough so they dont break/cutting too much.
5 Having to use it in confined awkward spaces where getting your hacksaw in is a pain etc.etc
6 Any other points you want to add."

1. Use SWA extensively.
2. Approximately 2 - 3 times a week
3. No injuries whilst stripping cable back
4. Have done both at some time or other.
5 If cable entry point in confined space tend to dress end before coupling. like with all cabling you get sods to fit at times and you tend to adapt to find the easiest method.
6. Although £80-00 sounds pricey if it were suitable for use on large and small diameter cables could be interesting.

Hope its of help

 

[Marty48]

Thanks gents
this tool will work on cables upto 50mm, but can make bigger tool to do bigger cables.about 8" tall and weighs approx 1kg.
I remember standing on a scaff tower 20m up in the air making off swa that was coming through a suspended ceiling tile,not easy to stop the cable jumping around as i ripped into it with me hacky.
interested to know how long it takes you to strip back and apply a gland to swa?????

 

[spark-doctor]

For a 2.5mm three core about 5 minutes from start to finish and that includes fitting in the enclosure. It will take longer if you have a long length of cable after the gland. 16mm 4 core can take a lot longer for obvious reasons.

 

[montybaber]

4mins 59 secs

 

[Spudmiester]

95mm 4c and bigger take a good while. Bigger cable , longer it takes !

 

[tony.towa]

Small SWA just takes a few minutes to strip, it takes longer to mark and drill the gland plate and drill out for the banjo. As already said the larger the cable generally the longer it takes but the stripping time is in many ways the easiest part. Seperating the cores, lugging and attaching takes time as does ensuring the gland is properly seated when you start tightening it.