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Hi Folks

Just bought some of this Bronze Twisted Fabric Flex - Braided Cloth Cable Lighting Wire - https://www.industville.co.uk/products/light-brown-twisted-fabric-flex-braided-cloth-cable-lighting-wire?variant=1184660808&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI14zguOzl3wIVRbDtCh2C9QQCEAkYASABEgJA0fD_BwE for a job. The description says double insulated but the BS EN number quoted is for single. I've received it and there is one layer of plastic (presumably PVC) insulation and the woven sheath. Does the sheath provide the double insulation as the seller seems to imply? I'm a little bit dubious.
 
Its double insulated
Nah, its insulated and sheathed.

In fact, none of the cables used in normal domestic cabling are double insulated. That includes twin&earth and (shock horror) meter tails. They are insulated and sheathed.
 
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Hi Folks

Just bought some of this Bronze Twisted Fabric Flex - Braided Cloth Cable Lighting Wire - https://www.industville.co.uk/products/light-brown-twisted-fabric-flex-braided-cloth-cable-lighting-wire?variant=1184660808&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI14zguOzl3wIVRbDtCh2C9QQCEAkYASABEgJA0fD_BwE for a job. The description says double insulated but the BS EN number quoted is for single. I've received it and there is one layer of plastic (presumably PVC) insulation and the woven sheath. Does the sheath provide the double insulation as the seller seems to imply? I'm a little bit dubious.
No Most cable flex is single insulated the extra covering is a sheath nothing else, except of course large cables used underground where you ill have several layers of insulation and armoring, in the domestic field no cable is double insulated, especially the one you have been sold
 
To be honest I just read the webpages info without reading the original post.

Lesson learnt there! My first disagree.

On a serious note it does prove the point that doing your homework pays off.
 
If there is no earth cable then surely it is "double insulated" maybe not as the outer sheaf is a material and not a plastic. A two core flex I believe is double insulated.
The Sheath is there as a bit of mechanical protection, but it's not double insulated, regardless if there is an earth core or not.
 
So guys tell me then or list up double insulated cables, also if companies advertise T+E as double insulated then are they breaking the trades description act?
 
So guys tell me then or list up double insulated cables, also if companies advertise T+E as double insulated then are they breaking the trades description act?
Which companies list their cable as double insulated?
 
So guys tell me then or list up double insulated cables, also if companies advertise T+E as double insulated then are they breaking the trades description act?

I was looking at a cable spec t'other day, the PVC insulation, around the cores, had one BS EN number, and the PVC sheath had another.
So there must be a difference?! :confused:
Can't remember which sodding cable it was, so can't put up a link.
 
Thanks all for the interesting and helpful replies. So I guess the question I should be asking is 'is the sheath capable of providing fault protection?', or, to put that another way, 'if the insulation failed, would the sheath provide protection against shock/electrocution?'.
 
What exactly are you using the flex for??

For a chandelier, between the ceiling rose part and the lampholder part, running alongside the chain that supports the weight. Chain is being lengthened and existing flex is too short.
 
The technical info states two layers of pvc so the braid may well be just aesthetic.
This is what I assumed before I bought it. But looking at it, I can't distinguish two layers of PVC. It looks like just one. I may try stripping it with my CK auto stripper as that usually strips double insulated (insulated and sheathed?) singles in two separate layers.
 

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