Trailing cables

Trailing cable supplies movable equipment while part of the cable travels behind, beside or with the machine rather than remaining in a fixed route. Depending on the system, it may be dragged on the ground, guided through a cable handler, carried by the equipment or taken up on a reel. The cable must tolerate repeated flexing and handling together with abrasion, impact, pulling and possible torsion. A heavy jacket is only one element of a suitable design; the conductor system, core geometry, grounding, screening and movement rating also matter.

Mining is a major trailing-cable application, with continuous miners, longwall machines, shuttle cars, drills, loaders, shovels, draglines, pumps, conveyors and relocatable power equipment. Similar duty occurs on quarries, dredges, large cranes and other mobile industrial plant. The selection question is not simply "Which cable is flexible?" It is whether the exact construction supports the machine's voltage, grounding and monitoring scheme while surviving the route, cable-handling method and mechanical load.

TEBAOFLEX's trailing cable range includes several products. Type W is a normally non-shielded 2 kV portable power family with one to five conductors by model. Type G-GC is a normally non-shielded 2 kV mining construction that typically combines three power conductors, two grounding conductors and an insulated ground-check conductor. Type SHD-GC adds individual phase shielding and is available across a family of voltage options, subject to the selected model. The range also includes, for example, NSSHOU 0.6/1 kV heavy-duty rubber cable, NSHTOU 0.6/1 kV reinforced reeling/power/control cable, NTSCGEWOU medium-voltage reeling and trailing cable, and the individually screened (N)TSCGECEWOU medium-voltage family. These are different electrical and mechanical systems, not size variations of one generic cable.

First establish how the cable moves. State whether it is free trailing, handled by a Bretby or other cable handler, reeled, routed over rollers, attached to a boom or exposed to vehicle traffic. Provide travel distance, moving cable length, speed, cycles, bend points, maximum pull, sidewall pressure, torsion and the smallest dynamic bend radius. Describe the floor or ground surface and whether the cable can be crushed, run over, scraped over rock or caught at the machine. Cable handling and route control often determine whether a product intended for heavy service can achieve acceptable life.

Electrical selection starts with rated system voltage, continuous and starting current, conductor size and voltage drop. For mining equipment, define the grounding and protection circuit explicitly. A ground-check conductor supports continuous monitoring only when it is part of the correct system design. Shielded medium-voltage constructions may use semiconductive conductor and insulation screens, metallic phase screens and protective-earth conductors for electric-field control and system grounding. Type W, G-GC and SHD-GC therefore serve different needs even when their voltage and conductor size appear similar.

Mechanical construction should be compared at the exact model and size. Across these constructions, common designs use flexible copper or tinned-copper conductors, EPR or related elastomeric insulation, fillers or supported cores, reinforcement and heavy-duty CPE- or rubber-family jackets. NSHTOU includes anti-torsion reinforcement in common constructions. NTSCGEWOU is designed around repeated winding and deflection, while NSSHOU is a robust general heavy-duty cable rather than an automatic continuous-reeling choice. Match the construction to the stated trailing or reeling mode.

Environmental requirements include wet or dry operation, oils and hydraulic fluids, sunlight, ozone, temperature, mud, coal dust, sharp rock and flame-performance rules for the site. State the required sheath compound, operating and installation temperature, water rating, flame test and repair or splice practice for the selected cable. Terminations, couplers and restraint devices must match its diameter, shield and grounding construction.

Several constructions reference ICEA, MSHA approval, UL or DIN VDE categories. Those references are construction-specific: an MSHA-regulated project needs the cable marking and approval evidence for the selected build, not only a family name. The same distinction applies to voltage variants, shielded versus non-shielded builds and destination-market documentation.

An RFQ should identify equipment, industry and duty; system voltage and frequency; full-load and starting current; conductor size; number of phases; grounding, ground-check, pilot and shielding requirements; trailing length and total length; cable handler or reel details; dynamic bend radius; maximum tension and torsion; travel speed and cycle rate; route and surface; ambient and exposure conditions; required standard or approval; coupler/termination details; destination and drum lengths. Include the existing cable designation and photographs if the request is for replacement.

For replacement projects, identify whether damage occurred at the machine end, coupler, handler, bend point or ground-contact section and include that evidence with the RFQ. The failure location can separate an incorrect cable duty from a routing or handling fault.

The products below let buyers compare low-voltage portable, ground-check, individually shielded and medium-voltage trailing constructions. Match the selected model's electrical data, movement duty, dimensions, environmental ratings and documentary scope to the actual project.