PVC Cable Overview

PVC, or Polyvinyl Chloride, is a commonly-used plastic within the coated cable industry; its relatively low cost combined with its easy application to wire products makes it possibly the most widely-used electrical insulation material in human history. Although PVC is regarded as being destructive towards the equipment used in its processing – and if incorrectly processed, can produce a range of hazardous gaseous compounds – it is a well-understood material, and these issues can be mitigated or completely removed by the correct selection of tooling materials. PVC is renowned for being easy to strip and easy to handle, and most modern PVC compounds now offer good fire resistance as well. However, if used in high-risk areas, it is still best to specify a low smoke low halogen grade.

The normal or standard grade of PVC, the type commonly used in electrical household wiring, has a maximum operating temperature of 85°C. At SK Wiring we use a heat-resistant compound as standard, which gives a higher temperature profile and will remain operational up to 105°C. SK Wiring produces a range of thermocouple cables insulated in Heat Resist PVC. Single core, Twisted cores, Flat Twin and a variety of screened PVC cables are available to both international colour codes or to your own in-house colour schemes.