igus launches UL-listed motor cable for cable tray and e-chain

By OEM Update Editorial February 6, 2024 6:46 pm IST

With the new chainflex cable CF33.UL, igus has developed the world’s first motor cable for energy chains and cable trays with UL approval and a four-year functional guarantee in the energy chain. This allows the cable to be laid seamlessly from the energy chain to the cable tray without a plug connection—the CF33.UL also adds a shielded PVC motor cable to the chainflex range.

Cables are not exactly the most exciting products. However, you would not be able to read this text without a cable. After all, they are essential for supplying us with electricity and data daily. A failing cable leads to considerable damage, especially in production. Cables have to withstand various loads, such as heat, cold, high dynamics, UV radiation, or even flames. Test certificates from Underwriters Laboratories (UL for short) are also required for uncomplicated export of machines and systems to the USA and Canada. igus has now developed the CF33.UL motor cable, especially for cables in energy chains and cable trays. Their UL listing makes them special (“Flexible Motor Supply Cable according to UL 2277”). Usually, UL-listed cables are only intended for fixed installation or occasional movement. UL approval for continuously moving energy chain cables does not exist. “With the new motor cable, we are offering our customers a cable type suitable for chains and cable trays. A plug connection is no longer necessary,” explains Rainer Rössel, Vice President and Head of the Chainflex Cables Business Unit at igus. Users also avoid duplicated stock of cables for the chain and fixed installation.

igus offers guarantee

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“We also rely on the service life guarantee for our new motor cable. We provide our customers with tested and certified safety,” said Rössel. To this end, igus puts its cables through rigorous testing in its 3,800-square-meter laboratory. Thanks to this series of tests and 30 years of experience in the field of moving cables, igus has recently extended the guarantee on the new motor cable to four years or ten million double strokes. igus also uses the laboratory’s data for its online tools, such as the chainflex service life calculator. Here, customers can determine the cables’ durability in their applications online. That way, chainflex cables allow customers to improve the sustainability of their applications further. The reason is that a cable that is replaced too soon or breaks entails a correspondingly high CO2 impact due to producing and transporting a substitute.

You can find more information about the CF33.UL online at: https://www.igus.eu/info/cf33-ul