The Ultimate 600V Ethernet Cable for Heavy Industry
Recently we introduced a new industrial Ethernet cable to the market with a techy name, "DataTuff TC Cat 5e Cord Sets for 600V Cable Trays". While I am not a fan of the name, I am impressed with what this puppy can do. If your application is in heavy industry, or you just want to learn about a very large and very feature-rich Ethernet cord set, I encourage you to read on.
As Ethernet networking gains popularity, it is starting to penetrate more deeply into industrial applications. Manufacturing, power utilities, oil and gas, transportation and other sectors want to attach more types of equipment to their industrial Ethernet infrastructures. This includes power hungry machines such as Motor Control Centers (MCCs), robots, mobile machines, and heavy equipment.
Cabling in these environments can be difficult to install, and it requires extra protection and resilience. Our long-named new cord sets meet these challenges remarkably well.
The new 600V TC Cat 5e cable is large, with the circumference of approximately 7 average straws. It is not its size that counts though; it's what this cable can do.
Cat 5e Cables Tough Enough for Use in 600V Cable Trays
In order to route industrial Ethernet cables in existing 600V cable trays, our cable product team had to do some breakthrough engineering work. This included developing 18 AWG (American Wire Gauge ) conductors, a wider diameter than the usual Ethernet specification 22-26 AWG conductors (in the AWG system, a lower number means a higher wire diameter).
The big conductors, along with the following hardy characteristics, deliver the functionality necessary to meet the Category 5e Ethernet and 600V listing requirements:
- A thick thermoplastic jacket
- A foil and braid shield for high EMI/RFI immunity
- Oil resistant and sunlight resistance
- Temperature tolerance from -40?C to 90?C
- Flame retardant
- >Resistance to penetration by objects of > 12 mm
- Belden's patented Bonded-Pair technology which eliminates gaps between conductor pairs for excellent and reliable electrical performance
The cables are approved for mining applications and have achieved many other certifications too, which are listed on the DataTuff Cat 5e product page.
Cord Sets Create Better Reliability
The cable comes with connectors designed to work with the heavier-gauge conductors, and that provide easy transition from the cable tray to equipment. The connectors include RJ45 shielded Cat 5e and Cat 6 cord sets and cord set extensions, and shielded DIN Rail mounted couplers. The cable and connector sets are factory tested to deliver consistent performance that meets all of the many certifications achieved by this product.
This picture shows the difference in size and robustness of the new DataTuff TC Cat 5e cordset, versus a regular Cat 5e cordset. For those who work with big power-hungry equipment, the new cordset is the perfect match.
Benefits of Cord Sets:
- Faster and Lower Cost Deployment
- Improved Reliability
- Better Safety
Up to now, plant engineers have developed creative, but not always reliable or acceptable ways of routing cable through a plant. This might be putting Ethernet cables through conduits, or through separate trays, or attached to water pipes with ties or tape. These make-do solutions both added to the cost of installation and introduced a higher likelihood of signal transmission failure.
It's time to put creative wiring solutions aside, and turn to the ultimate 600V Ethernet cable, the new Datatuff TC Cat 5e Cord Sets.
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