Unrolling armoured SWA cable?
Discussion
How easy is SWA cable to unroll and lay around a garden?
I may need to lay about 25m of SWA cable from my garage to the shed at the bottom of my garden, going around the perimeter of my garden and around some obstructions such as a wall etc. I think I prefer to lay it myself before getting a sparky to do the rest, to save him time plus he might not be so careful around my plants etc.
I'm sure at some point it will twist, causing me much anger whilst holding my fist up at the sky and cursing Our Great Lord!
What tips do I need before I start please?
I may need to lay about 25m of SWA cable from my garage to the shed at the bottom of my garden, going around the perimeter of my garden and around some obstructions such as a wall etc. I think I prefer to lay it myself before getting a sparky to do the rest, to save him time plus he might not be so careful around my plants etc.
I'm sure at some point it will twist, causing me much anger whilst holding my fist up at the sky and cursing Our Great Lord!
What tips do I need before I start please?
I don’t remember any particular issues, just cut the cable ties and straighten it out. Obviously it’ll tend to coil back into its previous shape but if you forcibly straighten it I think it was fine.
I take it you’re aware that the colour coding is usually different to standard mains cable?
I take it you’re aware that the colour coding is usually different to standard mains cable?
If you lay the coil flat on the ground and attempt to open it up from there, twists seem to get built-in.
However if you hold the coil vertical and unroll it, like rolling a hula-hoop (if you remember those) the cable will lie flat.
The expensive system is to have a turntable and just pull it off, much easier, but costs more.
However if you hold the coil vertical and unroll it, like rolling a hula-hoop (if you remember those) the cable will lie flat.
The expensive system is to have a turntable and just pull it off, much easier, but costs more.
I would put the roll on its edges (not on its side) and roll it away, leaving the cable behind. If you have to leave it on its side you will likely get a lot of twists building up in the cable, fine if you have time to go through and un-twist the cable etc.
What some do is lift the roll of cable, stick a pole through the middle and pull the cable off.
I do note that armoured cable is going to resist twists a lot more than the 64 channel sound cables I used to play with - if a novice rolled or unrolled those it took 5 people an hour to un-knot.
What some do is lift the roll of cable, stick a pole through the middle and pull the cable off.
I do note that armoured cable is going to resist twists a lot more than the 64 channel sound cables I used to play with - if a novice rolled or unrolled those it took 5 people an hour to un-knot.
MG-Steve said:
Having had to unroll over 100 meters of 70mm armored cable recently .. use two axle stands and a pole through the centre of the reel.
Something like this works very well. We had one particularly entertaining one where, due to the weight, it needed a scaffold pole supported by the telehandler forks.Trick is to just feed it off in the same way it went on rather than taking it off the side of the drum.
Be also worth reading this > https://professional-electrician.com/technical/bur...
JoshSm said:
LooneyTunes said:
Trick is to just feed it off in the same way it went on rather than taking it off the side of the drum.
What kind of deviant would ever take cable off the side of a drum in coils instead of just unrolling it?!Snow and Rocks said:
LooneyTunes said:
The same sort that would cut all the tapes on 100m roll of MDPE… some labourers need closer supervision than others.
Been there done that, luckily our farm track is over 100m long - I was knackered by the time I sorted it out! Regbuser said:
Be also worth reading this > https://professional-electrician.com/technical/bur...
My existing SWA cable was already installed when I moved in ((18yrs ago) , and it is mostly just laying on the surface of the garden borders around the perimeter of the garden, and any that is underground is probably just because of dirt and soil building up over the years and covering it. To be honest I prefer it being visible, though I obviously know it is there and I know it's route. A section is damaged though and having had my consumer unit relocated the sparky didnt want to reconnect the damaged SWA which is understandable, Instead of repairing the two sections I'm thinking of pulling it up and installing new cable, so I at least know it's life span etc
I'm tempted to lay the new cable on the surface, it's out of the way and won't cause me any harm. If the house gets sold in the future then that's a bridge to cross another day, and I might no longer be on this earth when that day comes
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