Technical Support

Technical Articles

The NAN Cable Technical Support page brings together the essential reference data that engineers and electricians need on the job, all in one place. From conductor resistance and earth sizing to motor current tables, conduit fill calculations, and the full suite of applicable Australian standards, every section is drawn directly from the NAN Cable Handbook

Technical Reference

Insulation & Sheath Materials Cable Environment & Selection Earth Conductor Size DC Conductor Resistance AWG Conversion Bending Radius 3 Phase Formula Motor Current Maximum Pulling Tension Cables in Conduit Cables in Tray Applicable Standards Cable Handling Guide

Insulation & Sheath Materials

NAN cables use a range of insulation and sheathing compounds to suit different installation environments and performance requirements.

Maximum Operating Temperature of Insulation

Insulation Material	Normal Use (°C)	Maximum Permissible (°C)
V-90 PVC	75	90
X-90 (XLPE)	90	90
X-HF-90	90	90

Insulation Compounds

V-90 PVC

A plasticised compound of polyvinyl chloride suitable for operating temperatures up to 90°C. PVC insulation is inherently UV stable and flame retardant. All PVC offered by NAN is lead free and compliant with ROHS requirements.

K-90 (XLPE)

A cross-linked polyethylene compound suitable for operating temperatures up to 90°C. XLPE materials have excellent dielectric properties and are halogen-free.

K-90UV (XLPE)

A black UV resistant XLPE stabilised with 2% carbon black pigment. Used for aerial unsheathed cables.

X-HF-90

A low-smoke, halogen free insulation compound, used as an alternative to V-90 PVC insulation.

Sheathing Compounds

3V-90 PVC

A plasticised compound of polyvinyl chloride specially formulated to allow easy stripping of flat TPS cable. Suitable for temperatures up to 90°C.

5V-90 PVC

Our standard sheathing grade of plasticised PVC, suitable for operating temperatures up to 90°C. A flexible grade is also available for the sheathing of flexible cables. Properties can be further enhanced with the addition of UV stabilisers or flame retardants.

HFS-90-TP

A low-smoke, halogen free, flame retardant thermoplastic compound.

Core Colours & Sequence — Fixed Wiring

Configuration	Core Colours
2 Core	Red, Black
2 Core Active	Red, White
2 Core & Earth	Red, Black, Green/Yellow
3 Core Active	Red, White, Blue
3 Core & Earth	Red, White, Blue, Green/Yellow
4 Core	Red, White, Blue, Black
4 Core & Earth	Red, White, Blue, Black, Green/Yellow

Note: Black is normally used as neutral. Green/Yellow is always used as earth.

Core Colours — Flexible Cords (not installed as fixed wiring)

Configuration	Core Colours
2 Core	Brown, Light Blue
3 Core	Brown, Light Blue, Green/Yellow
4 Core	Brown, Light Blue, White, Green/Yellow
5 Core	Brown, Light Blue, Orange, White, Green/Yellow

Note: Light Blue is normally used as neutral.

Cable Environment & Selection

Key considerations when selecting NAN cables for your installation. In all cases, cables should be installed by a licensed electrician in compliance with AS/NZS 3000.

1 — Power Requirements

Select conductor size from this handbook based on current carrying capacity requirements and the voltage drop present in the circuit. Current rating tables are on pages 53–63 of the NAN Cable Handbook. For full detail, refer to AS/NZS 3008.1.1.

2 — Insulation & Sheath Materials

For standard installations, PVC is usually the insulation and sheath choice — good combination of cost and physical properties. Where higher dielectric properties are required, XLPE is preferred. Where limiting exposure to combustion products is critical, select low-smoke, halogen free materials for both insulation and sheath.

3 — Environmental & Installation Conditions

NAN low voltage cables can be installed via aerial, underground, cable conduit, and cable tray systems. Variations to consider:

Steel wire armour — mechanical damage risk
Copper wire or tape screening — electrical fields
Nylon jacketing or brass tapes — termite/rodent attack
Flexible conductors — ease of installation
Low smoke, halogen free — hazardous emissions in the event of fire

Refer to AS/NZS 3008.1.1:2009 for more detailed explanation of conditions.

Earth Conductor Size

Minimum earth conductor size (mm²) based on active conductor size. All values are in mm².

Active Conductor Size (mm²)	Minimum Earth Size (mm²)
Active Conductor Size (mm²)	With Copper Active	With Aluminium Active
1	1*	—
1.5	1.5*	—
2.5	2.5	—
4	2.5	—
6	2.5	2.5
10	4	2.5
16	6	4
25	6	6
35	10	6
50	16	10
70	25	10
95	25	16
120	35	25
150	50	25
185	70	35
240	95	50
300	120	70
400	120	95
500	120	95
630	120	120

Note: Refer to AS/NZS 3000 for restrictions. * Non-standard sizes.

DC Conductor Resistance

DC conductor resistance for fixed installations at 20°C (Ω/km).

Conductor Size (mm²)	Copper (Ω/km)	Aluminium (Ω/km)
1	21.2 (18.1)¹	—
1.5	13.6	—
2.5	7.41	—
4	4.61	—
6	3.08	—
10	1.83	—
16	1.15	1.91
25	0.727	1.20
35	0.524	0.868
50	0.387	0.641
70	0.268	0.443
95	0.193	0.320
120	0.153	0.253
150	0.124	0.200
185	0.0991	0.164
240	0.0754	0.125
300	0.0601	0.100
400	0.0470	0.0778
500	0.0366*	0.0605*
630	0.0283*	0.0469*

¹ DC resistance of solid conductor | * Single core cables only

American Wire Gauge (AWG) Conversion

Conversion between AWG sizes and metric conductor dimensions.

AWG	cmil¹	kcmil²	Area (mm²)	Diameter³ (mm)
16	2,580	2.6	1.3	1.3
14	4,110	4.1	2.1	1.6
12	6,530	6.5	3.3	2.1
10	10,380	10.4	5.3	2.6
8	16,510	16.5	8.4	3.3
6	26,248	26.2	13.3	4.1
4	41,735	41.7	21.2	5.2
2	66,361	66.4	33.6	6.5
0 (1/0)	105,518	105.5	53.5	8.3
00 (2/0)	133,056	133.0	67.4	9.3
000 (3/0)	167,780	167.8	85.0	10.4
0000 (4/0)	211,596	211.6	107.2	11.7

¹ cmil = circular mil (area of a circle with 1 mil diameter; 1 mil = 1/1000 inch = 0.0254 mm) | ² 1 kcmil = 1,000 cmils | ³ Diameter shown is for a solid rod/strand of the conductor area. Stranded conductors will have a larger overall diameter.

Bending Radius

Minimum bending radius expressed as a multiple of the overall cable diameter (D).

Cable Type	Installed	During Installation
Stranded XLPE or PVC	6 × D	9 × D
Steel wire armoured	12 × D	18 × D
Copper tape screened	12 × D	18 × D
Nylon covered	20 × D	30 × D
Flexible cords	4 × D	6 × D
LV aerial	6 × D	9 × D

D = nominal overall cable diameter.

3 Phase Formula

Standard electrical formulas for single phase and three phase AC circuits.

Single Phase

I =kW × 1000 ÷ (E × pf)

kW =I × E × pf ÷ 1000

I =kVA × 1000 ÷ E

kVA =I × E ÷ 1000

I =hp × 746 ÷ (E × %Eff × pf)

hp =I × E × %Eff × pf ÷ 746

3 Phase

I =kW × 1000 ÷ (E × 1.732 × pf)

kW =I × E × 1.732 × pf ÷ 1000

I =kVA × 1000 ÷ (E × 1.732)

kVA =I × E × 1.732 ÷ 1000

I =hp × 746 ÷ (E × 1.732 × %Eff × pf)

hp =I × E × 1.732 × %Eff × pf ÷ 746

Also: kW = kVA × pf | kVA = kW ÷ pf
E — Line voltage: 240V (single phase) / 415V (3 phase)
I — Line current in Amps | pf — Power factor | %Eff — Percentage efficiency
kW — kilowatts | kVA — kilovolt-amps

Motor Current

Full load current (Amps) for standard AC induction motors.

Power (kW)	hp	1Ø 230V	1Ø 240V	3Ø 400V	3Ø 415V
0.37	0.5	2.44	2.34	0.83	0.78
0.56	0.75	3.67	3.51	1.22	1.17
0.75	1.0	4.89	4.68	1.62	1.56
1.1	1.5	7.33	7.03	2.43	2.35
1.5	2.0	9.78	9.37	3.25	3.13
1.9	2.5	12.2	11.7	4.08	3.91
2.2	3.0	14.7	14.1	4.87	4.69
3.0	4.0	19.6	18.7	6.49	6.27
3.7	5.0	24.4	23.4	8.11	7.82
5.6	7.5	33.7	32.3	11.2	10.8
7.5	10	44.1	42.3	14.6	14.1
9.3	12.5	55.1	52.8	18.3	17.6
11.2	15	66.2	63.4	22.0	21.2
14.9	20	85.2	81.7	28.3	27.3
18.6	25	101	98.7	34.2	32.9
22.4	30	124	118	41.0	39.5

Maximum Pulling Tension (kN)

Maximum allowable pulling tension during cable installation, based on conductor cross-sectional area.

Conductor Size (mm²)	Copper Conductor (kN)	Aluminium Conductor (kN)
1	0.07	—
1.5	0.18	—
2.5	0.18	—
4	0.28	—
6	0.42	—
10	0.70	—
16	1.1	0.80
25	1.8	1.3
35	2.5	1.8
50	3.5	2.5
70	4.9	3.5
95	6.7	4.8
120	8.4	6.9
150	11	7.5
185	13	9.3
240	17	12
300	21	15
400	25	20
500	25	25
630	25	25

Cables in Conduit

Guidance for calculating the number of cables that can be installed in a circular conduit.

Conduit Fill Formula

Number of cables = (Internal cross-sectional area of enclosure ÷ Cross-sectional area of cable) × Space Factor

The space factor to be used is as follows:

0.51 cable in enclosure

0.332 cables in enclosure

0.43 or more cables in enclosure

Tables C9 to C11 of AS/NZS 3000 provide a detailed list of the number of cables of each type that can be installed in various types of conduit. The following tables are extracted from the NAN Cable Handbook — verify critical values against AS/NZS 3000.

Unsheathed Cable — Maximum Number of Cables, Heavy Duty UPVC Conduit

Nom. Area (mm²)	Heavy Duty UPVC Conduit — Nominal Size (mm)
Nom. Area (mm²)	20	25	32	40	50	63	80
1	17	26	44	72	115	>100	>100
1.5	8	13	22	36	58	94	>100
2.5	4	7	12	20	32	51	88
4	4	6	10	17	27	44	75
6	1	3	6	10	17	27	47
10	1	2	4	6	10	16	28
16	1	1	3	4	7	12	20
25	0	1	1	3	5	8	13
35	0	1	1	2	3	6	10
50	0	1	1	1	3	4	8
70	0	0	1	1	2	3	5
95	0	0	0	1	1	2	4
120	0	0	0	0	1	1	3
150	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
185	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
240	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
300	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

Sheathed Cable — Maximum Number of Cables, Heavy Duty UPVC Conduit

Nom. Area (mm²)	Heavy Duty UPVC Conduit — Nominal Size (mm)
Nom. Area (mm²)	20	25	32	40	50	63	80	100	125	150
1	2	9	16	26	43	71	>100	>100	>100	>100
1.5	4	7	13	21	35	55	>100	>100	>100	>100
2.5	3	5	10	16	27	44	81	>100	>100	>100
4	2	4	7	11	19	31	64	>100	>100	>100
6	1	3	6	9	16	26	55	82	>100	>100
10	1	2	4	6	11	18	38	63	90	>100
16	0	1	3	5	8	13	28	46	70	93
25	0	0	2	3	5	9	19	31	48	62
35	0	0	1	2	4	7	15	26	38	52
50	0	0	1	2	3	6	12	21	31	41
70	0	0	0	1	3	4	9	16	26	34
95	0	0	0	1	2	4	7	12	18	26
120	0	0	0	0	1	2	6	10	15	20
150	0	0	0	0	1	2	5	8	12	16
185	0	0	0	0	1	2	4	6	10	13
240	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	5	8	10
300	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	4	6	9
400	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	5	7
500	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	4	6
630	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	4

Values extracted from NAN Cable Handbook. Verify against AS/NZS 3000 Tables C9–C11 for critical applications.

Cables in Tray

Cable tray selection reference data. Trays are available in 150mm, 300mm, 450mm, or 600mm widths. Most trays are available in hot dip galvanised, pre-galvanised, or powder coated finishes.

	Ezystru ETS	Unistrut STS	Kouns KTS	Ezystru ETS	Unistrut STS	Kouns KTS
Tray Depth (mm)	47	50	50	85	75	85
Standard Length (mm)	3000	3000	3000	3000	3000	3000
Load Capacity Over Span (kg/m)
Span 1500mm	118	140	128.8	227	300	180.9
Span 5000mm	29	35	38.8	60	80	47.2

This information is intended as a guide only. For further information please refer to manufacturers' specifications. Information on this page is taken from manufacturers' websites and every effort is made to ensure it is correct at the time of printing.

Applicable Standards

Australian and international standards applicable to NAN Cable products.

AS/NZS 3000 Wiring Rules.
AS/NZS 3008.1.1 Electrical Installations — Selection of Cables — Cables for alternating voltages up to and including 0.6/1kV — Typical Australian installation conditions.
AS/NZS 5000.1 Electrical cables — Polymeric Insulated — For working voltages up to and including 0.6/1 (1.2) kV.
AS/NZS 5000.2 Electrical cables — Polymeric Insulated — For working voltages up to and including 0.6/1kV.
AS/NZS 3560 Electrical cables — XLPE Insulated — Aerial bundled — For working voltages up to and including 0.6/1kV.
AS/NZS 3599 Electrical cables — Aerial bundled — Polymeric Insulated — Voltages 6.35/11 (12) kV and 12.7/22 (24) kV.
AS/NZS 3191 Electric flexible cords.
ASTM S-76-624 Neutral-Supported Power Cable Assemblies with Weather-Resistant Extruded Insulation Rated 600 Volts.
AS/NZS 1125 Conductors in insulated electric cables and flexible cords.
AS/NZS 3808 Insulating and sheathing materials for electric cables.
AS/NZS 1660 Test methods for electric cables, cords and conductors.
AS/NZS 3013 Electrical installations — Classification of the fire and mechanical performance of wiring system elements.

Cable Handling Guide

The NAN Cable Handling Guide covers drum storage, transport, lifting, cable reeling, re-winding procedures, and nailing precautions. This illustrated guide is available in the full NAN Cable Handbook (page 97).

Key points covered include:

Keep drums standing upright using wedges at the heel of the flanges
Keep drums in sequence; do not leave drums on their side
Only drums with protective lagging may be stacked — flange on flange, lower layer secured over full drum
Roll drums in the direction used during cable reeling
Drums may be lifted by forklift or crane with appropriate lifting attachments
Fork length must exceed drum width so lagging is not damaged
Unwind from the top of the drum — never unwind against the lay direction
When re-winding, use the recommended method — not cross-winding
If nailing the wooden lagging, nail carefully in the middle of the drum flange

Download NAN Cable Handbook (PDF)

Drum Handling Guide with full illustrated diagrams is on page 97 of the NAN Cable Handbook.

All data is extracted from the NAN Cable Handbook (Edition 2020). Whilst all reasonable care has been taken in the printing and publishing of this material, all information is intended as a guide and is of a general nature only. To the fullest extent permitted by law, no representation is given and no responsibility or liability is accepted by NAN as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information. Refer to the relevant Australian Standards and NAN technical staff for critical applications.

For technical assistance: 1300 NAN CAB (626 222) | sales@nancable.com.au