High Voltage Cables - Fusor Forums

Post by DaveC » Fri Nov 01, 4:06 am

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit our website.

To add a little more to what Richard wrote....

Rowe Industries manufactures the HV super flexible silicone rubber wire. It is very nice to use, and will work even in oil (!!) if you can tolerate some swelling and eventually the insulation getting a little "loose" on the conductor.

Mallory (the Ignition people) makes a pretty nice 60 - 80 kV rated bright red ignition cable for spark plugs... not sure of the price but probably is in the $2 / ft range.

For genuine Xray cable... you are looking for the Okonite Cable Company or Essex Wire and Cable... not sure if there are any other mfrs. Okonite uses EPR (ethylene propylene rubber) as the insulation. Very flexible reddish rubber. Their cable comes usually with 3 or 4 conductors, used for the filament and bias or grid electrode drives in Xray tubes. The cable alone is in the $7 - $10 / ft range and you normally can't buy it directly from the mfr, but need to have them point you to a local distributor or reseller.

I am not sure if they are still making it, but the Alden company ( they also make most of the polarized connectors used for gas laser pwr supplies) used to have a complete line of HV cables up through 100 kV. They used the Okonite cable with 1,2,3, &4 conductors available. Alden put their own custom terminations on the cables which are (were) generally about 1/2 the size of the industry standard " Federal Std" connectors made by Eureka and others.

These cables run about $10 a foot with the terminals adding about $100 to $200 a pair depending on the voltage. The matching sockets are about 1/2 the cost of the terminals. All told, pretty pricey stuff.

Making your own terminals is possible. You need some silicone rubber... Dow Corning's Sylgard 170, 184., etc is good stuff..Also check the GESilicones site, too for a rather wide assortment of products... One downside is the price... the stuff can run up to $300 per gallon!!

But if you can get a small pack of the Dow Corning Sylgard material and a good primer,,, and some sort of mold... you can rather easily mold your own terminals... if you need them.

Final note.... RG-8U coaxial cable issuitable for DC operation up to at least 80kV, if you just pay attention to controlling the stresses at the point where you remove the outer braid. A good rule of thumb for the length of an "in-air" terminal... is about 1-2" per 10 kV. So ... a 50 kV termination in air... would be 5 - 10 inches long.

Most of the HV power supply manufacturers, like Kaiser, Bertran, Glassman and Spellman use an insulated sleeve into which the exposed end of the HV cable goes. A threaded ground ferrule keeps everything tight.

Generally speaking, you can expect more or less similar performance from PE, XLPE, EPR and Silicone Rubber insulated cables with DC. The chief differences, are the flexibility and the dielectric constant.

Hope this helps a bit.

Dave Cooper

How much does using a fake or clone really cost me?

Using inferior components can cost more in the long run and even lead to devastating system failure, especially in critical missions. For example, if a low-smoke cable doesn&#;t meet UL standards for emissions and fails or burns during a critical mission, the noxious smoke and gases can reduce visibility and potentially cost human lives.

Beyond these safety concerns, the cost of buying fakes and clones is considerable when compared to our reliable cables. Fake or clone cables damage more easily or contain faulty materials, and between the cost for replacement materials and the labor for reinstallation, the initial savings are depleted.

Example 1

Company A tried to save money on materials by ordering products from a supplier that advertised the same quality, performance, and specifications. The fake LMR assemblies had unstable electrical performance and a lot of noise in communication signals. Replacing this cable with genuine LMR, combined with the reinstallation labor, was double the cost of using genuine LMR for the initial installation.

Example 2

SUNUA supply professional and honest service.

Company B purchased 10 feet of a clone of LMR for an outdoor application. However, after 3 years, the cable had to be replaced due to UV damage. Over the lifespan of a genuine LMR cable, which is 20+ years, the clone cable had to be replaced 7 times. With the cost of labor for reinstallation and the time that the system was down, the cable cost significantly more than a genuine LMR cable.

Clone CableLMR Cable Initial cost*: $1.53 x 10 ft = $15.30

Connectors*: $7.09 x 2 = $14.18

Labor (per installation)*: $400


Needs replacement every 3 years due to UV damage


Total cost over 20+ years: $.36
Initial cost*: $1.62 x 10ft = $16.20

Connectors*: $15.62 x 2 = $31.24

Labor (per installation)*: $400




Total cost over 20+ years: $447.44

Overall savings by using LMR cable: $2,558.92

*Example costs are estimated based on market availability and are subject to change.

Example 3

Company C used a fake LMR-FR cable for the cable risers in an office building. A building inspector noticed the cable, and because it was not a proper riser rated cable and a huge safety hazard, said it all had to be replaced.  All the cable in the elevator shafts and risers had to be ripped out and replaced with UL certified cables to ensure safety.

Fake CableLMR-FR Cable Initial cost*: $1,729.90 for feet

Installation labor estimated cost*: $4,000

Replacement cable cost*: $2,630

Labor estimated replacement cost*: $20,000

Total of the project: $28,359.90Initial cost*: $2,630 for feet



Installation labor estimated cost*: $4,000



Total cost: $6,630

Overall savings by using LMR cable: $22,729.90

*Example costs are estimated based on market availability and are subject to change.

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