AC Mains power cable suggestions

[Suu]

Hi, I'm thankful to this wonderful forum, which very very helping to beginners & as well to experienced ones.

One my friend is constructing a new house & he will 've one dedicated audio room. Now he wants to know what brand of electrical cable is best for A/V room? i.e like Finolex, Anchor, Havel etc etc..

His builder recommends Anchor - 4sqmm (something like 720 gauge)

I rqst you all for the suggestion.

Thanks

 

[venkatcr]

Hi, I'm thankful to this wonderful forum, which very very helping to beginners & as well to experienced ones.

One my friend is constructing a new house & he will 've one dedicated audio room. Now he wants to know what brand of electrical cable is best for A/V room? i.e like Finolex, Anchor, Havel etc etc..

His builder recommends Anchor - 4sqmm (something like 720 gauge)

I rqst you all for the suggestion.

Thanks

I would rate Finolex and Havel above Anchor. Finolex is the best. Try their fire proof or fire retardant cables. 720 gauge is fine. Ask him to make sure that the electrician buys the proper red and black colored cables, and uses red for power or live, and black for neutral. If he is carrying earthing also, that should be green in color.

Inside the boxes, the electrician should be consistent on how he connects the sockets. In the sockets, the bottom left slot should be neutral, and the right slot should be live. This way when you use two pin plugs, you will not get any shock.

All jacket colors other than red, black and green should be avoided.

Cheers

 

[Suu]

Dear Venkat, thanks for the suggestion. I've passed on this to my friend. He will be using Finolex & color codes as mentioned by you.

Rgds

 

[prakasse]

I would rate Finolex and Havel above Anchor. Finolex is the best. Try their fire proof or fire retardant cables. 720 gauge is fine. Ask him to make sure that the electrician buys the proper red and black colored cables, and uses red for power or live, and black for neutral. If he is carrying earthing also, that should be green in color.

Inside the boxes, the electrician should be consistent on how he connects the sockets. In the sockets, the bottom left slot should be neutral, and the right slot should be live. This way when you use two pin plugs, you will not get any shock.

All jacket colors other than red, black and green should be avoided.

Cheers

Finolex is undoubtedly good. But the problem is you should be very careful when purchasing this brand. Get it from distributor or some reputed dealer. Reason is there is lot of fake out in the market.

One more good brand is RK cables.

Thanks,
Prakash.

 

[Suu]

Ooop..Finolex fakes are there? Then it should be better bought from a Disti.
Prakash, thanks for the caution.

 

[arun malur]

Another well known brand is Polycab, reasonably priced and comparable to Finolex quality. I am using this now for complete wiring of my new house.

 

[grubyhalo]

Hi, I'm thankful to this wonderful forum, which very very helping to beginners & as well to experienced ones.

One my friend is constructing a new house & he will 've one dedicated audio room. Now he wants to know what brand of electrical cable is best for A/V room? i.e like Finolex, Anchor, Havel etc etc..

His builder recommends Anchor - 4sqmm (something like 720 gauge)

I rqst you all for the suggestion.

Thanks

Also, please have your friend install multiple circuit-loop (if that's the word to use) from the mains to the music room. Ideally the lights and fan should be in a loop of their own with a separate loop for the AC. It would probably be best if there are 2 separate loops for your A/V gear. I apologize if what I've stated is not clear, I'm sure someone who knows better would chime in...

 

[Suu]

Hi grubyhalo, I found, there will be 2 seperate circuits. One HT & other one for lighting. He will use HT line circuit for AV room. He will've indvidual switches for each socket + 1 main control switch for 'all the sockets'. This is besides MCB in the meter board. About cables, he has decided on Finolex as per the suggestions here. If any other best is available (for AV room) he will go for it. Suggestions are welcome from the experts.

Rgds

 

[grubyhalo]

That sounds about right. I'm assuming there's not going to be an AC in the same room...

 

[Suu]

He will 've AC in the room. Does he needs to take care anything in this regard?

 

[grubyhalo]

He will 've AC in the room. Does he needs to take care anything in this regard?

As long as he has the AC on its own circuit, he should be fine I think...

 

[Suu]

Hi, need one more help. About the switches/sockets he will use Anchor brand it seems. Is there any thing better than Anchor sockets? Pl help.

 

[venkatcr]

Hi, need one more help. About the switches/sockets he will use Anchor brand it seems. Is there any thing better than Anchor sockets? Pl help.

There are a large number of excellent brands available such as MK, Crabtree, etc. I have been using MK for 15 years without any issues excepting the need to change a few switches/plugs for mechanical failure. No burns, no sparks, no blackening of any kind.

Companies such as MK, Crabtree use international standards in the design and manufacutre. Ask your friend to roam about for a day in the electrical market and look at the specs of these brands. Electricians will always recommend the brand that gets them the max discount or commission from the dealers.

Anchor is good, but they are yet a mass market brand. If you open up these switches, you will find a lot of loose parts and screw heads not properly made. On the contrary, if you open a MK/Crabtree switch, you will find eveything made of the highest quality brass moulded well into the plastic. The screws that hold the cables are made well, and can be screwed in tight.

Your friend has to decide which one he wants as that will deicde the base plate that goes into the wall. This cannot be changed. Secondly which ever brand he buys, ask him to buy a few plugs of the same brand, and they will fit in nicely.

Cheers

 

[Suu]

Dear Venkat,

Thanks once again for your advises. I think, Ele offered 3 brands Anchor, Cona & Lisha. But my friend wanted to go for the best availble with bearing the diff of money. My knowledge about quality/brands is zero I'll ask him to check on MK & Crabtree.

Rgds

 

[doors666]

Hi guys,

I am trying to run a dedicated audio line from MCB to the plug points. I need to get in-wall power cables for this. Currently phinolex 2.5 sqmm wires are being used with a 6A MCB, which was tripping at times, so I already changed the MCB to legrand 16A. Now I am planning to change the cables for better current carrying capacity ones. I had a few questions about this.

How much load the 2.5sqmm or 4sqmm wires can handle. Do I need to go for more than 4 sqmm, the load (including future purchases) could go upto 1.5-2.0 kva.

whats the difference between 720 and 4sqmm wires

While I am at it, I could put the entire system on a seperate MCB from the rest of the living room. Any benefits of that.

Any better options than the finolex 4sqmm being mentioned here.

Is there an issue with running 16A plugs and equipment off 6A wall sockets or should I change the wall sockets also. currently LK sockets are being used and these are quite good. I dont know if the 16A switch will replace a 6A socket or not, dont want to break the wall for it to fit.

Any good place in bangalore where I can buy original finolex or RK cables. Dont want to buy whole spools either, some 12m of each of the three colors should do.

 

[venkatcr]

How much load the 2.5sqmm or 4sqmm wires can handle. Do I need to go for more than 4 sqmm, the load (including future purchases) could go upto 1.5-2.0 kva.

A 2.5 load carrying capacity is 18 amps while that of a 4 sqmm is roughly 24 amps. Either of these will suffice for your requirement.

whats the difference between 720 and 4sqmm wires

I am correcting this under advice from Cranky. I had checked with my electrician in the morning and he seems to have taken me for a ride. (7 April 2010 Roughly 2044hrs)

7/20 is 7 strands of 20 guage wire - essentially 7 strands of solid wire each is twice the diameter of a pin, pretty thick. It is not very flexible and comes in a white PVC jacket, very stiff, cannot go around bends and is only suitable for installation inside PVC pipe in wall. It is about 4.5 sqmm totally, and can carry between 28 and 30 amperes, a little more than the regular 4mm wire and a lot more durable and resistant to scuffs, moisture creepage and oxidation.

2.5mm sq wire is much, much lower guage and carrying capacity - about 18 amperes but even here the 100m resistance is about 1 ohm (4 mm is half, and 7/20 a little lower than that). It has usually 30 to 40 strands of about 26-30AWG wire...

While I am at it, I could put the entire system on a seperate MCB from the rest of the living room. Any benefits of that.

An independent circuit for A/V is always an advantage. The load is not shared by other electrical components and there will be less spikes with the start and stop of equipment such as grinders, A/c, lights, geysers etc.

Any better options than the finolex 4sqmm being mentioned here.

Finolex cables are good. I have been using them for the last 15 odd years without any issue. Just ensure you get original.

Is there an issue with running 16A plugs and equipment off 6A wall sockets or should I change the wall sockets also. currently LK sockets are being used and these are quite good. I dont know if the 16A switch will replace a 6A socket or not, dont want to break the wall for it to fit4

The issue is primarily with the socket. A socket's capacity ti deliver current is specified as 6 or 16 amps. When you use this socket to draw more power, the wear and tear on the socket will be high and there is every chance of the socket heating and burning. It is always preferable to draw the amount of power specified in each part of the electrical circuit.

Cheers

 

[studiomaster]

Any better options than the finolex 4sqmm being mentioned here.

V Guard cables are too good.

thanks,,

 

[venkatcr]

V Guard cables are too good.

I must disagree. V-Guard does not make any cables of their own. If you look at their specifications, it looks uncannily similar to Finolex.

If you need to look at cables of quality similar to or better than Finolex, you have to look at RK cables, Havell, or maybe Orbit.

Cheers

 

[dinyaar]

Finolex OR polycab are good for wiring and as far as sockets go stay away from Anchor now. Try something else that is recommended by Venkat and others.
I would suggest North West, Legrand.
Rgds

 

[gobble]

Finolex OR polycab are good for wiring and as far as sockets go stay away from Anchor now. Try something else that is recommended by Venkat and others.
I would suggest North West, Legrand.
Rgds

I got Anchor Silver sockets - are they not good?

Regards