buying SWA cable

[g2k]

Wondering what peoples' opinions are on this. At some point I want to wire up the garage and I've been looking at prices for SWA cables. There's massive variation in price, 25m of 6mm 3-core seems to range from around £50-£110. Are there any brands sellers that should be avoided, is the cheaper stuff dangerous junk or will it be a genuine saving if I buy it? In particular I've been looking at tlc electrical who seem to be much cheaper than screwfix.

 

[Robotstar5]

Don't forget you have to add VAT & carriage to TLC price.

Edit: have you got a local electrical wholesaler?, they will normally do cut lengths of SWA

 

[brightspark]

nearly all cable comes from turkey and wholesale prices can vary depending on what discounts are negotiated

 

[dobbslc]

I think cable from a proper wholesaler will be OK. I wouldn't get it off eBay though.

 

[brightspark]

a lot of it comes from Cleveland cable company and they supply most of the national wholesalers. I could fined out the price tomorrow for u if u wanted and see where your batting pricewise

 

[Johnseat]

Doncaster cables supply lots of wholesalers as well.
Best price I got was from city electrical factors, cheaper than ebay and the likes.

 

[g2k]

Edit: have you got a local electrical wholesaler?, they will normally do cut lengths of SWA

I'll be headed to a house in Coventry in about a week, haven't lived there for a while so I'm not sure what the local wholesalers are like. I'd noticed the very cheap eBay sellers and was cautious; dirt cheap ebay stuff I've bought in the past has either been fine or unusable, don't want to find out it's the latter and have to redo a 20+ metre trench for the sake of £10.

 

[Davidcardiff]

Use this crowd all the time free shipping too
£62 incl vat http://www.meteorelectrical.com/cab...wa-cable-blue-brown-green-yellow-1-metre.html

 

[Mee]

Check the ratings of the cable as many cheap cables don't conform to standards.

 

[brightspark]

Check the ratings of the cable as many cheap cables don't conform to standards.

they do if there basec approved. anything else shouldn't be sold or used

 

[Mee]

Brightspark:

Many fake cables are coming in from China and as they are fake they do mark them as BASEC approved.

 

[brightspark]

they maybe but from known suppliers there the real deal and can be traced back to who actually made it dated and documented to conformity

 

[Robotstar5]

they maybe but from known suppliers there the real deal and can be traced back to who actually made it dated and documented to conformity

Traceability is required for any "proper" job these days.

 

[WorkshopChris]

I would be wary of buying a 25mm coil length of eBay as you don't know where i may of come from. But as brightspark said from a wholesaler cut off a 1km or 100m reel it can be tracked back to the factory.

 

[normspanners]

Sure do miss the old BICC quality, I used to scrap 20-30 tons a week of it, from helsby and wrexham for them, if it wasnt quite up to scratch, even down to the embossed description writing on the outer cover, it was so easy to strip and gland off compared to some of the hard stuff nowadays. Also the inner cores insulation also seems very thin on some, and splits too easily.

 

[brightspark]

Sure do miss the old BICC quality, I used to scrap 20-30 tons a week of it, from helsby and wrexham for them, if it wasnt quite up to scratch, even down to the embossed description writing on the outer cover, it was so easy to strip and gland off compared to some of the hard stuff nowadays. Also the inner cores insulation also seems very thin on some, and splits too easily.

its now xLpe insulated not pvc. its thinner and harder and the cable has a higher rating than pvc coating which is thicker