myElectrical - Cable Sizing Tool Upgrade 

By on

Our IEE cable sizing was wrote a few years ago and had become rough around the edges.  I thought it was time to give the tool a service.  Unfortunately when I looked under the hood I found cracked cylinders, broken bell ends and worn cylinders.  Rather than a quick service I had no choice be to do a major rewrite on the software.  The only thing I didn't touch is the chassis [database], which while suffering from patches of rust, was still usable.

In rewriting the software good things have happened.  There has been a large increase in performance [no more very long waits, with frequent postbacks] and I have put in a couple of enhancements.  The main things users will notice are:

 

  • things should be a lot quicker.  The number of postbacks has been minimized (unfortunately a few are required to retrieve cable configuration data).  Calculation of the cable size itself has been improved to make the processing more efficient.
  • everything is all on one page.  A slicker user interface with no more switching between tabs.
  • you now have quick access to the underlying data.  Click any of the  'i' buttons on the form and the relevant data table should pop up.

Of all the software tools on the site, the cable sizing one is the most complex.  A lot of the complexity derives from strictly following the Wiring Regulations, which while designed for humans to work through, are not necessarily software friendly.  Hopefully the tool should be working well, but if you do come across and bugs or have any suggestions, please let me know.

Click here to  give the Cable Sizing Tool a try.



Steven McFadyen's avatar Steven McFadyen

Steven has over twenty five years experience working on some of the largest construction projects. He has a deep technical understanding of electrical engineering and is keen to share this knowledge. About the author

myElectrical Engineering

comments powered by Disqus

  1. skalooba76's avatar skalooba76 says:
    12/7/2011 9:49 AM

    hi,

    i noticed when i try to size cable for small load, the software keep giving the wrong size, i.e for 12 Amp load, 380V, protected by 16 Amp, the cable calculation software will give 35mm2 which is wrong.

    please look into this matter

    thanks for all the help

    niki

    • Steven's avatar Steven says:
      12/7/2011 10:25 AM

      It may be the fault level. In calculating the size the following happens:

      Cable is calculated on current capacity
      Voltage drop is calculated (and cable size increased if necessary)
      Fault level withstand is calculated (and cable size increased if necessary)

      I have just tried your scenario (with XLPE cable) and at 25kA fault, 25m2 was required, but at 1kA fault only 1mm2.


Comments are closed for this post:
  • have a question or need help, please use our Questions Section
  • spotted an error or have additional info that you think should be in this post, feel free to Contact Us



Dielectric loss in cables

Dielectrics (insulating materials for example) when subjected to a varying electric field, will have some energy loss.   The varying electric field causes...

Voltage Drop in Installations - Concepts

Problems on achieving maximum voltage drop within an installation come up often. Depending where you live, local regulations will have different limits...

Mobile Phones (Brick to Implant)

The mobile phone was born in 1973. They were the size of a brick and weighed a couple of kg, making them difficult to fit into your pocket. At a few thousand...

Multimeter

Multimeters are undoubtedly the most common item of electrical test equipment in use.  Often it is the first piece of equipment people will turn to when...

IEC 61439 Verification Methods

The (relatively new) switchgear and control gear standard, IEC 61439 'Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies' has three methods which can be...

Arc Flash Calculations

Working in the vicinity of electrical equipment poses an hazard. In addition to electric shock hazard, fault currents passing through air causes Arc Flash...

Software Usage Guidelines

Using software in our  work is essential for most of us and we are becoming even more dependant on it's use.  While software is a great asset, many times...

Microsoft OneNote

A couple of months ago I came Microsoft's OneNote and downloaded the 60 day free trail. Since then I have been using it regularly and now have a full license...

How to Size Current Transformers

The correct sizing of current transformers is required to ensure satisfactory operation of measuring instruments and protection relays. Several methods...

How to measure power supply quality

If your are ever called out to troubleshoot something on your electrical system, one of the first things consider is the supply voltage. You want to ensure...

Have some knowledge to share

If you have some expert knowledge or experience, why not consider sharing this with our community.  

By writing an electrical note, you will be educating our users and at the same time promoting your expertise within the engineering community.

To get started and understand our policy, you can read our How to Write an Electrical Note