Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is the third mass-produced synthetic polymer, just running behind polyethylene and polypropylene. Pvc Wires, as they say, comes in two basic forms – rigid and flexible.

The rigid form is mostly used to manufacture pipes, packaging, credit card, and contains less concentration of plasticizer and more of other primary constituents.

Though there are other forms of PVC as well, we will restrict our discussion to soft PVC here. Most PVC wired cables that we see have a soft PVC coating. Reason? Because they need to undergo twist and turns while being laid.

Steel Wires come in various thicknesses as both coated and uncoated. When it comes to coating, wire ropes can be of three types. PVC can withstand very high temperature in both the spectrums of the centigrade scale. Common PVC can easily cope with temperatures ranging from -35 degrees to +950 degrees.

Wires with different PVC hardness

You can find the same wire with different PVC hardness characteristics. The harder PVC coated wires are used for heavy-duty purpose where resistance to wear and tear is essential. The softer PVC, on the other hand, is for general use and caters well to any home application.

Color coding PVC wires

As you may have noted, PVC wires come in different shades. When two or more strands of wire are needed in parallel, the colour-coding helps the layman distinguish between the two wires. Some laymen use multicoloured wire to blend the wire fittings with the surrounding, thereby making it less noticeable to naked eye.

Coming on to the most pressing question of the decade, what are the advantages of using PVC wires in your commercial space. In this blog, I will quickly take you over a few things that make the laying of PVC wires advantageous.

The compact cross-section of the wire reduces AC losses due to overhauling skin effect. Skin effect is the phenomenon that pushes charge on the periphery of the conductor, thus reducing the overall AC losses due to reduced cross-section.

When heat is produced in the wire, the wire core tends to expand. The expanding wire pushes the outer PVC covering, which exerts an equal force on the core. No other material is flexible and yet strong enough to resist this force.

PVC is an inert polymer. It won’t easily corrode, even in damp conditions. The concept of laying wires under the walls began because PVC wires don’t need frequent replacement.

PVC is fire-resistant. If the wire heats up enough to kindle a fire, the outer PVC won’t burn.

Advantages in industry application

In industries, PVC wires are laid on machines and other moving parts. Most materials that are hard easily undergo failure when subjected to vibrations. The harder the substance, the likelier it is to fail when put in motion (not a universal rule though). Polyvinyl chloride is just enough flexible and tolerates vibrations better than any other material.

Takeaway

All wires that we see are coated with PVC. To make the wire ropes even more durable, multiple coatings are made, one over the other. Note that the same wire may be available with different coatings (depending upon the use-case). So, the next time you go on a wire shopping spree, make sure to buy the one that suits your needs.