DLO Cable for Portable Use
DLO Cable is also known as diesel locomotive cable, and it is a flexible single conductor that is used in motor as well as power leads. This cable is designed for portable use in commercial and industrial applications. Portable cords may also be used in job sites where there is need for resistance against chemicals, oil, and abrasion in both heat and cold or inside and outside.
Maybe you are wondering if there could be a difference between portable cords and power cables. Well, there is. With power cables, they are designed for permanent installations but portable cables, as the name suggests, they are designed for temporary power supply. When you finish working with the cable on a site, you can disassemble the installation, carry them, and use them in another job site.
How are the cables made?
The cable is made of annealed tinned copper strands and an insulation of ethylene propylene rubber (EPR) of premium grade. A cable jacket made of chlorinated polyethylene (CPE) is used to protect the cable. With a voltage rating of 2kV and temperature rating of 90 degrees Celsius, DLO cable can work in both dry and wet environments.
Key points to note about DLO cable
DLO cable needs to have standardization mark by Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) imprinted on it. The insulation should be made of a thermoset such as EPR or EPDM and the jacketing material should also be made of a thermoset like CPE and CSPE. If you don’t know what these thermosets are, they look and feel something like rubber.
One key difference you find with DLO cable over other welding and mining cords is that, its conductors are coated with tin. The tin coating offers an additional protection against the effects of corrosion. Also, if you have size 1/0 and larger, you can add it to cable tray. In majority of the cables, the jacket color comes in black.
The performance and use of DLO Cable
DLO cable resists acids, oils, heat, and alkali. The cable has excellent abrasion and impact resistance. When you combine these factors with the greater number of strands allowing flexibility, you see the reasons why the cable is frequently used in mining environments. The cable is used to wire railroad cars, transit cars, diesel locomotives, gas and oil drill rigs, storage batteries, telecommunication power supply, and earth moving machinery.
Because of the high flexibility of the strands coupled with the chemical and oil resistance, DLO cable is particularly suited for use in supplying power to traction motors within diesel electric locomotives. It is used in wet and dry areas as well as in ducts, conduits, troughs, and trays especially where greater electrical properties are needed. The cable may be used in shipyards, UR rated power supply systems, and where flexible power leads should be installed in raceways or conduits.