Buy SO Cable & SOOW Cable

Is there a big difference between welding cable and DLO cable? Both are single conductor cables but that is about where the similarities end. Diesel locomotive cable is available from 10 awg up to 777.7 MCM. This cable is rated 90 degrees celsius and 2000 volt. Primary uses include of course diesel locomotives as well as oil and gas rigs, motor leads, mining and earth moving equipment and shipyards. There is usually an inner insulation as well as outer jacket which affords tremendous impact and abrasion resistance.

Welding cable is generally available from 6 awg up to 500 MCM. While not quite as robust as DLO cable, welding cable is also used in situations where power generation is needed. Many people use this cable when they need to power generators or similar type equipment. This cable is usually rated at 600 volts and 90 degree celsius.

Delco Wire and Cable stocks both types of cable in all gauge sizes. We do not charge to cut to length for you and there are no minimum orders. You can check out specifications for the DLO cable here and for the welding cable here. Please also feel free to call us at 800-714-9473 should you have any questions.

Another question we often get is what is different between VNTC cable and SO cable? VNTC stands for vinyl nylon tray cable. This type of cable is quite different from SO and SOOW cable. The SO cable is designed for temporary power whereas the VNTC is for permanent installation. This type of tray cable is also generally approved for direct burial applications and is usually sunlight resistant and weather proof.

SO cable if left out in the sun will eventually crack and dry rot. While the SOOW version of this cable is water resistant it is not water proof, which means it is not recommended to use this cable for applications where the cable may be continually submerged.

We have specifications you can look at on our VNTC cable here. Delco stocks a wide variety of tray cable and SO cable. Feel free to give us a call at 800-714-9473 if you have any questions or needs for either of these products.

In our last post we talked about the difference between SO cable and Type W cable. If you need something more robust than Type W you would then move up to Type G cable or Type GGC. The difference is the G has 4 conductors and the GGC has two or three conductors. Type G is similar to Type W in that both are 2000 volt rated and 90 degree C rated. However the W does not have ground conductors where the G has a ground conductor for every primary conductor as well as 2 additional grounds. Ground wire size depends on what gauge size the primary cable is.

For example if a cable is called out to be a 2 awg 3 conductor GGC the cable would have a total of three 2 awg conductors, two 7 awg grounds and one 10 awg ground check. In a 2 awg 3 conductors type W cable you would only have the three 2 awg insulated conductors.

To see a chart showing the specs and ground wire you can go to our site here. If you have any questions on Type W, Type G or SOOW cable please feel free to contact Delco at 1-800-714-9473.

A question we are often asked is “are you the manufacturer”? Many people it seems feel like they should be able to buy direct from the manufacturer for this type of product. Quite simply it is not realistic to believe that you can buy SO cable or SOOW cable direct from the factory unless you are a huge volume buyer. Most factories will only sell through distribution and you need to be formally set up by one of their factory reps.

Generally you also need to spend a certain amount of money often including a stocking a package. In the vast majority of circumstances you will find that a distributor of SO cable or SOOW cable will provide you with better pricing than the factory anyway as they have already established a certain amount of buying power. There is also the knowledge base that a distributor has as well as the established relationship that a one time buyer will likely never have with a manufacturer.

Delco Wire stocks a large variety of SO cable as well as Type W and Type G cable. Check out our site at www.delcowireus.com or call them at 800-714-9473.

We have gone over the basic differences of SO cable and SOOW cable.  But what if you need something more robust than that?  The next step up in terms of “toughness” would be to move to the next class of cable known as Type W cable.  While SOW cable is available generally in 2 awg down to 18 awg in all different conductor counts, Type W is generally available in 8 awg down to 500 MCM but only up to 5 conductors.

Type W cable is made with the same jacketing and conductor insulation material as SO cable, but both are a bit thicker.   You can see the differences by going to our website which shows the measurements for each product line.  You can find the SOOW cable specs here and the Type W cable specs here.

Of course if you have any questions you can contact one of our staff memebers at Delco by phone at 1-800-714-9473 or click here to go to our website.   In our next post we will go over the differences between Type W cable and Type G-GC cable.

Generally speaking most manufacturer’s are now only making the SOOW version of this cable. You will hear reference to SO cable, SOW cable or SOOW cable but it is mostly the same these days. The SOOW means that both the jacket and the conductors are oil resistant. With the older SOW only the jacket was oil resistant. The W on the end means the jacket is also water resistant. They all have the same voltage rating at 600 volts and the same temperature rating which is good up to 90 degrees celsius on the high end, and minus 40 degrees celsius on the low end. There is also the UL/MSHA approved version of the cable as well as just the MSHA approved version. Some people also refer to the cable as SO cord but that is also the same type of cable.

Delco stocks all awg sizes and conductor counts of this type of cable. Feel free to call us at 800-714-9473 if you have any questions.  You can visit our website by clicking here.

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