Alpha Wire Expands Xtra-Guard Cable Line for Harsh Environments

Alpha Wire’s Xtra-Guard Flex TPE Cables are engineered to reliably perform under the most rugged industrial operating conditions -- including those that involve flexing. Image courtesy of Alpha Wire.

 

Many industrial cable applications involve harsh operating conditions that can include exposure to chemicals, direct burial, extreme temperatures, abrasion, and even flexing. There is a continuing need for cable solutions that can perform reliably even in the most difficult of industrial operating environments. 

Alpha Wire has over 95 years of experience in developing cable, wire, and tubing solutions. With a reputation for excellent performance and reliability, they serve a wide variety of global markets, including medical devices, industrial automation, and semiconductor fabrication. And Alpha Wire just added a new product to their Xtra-Guard Cabling product portfolio, Xtra-Guard Flex TPE cables.

 

Xtra-Guard Cabling Family

The Xtra-Guard family of cables can handle extreme temperatures (high or low), ultraviolet light exposure, flexing, direct burial with no conduit, abrasion, EMI noise, and options are resistant to a variety of oils, chemicals, fuels, and solvents. 

In addition, Xtra-Guard cables are available in a range of gauges (28 to 14 AWG), conductor counts (between 2 and 80), jacket colors, and shielding options. Xtra-Guard cables also come in several certifications approved by agencies such as CE, CSA, UL, and VDE.

 

Xtra-Guard Flex TPE Cables

Alpha Wire has added Xtra-Guard Flex TPE cable to their product line. These harsh environment industrial cables have a TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) jacket and are rated for up to 1 million flex cycles, making them extremely rugged. 

These cables are specifically designed to minimize the costly downtime associated with cable failures in applications that involve repeated flexing.

One of the benefits of Xtra-Guard Flex TPE cables is high reliability for applications that involve continuous flexing, such as industrial robotics and motion control. In addition, the use of TPE, as opposed to PVC (polyvinyl chloride), means that the cable is much more rugged and better able to withstand exposure to flames, sun, and oil.  

 

Applications involving robotics and industrial automation can suffer from downtime due to cables failing due to continuous flexing. Image courtesy of Pixabay.

 

Another benefit of using Xtra-Guard Flex TPE cables is the possibility of saving money on both installation and maintenance when using cables that are PLTC or TC rated because they can be run directly from cable tray to device. 

The new Alpha Wire Xtra-Guard Flex TPE cables can be used in many different applications, including machine tools, vacuum packaging, SCARA robots, high-speed vision systems, conveyor systems, and both pick-and-place and articulated robotics.

The rugged Alpha Wire Xtra-Guard Flex TPE cables are available for purchase from Alpha Wire and aim to reduce downtime for applications where flexing has led to repeated cable failure.