spacer cable
spacer cable
(OP)
We're considering the use of spacer cable for some of our 15 kV circuits. We don't have any experience with it and I'm leary of just trusting the vendors (Hendrix and Southwire).
Can anyone share their experience with spacer cable, both good and bad?
We are a utility in the U.S.
Can anyone share their experience with spacer cable, both good and bad?
We are a utility in the U.S.






RE: spacer cable
Overall in the right applications I think it works fine. I heard they make a 69kV version too although I've not yet had the opportunity to work with it.
RE: spacer cable
I worked 14 years at a large municipal in the south and have been working in utility construction as an outside contractor for the past 13 years. In the contractor phase of my career, I have been involved in a large number of spacer cable projects. That said, the majority have been for an Illinois utility and all have been "chop and drop". As noted in earlier post, lightning can be a particular problem, especially when installed on steel structures. This has been experienced by utilities in the North East as well. You may want to look at how it affects coefficients of grounding and voltage rise on unfaulted phases. I know of instances where the voltage rise under fault conditions has been significant enough to fail surge arresters on the non-involved phases. My personal impression is that the operative guideline should be "space". If right of way is limited, this may be a viable option. It is not particularly vegatation resistant in my experience; it may stay in the air longer, but when it hits the ground, it is a royal mess.