Cable/Wire Bending Radius
Cable/Wire Bending Radius
(OP)
NEC requires conduit bending radius to be ~6X of conduit diameter. I could not find any bending raduis requirement in NEC for cable/wire rated for 600V and under. Is there any code requirement/recommendation (i.e. NEC, IEEE, UL listing)for 600V, insulated, non-armored type, cable/wire bending radius?






RE: Cable/Wire Bending Radius
In general, your unarmored cable will be installed in conduit or enclosures, so that's where the restrictions are listed.
You might also want to check manufacturer recommendations.
RE: Cable/Wire Bending Radius
RE: Cable/Wire Bending Radius
Any enclosure, including your starter, needs to provide sufficient wire bending space per NEC requirements. And yes, there is lots of manufactured electrical equipment out there that does NOT meet this requirement -- shallow (3' deep) switchgear is a BIG offender. It's up to the equipment specifier to ensure that the enclosures provided are big enough to meet NEC requirements for wire bending space for the sizes of wire intended to be used with the equipment.
So far as the actual radius of wire bends inside the equipment, I don't believe there's any requirement out there (other than that space be provided). If there is any requirement, it's probably in UL. In small branch circuit panelboards, it's not unusual to see wires bent with essentially zero radius, and they seem to do fine.