"all round band" used for containing cables

What are your thoughts on the use of "all round band" for containing multiple small power and lightging cables rather than using a basket? 

https://www.cef.co.uk/catalogue/products/3922455-17mm-all-round-fixing-band-black-pvc-coated-10m-roll

  • In principle I don't see any fundamental objections - certainly it has its advantages in fire resistance terms over the old classic of supporting cables with a loop of cable off-cut nailed into something.

    In practice some care would be needed - the usual plain galv builders' band can have relatively sharp edges, so I'd probably be looking at some sort of padding to stop it cutting into the cable sheaths. Whether the PVC coating on your example would suffice would need checking. What would work for closely spaced supports holding a few lightweight cables may well not work for a large bunch of cables (especially if larger ones might be resting on thinner ones) or with wider spacings.

    I presuming they're not LSF cables - PVC coatings on the fixings might be missing the point somewhat.

       - Andy.

  • A thin coat of PVC on a steel band once every meter or so creates a lot less poisonous fumes when burnt than the insulation of a few mm thick on the bundle of cables.

    It is a huge step up on LSZH cable inside PVC conduit or god forbid  dado  trunking (who specifies that ? but I see it so often..).
    I have been know to use glue lined heatshrink  on the bare metal builders band and studding and so on, to give a more cushioned support (and nicer look if it is in plain sight) Certainly low fume halogen free heatshrink with paperwork to prove it is a common thing, indeed most of the poylolefin types, even without the certificates, fall into that class anyway.

    Mike

  • I can't say I like it.  Sure, I can see the appeal from a "quick and cheap" standpoint, but the edges of those things are like razor blades more often than not. If they were used, I'd be expecting them to be pretty tightly bunched to preclude the pulling in of additional circuits.

    What type of cables? What type of building?
    Which option in Table 4A1 would it satisfy? I can't really see it being classed as anything other than 'support wire'.

    - P

  • Which option in Table 4A1 would it satisfy?

    Depends on the details, but if it's used effectively like a customisable P-clip, then it might simply be 'clipped direct'.

        - Andy.

  • Some of these bands do have very sharp edges. The way the bands are cut/slit tends to create a small radius on the edge with the sharp edge at angle to the plane of the band.  One way of mitigating the sharp edge is to use the band so that these point outward rather than inward.  You can normally tell by inspection.  Also avoid overly tight clamping.  I have seen T&E outer sheath used as a grommet on the edges of such bands but I imagine its quite hard to get it to stay in place.