EoW July 2007

english technology news

Spark tester – choose with care Spark testers have become essential instruments in the field of electric wire and cable insulation control. There are many factors to consider when choosing a unit. When manufacturing a wire or cable, it is important to know its destination country, as there are regulations and standards (BS, CEI EN, CSA, MIL, UL) formulated by a large number of organisations, and different operating standards for spark testers. The introduction of global quality, recurrent certifications of the product’s measuring and testing equipment, CE data monitoring and EC marking have all created new equipment manufacture requirements. Cable manufacturers, in order to maintain their quality standard, have introduced the spark tester not only along extrusion lines but also throughout all other production processing activities. This has made it possible to track a product step by step, find faults and take action on machine parts that cause these faults, preventing manufacturers from learning that the product is faulty only at the end of the manufacturing process. Customised coiling systems is the hallmark of KFM Kabelmaschinenfabrik Müller. Founded in the 1960s, the company is specialised in coiling and packing machinery, but it has also developed cabling machinery such as SZ- stranders, binding heads and belt-type meter counters. For coiled cable KFM Kabelmaschinenfabrik Müller offers a wide range of systems in the market of automatic machines. The RH Series machines cater for wire and cable in diameters from 3mm to 25mm. Flexible and rigid, plastic and rubber coils are possible from 200mm outside diameter to 800mm outside diameter. These vary in height from 30mm to 300mm. The cable is tested before winding and defect parts are eliminated automatically. The coils can be fixed with one diametral strap or cord, 2 or 4 straps or cords, or only with stretch foil. This may be shrunk in foil if needed, and is palletised on different sized pallets. solutions in

Before choosing a spark tester, multiple factors need to be considered: reference standards, maximum test voltage, AC or DC, cable diameter, speed and, if AC, test frequency. These choices could seem easy, but cable manufacturers are often led to make lower-end purchases, compared to their real needs. This is due to the spark tester manufacturer’s lack of information, and the tendency to cut operating costs. The capacity of the wire or cable to be tested. This aspect is normally underestimated because it is generally believed that there is little to choose between different spark tester types. People often think that, to avoid mistakes, they should buy equipment featuring maximum performance and, hence, the highest frequency so as to comply with all standards. Later, when they try the product, they realise they cannot set the desired test voltage or that non-existent faults are detected. The foregoing process leads them into a loop wherein they cannot get to know how reliable the machine is, and are forced to be happy with rough test results. Product assistance. A very important element that is worth considering, as an essential requirement concerns the supplier’s organisation, and the response time needed to solve the problem. Other factors are whether service contact is direct or indirect, the way the product warranty is formulated, the time required to take action and the related costs. Unfortunately, all this only shows up when the first fault occurs. It is therefore important to consider factors like the supplier’s solidity and how reliable the organisation is. Before and after-sale service. Most of the time, the value of technical support and advice the supplier can provide, along with recurrent product certification, which provide a guarantee for reliable data and a product that is constantly kept under control, are not taken into account. In today’s market, where cost is an important element, people often tend to be blinded by a price that is apparently low, but which hides a thousand snares. Above all, it forces the customer to suffer a penalty linked with the sale, instead of receiving increased value from technical advice that aims at supplying the best product, whose real value added is the expression of experience and know-how. SIFMDC – Italy Other aspects that are generally underestimated include:

STM spark tester

▲

Process automation and product data acquisition have become essential to avoid setting errors, to analyse production, to search the balance point, and to take preventative action on the systems to ensure efficiency. Communication among the various parts of the system, through the use of high- technology systems, is now an everyday occurrence. Equipment that generally used to operate through manual settings entered by the operator, today needs to be designed for automatic-control operation, through the application of new communication standards and protocols (RS232, RS485, PROFIBUS, CANBUS, Ethernet). Features like automatic labelling with real time printing, perimetral taping, real time ink-jet printing or perforating the foil for easy unwraping are possible. For cable coiled on reels the company offers about the same wide range of possibilities. The TS-Machines have been built for cable from 3mm outside diameter to 25mm outside diameter. For winding on, reels of about 125mm diameter to drums of 1,000mm diameter, made from carton, plywood or sturdy wooden DIN-Drums are available. The cable’s end can be fixed by a tape, a strip of stretch foil or covered by stretch foil. Each reel (drum) may get one or more real time printed labels, and is automatically palletised. For both, the RH-lines and the TS-lines, the manufacturer undertakes the best quality and production speed. KFM Kabelmaschinenfabrik Müller GmbH – Germany Fax : +49 4498 293361 Email : info@kfm-mueller.de Website : www.kfm-mueller.de

Specialised solutions to coiling problems

Fax : +39 035 4559358 Email : info@sifmdc.com Website : www.sifmdc.com

62

EuroWire – July 2007