Cables Heavy? Really? Are they?

Since I am definitely getting into the business of supplying people with devices to hold their wire-type thangs, I was wondering: just how much is much? Just how much SHOULD a clip like this expect to hold? Hmmmm….

Okay, I’ve got it. I think normally, if it was a bunch of Cat5 cables, say for a surveillance system, I’d put tie-wraps about every two feet. More than that and the wires start to droop and look not-reall-attached. More, and they often seem over-clamped. So, let’s go with clips spaced every two feet, and those should hold nominally 8 Cat-5e cables. Note that the plastic separator in Cat-6 makes them larger, so fewer cables per clip.

I suppose the easiest way would be to try. So, it’s off to the photo-studio, where I can get actual photos of these things. And, sure enough, I stuffed 9 Cat-5 and -6 cables into three clamps, spaced about two feet between each clamp. I pushed 3-feet worth of cable into the spaces on either side of the middle clip, and took the below photo. No bands needed at all, at least from the looks of this. It seemed like that number was “enough” for the clip; any more, and the arms would start to spread, loosening it’s grip on the tube.

So, I’d say that we can reasonably-well attest that 8 Cat5 cables per EMT 1.0 clip, with about 2 feet between clips, “seems about right.” You can space them farther apart if there are fewer cables, but I’d stick to 2-3 feet (0.7 – 1 meter) for quantity-calculation purposes. If you’re worried about the security at that number, put a bunch of bands on them, and it’ll probably be just fine.

This rating applies about-equally to the other 4CELNK-YR clips that go around tubes (Tubing Series, obviously, but also in the Rack and Gaming Series), with the proviso that smaller clips will hold one or two fewer cables.

Now, if you really have more cables than will comfortably fit in a clip, the proper thing is to use two sets of clips, and run them as two “bundles” of cables. And since you can always re-configure with 4CELNK, with No Waste, you can decide as you go along. Feel free to make changes without wasting money on nylon tie-wraps.

Regards,

Rando