International Organisation for Standardi- sation- and South African Bureau of Standards- (SABS-) certified cable manu- facturer Walro Flex has expanded its product range to include double-insulated welding and blasting cable, says sales and marketing manager Peter Willers.

The company’s product range now includes single- and double-insulated welding cables, blasting cables, flat and round automotive and nonautomotive multicore cables, submersible cables, cabtyre and panel flex electrical cables, as well as general-purpose cables ranging from 0.22 mm2 to 95 mm2.

Walro Flex started manufacturing its blasting cable for detonation applications in the mining industry in January.

The original-equipment-manufacturer- specified blasting cable is manufactured as solid conductor, stranded conductor or multiples of each from as small as a 0.5 mm outer diameter to a 1.2 mm outer diameter.

The company is also able to manufacture variants of other sizes on request.

The blasting cables are insulated in polyvinyl chloride, high-density polyethylene or halogen-free insulations, meeting the safety requirements of the South African mining industry, notes Willers.

Although the product is still in its infancy, he says, Walro Flex has manufactured and sold a significant volume of blasting cable to the local industry.

Meanwhile, Walro Flex began manufacturing its double-insulated welding cable in May, in response to its customers’ preference for double-insulated products, says Willers.

The double-insulated cable uses dual-insula- tion materials, with the outer layer meeting the SANS 1576 welding-cable specification.

The cable can be used for low-voltage, flexible power-cable applications, as well as normal-duty welding applications in the mining, panel-building and industrial sectors.

The cable has been SABS-approved and is manufactured to the SANS 1574-3 specifica- tion, with a voltage rating of 600/1 000 V.

Walro Flex’s cable manufacturing facility consists of four main process divisions – the rod breaking and wire drawing, the extrusion, the stranding and bunching, and the highly flexible, superfine conductor departments.

Willers says the nonautomotive cables industry has been quite a learning curve for the company, as it has only been operating in this industry for the last three years.

Nevertheless, it aims to grow its product range in South Africa and to expand into Africa in the next four to five years.

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