Throughout my career as an electrical engineer, I have observed one practice that seems prevalent: using inferior cables in the wiring of building projects such as homes, offices, hotels, beaches, restaurants, schools, etc. In every project, one aspect of the project that needs to be critically evaluated is the cost. This is very important because it helps in cutting down on the total cost of building and total power consumption after the structure is complete and operational, and minimizes financial losses while maximizing the efficiency of cables and other components that make up the circuit. As an electrical engineer, I do understand clearly why clients will always like to beat down the prices of projects before they sign up for them. However, I don’t think it calls for the use of inferior materials such as cables when procuring materials for a project, because in the long term, I am confident that using substandard cables on our projects is very expensive; nonetheless, it looks cheaper in the market. For the benefit of the readers of this article, I am ready to highlight two vital points explaining why inferior cables are expensive. First of all, I would like to affirm emphatically that in every electrical and mechanical system, there are losses, and this is a typical phenomenon when it comes to electrical and mechanical systems. It is because of this reason, each automobile has an exhaust system to vent out smoke produced as a result of combustion that is taking place in the engine of the automobile while the engine is active. Likewise, in an electrical circuit, there is always REACTIVE power that will be experienced as a result of TRUE /ACTIVE power that flows through the circuit. This REACTIVE power mostly comes out as heat in the system. This is why it is usual to feel some heat when you hold cables that have just been disconnected from a power source.
With the use of inferior cables, there is a higher possibility of a compromised / weak insulator that will not have the capacity to withstand the heat that will be released in the circuit over a long period and cause the insulator to rip off easily. In some cases, the accumulation of dust and even heat from the outside environment over a period can also lead to the ripping off of weak insulators. This can cause electrical shocks to the users of the circuits, cause short circuits, and in extreme cases lead to a fire outbreak in the buildings. These are some of the major causes of fire outbreaks in buildings.
Aside from weak insulators being a property of inferior cables, another main property that will always be discussed is the conductor strength of the cable. One common property of metals is their ability to conduct electricity and heat freely. Nevertheless, not all metals are very good conductors. So far, Gold (Au), Copper (Cu), and Aluminum (Al) are known to be very good conductors of electricity and heat. This is because the atomic structure of such elements is such that they have a lot of ‘FREE ELECTRONS’ in their outer shell. Going back to the definition of ‘free electrons’ in chemistry, we understand that free electrons are electrons that are not bound to an atom or molecule and are free to drift randomly from one atom to another within a material or move under the influence of an electric field, and this is what makes it possible for these metals to be very good conductors. Copper (Cu) happens to be the most chosen element for cable manufacturing because it’s cheaper than Gold (Au), yet more expensive and stronger than Aluminum. In some other situations, Aluminum is used because it’s also cheaper than copper (CU).
Nonetheless, inferior cable manufacturers mostly use alloys that have a composition of Copper (Cu) and some other element, and this affects the conductivity and strength of the cable. This can cause problems like conductor breakage, short circuits, and, in the worst-case scenario, a fire outbreak.
Consequently, when these unfortunate incidents happen, so much money, time, and energy are invested in correcting them because Lives are lost, people are injured, properties are lost, and businesses and jobs are lost. All that goes a long way to affect livelihoods.
Afterward, huge amounts of money will be required to replace lost properties, heal the injured, bury the lost, and compensate their families. All this money CANNOT be excluded from the initial total cost of materials that was budgeted and paid for when the building was first constructed, but should be added to it to give people a clearer picture of how much of a loss the use of inferior cables has caused them just because they were trying to “CUT DOWN ON COST.” For example, consider two cables: cable A and cable B with prices at GHC1,000 and GHC2,000 respectively, with cable A being the inferior cable and cable B being the superior one. A client was procuring cables for a six-story building project meant to be a commercial office facility and decided to procure cable A, the inferior cable, for the project because it was cheaper. Seven years after the completion of the project, when they had a lot of tenants, a fire developed in the power room due to a failed insulator in one of the incoming cables to the distribution panel (DP).
This fire spread through the whole power room to some other parts of the floor, injured some people, and burnt some computers and other electronic appliances in the building. The client had to step in to compensate the injured and replace all burnt appliances and parts of the building. Unfortunately, their insurance hadn’t been renewed after its last expiry date, so the client had to settle whatever expenses were incurred out of their pocket. Such unexpected expenses brought about some distractions in the budget and halted other projects that the client was working on.
All these unexpected expenses should not be excluded from the total cost of the building; however, they should be added to it to give clients a clearer view of how much they have overspent on one project just due to “CUTTING DOWN ON COST”. All this could have been evaded from the scenario, but since the client was determined to cut down on cost, he found himself in it. It is the work of the electrical engineer to advise the client on all electrical matters concerning the project; likewise, it’s the work of the client to cooperate with the electrical engineer throughout this process to ensure a successful project. Nevertheless, when the client is always trying to weave their way into decision-making regarding the procurement of materials without considering the decision of the electrical engineer, it will lead to a compromise on the progress of the project.
The overall strength of a building is mostly measured by the materials that were used in putting up the building, while the strength of the materials can also be measured by how well the materials react to constraints that affect them. Therefore, a quality cable will perform its work well over a longer duration regardless of the constraints that are likely to affect it, like reactive power from the circuit, heat, and dust from the external environment. Since numerous negative repercussions come along with the use of substandard cables and materials in general, I usually advise people to avoid procuring inferior cables for their projects because of the harmful effects associated with them, and I hope this article will educate people about inferior cables and their effects.
The adage “prevention is better than cure” teaches us that it is always preferable to avert a tragedy than to cure it.