[Nigel Tufnel]

I'm looking for some shielded stepper cable for my milling machine conversion. There are inexpensive options on ebay but none seem to indicate they are oil resistant. Just wondering if anyone is having issues with cheap stepper cable reacting (cracking, etc) with coolant and way oils?

Or conversely, anyone know where to get good deals on shielded, oil resistant cable?

16 4 AWG Shielded Stranded Wire Cable for CNC Stepper Motor Router Control 10 Ft | eBay

[ger21]

You don't need to use shielded cables for stepper motors.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Regardless, question still holds. How important is oil resistant cable, whether shielded or unshielded? Thanks.

[109jb]

That looks like the same cable sold by automation technologies. I have it on my mill and have not had any problems with exposure to oil, cutting guilds, mist coolant, etc. it is a bit stiff and I would have liked to have a little mire flexibility, but it has done fine.

[Jon.N.CNC]

alpha cable

[UA_Iron]

You sure you need 16g?

If those are in flexing applications, you can count on the foil shield breaking over time and losing wire coverage. This will negate the shielding. Those wires are very much meant for static applications. With a high flex rated cable, typically you will have a good amount of shielding to minimize binding of cables against each other during flex operations. The wires are usually centered as close to the neutral axis as possible to minimize overall movement. You will want a braided shield for moving applications.

The type of shield also affects what frequencies are emitted or received by the cable shield. Typically the braided shields outperform the foil shields in all but the lowest frequencies.


IGUS CF140US
igus® Chainflex® continuous-flex cables: Chainflex® CF140US control cable PVC
shielded, oil resistant, 18/4 high flex rated cable - $1.75/foot. Rated at 14amps

Other gauges available too

If you don't need shielded, go with the CF130US for $1.25/foot
igus® Chainflex® continuous-flex cables: Chainflex® CF130US control cable PVC