What kind of cams are these?

derekleffew

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([-]STUDENTS ONLY![/-] Anyone can respond.)

Are these the old-school Cam-Lok connectors? Where can I find the mating females? Is this a good dimmer pack?

CD80cams1.jpg

CD80cams2.jpg
 
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Are those CamLoks--They don't really look like it, but maybe an older design. They do have the correct color scheme. At some point in time, CD80s did have Camlok, so...

Where can you find the females? That could be a variety of places. If you simply want the connector (why?) call Cooper Industries. You also might find them in the wall or at the end of a cable line. If you'd rather have some sort of adapter, you can try Leviton, if it's worth it to deal with them.

Is the dimmer pack good? Well, CD-80s were supposed to be decent dimmer packs, and that does look like one of the CD80s that used CamLok. So, from what we can see, the pack is good if those are Camlok and not some random frankencable.
 
They don't look like cams at all, it almost looks like a custom job using stage pins and some SO cable. My first clue is at the strain relief where it looks to be about 1/4 roll of electrical tape holding the strain relieve to the connections. There is also no Lok to these it looks like just a friction hold on the connections. also the space between the copper and the plastic housing looks un-professional. I'm sure the dimmers are fine. At USD we used something similar but used twist lock connections to power the rack.
 
I am not a student, and therefore I want to be cautious in what I post, as to not give too much information. From the several responses, I don't feel that the posts are going in the right direction. So let me give you a few clues. These connectors have existed from long before Camloks, and were used by quite a few lighting folks before cams were available. I believe that the Camloks were actually an outgrowth of these connectors. The Camloks were made to fill a need that came about with touring groups requiring high current tie ins. They took the connector in question and improved it.
So now that I have given the clues, what industry did they come from before used in lighting, and what was the popular name that they are known as?
 
Twecos. They came from the welding industry. The cable is marked as welding cable, so that should be replaced with type SC or W.
 
Now to further expand the discussion:

1) What is wrong with welding cable?

2) How does replacing it with type SC or W correct this problem?

Edit: Once again, students only please for the time being.
 
Now to further expand the discussion:

1) What is wrong with welding cable?

Welding is a higher voltage application which may occur in an environment which is much harsher than a typical dimmer room, so the insulation required would likely be more expensive—I wouldn't expect welding cable to be cost effective for lighting. I'm having difficulty thinking of reasons why welding cable would be unsafe for lighting loads—possibly due to current or duration of load.
 
1) What is wrong with welding cable?
2) How does replacing it with type SC or W correct this problem?
I thought "type W" stood for Welding cable?;)

EDIT: I guess not.:(

So what does the W stand for?
 
Twecos. They came from the welding industry. The cable is marked as welding cable, so that should be replaced with type SC or W.
Since Tweco, the correct answer, has been given, the only thing left to do is unleash STEVETERRY on this thread. :twisted:
 
Welding cable is bad because it is not used in a continuous duty application. It will overheat if used continuously, like powering a dimmer pack. Welding uses a lower voltage, exactly what voltage I don't know, but it's less than 120V. Also, it (welding cable) does not have the crush resistance of SC or W. I have heard that certain cable jackets will split when crushed.
 
Actually, there's a much simpler explanation for why welding cable is not acceptable. It has to do with NEC requirements. Bonus points if you cite the appropriate section of code.;)
 
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Since Tweco, the correct answer, has been given, the only thing left to do is unleash STEVETERRY on this thread. :twisted:

1. Welding cable is not a listed extra-hard usage cable covered by NEC Article 400. It does not even have a voltage rating, but the default voltage for welding equipment is 60V. Therefore it is not allowed for transmission of line-voltage power.

2. Acceptable listed single-conductor extra-hard usage cables are listed in NEC table 400.4.

3. Tweco welding connectors are also totally unsuitable for line-voltage power transmission. In the good old bad old days, there was no other single-pole connector available, so we used them at our peril. They have no voltage rating. They are not listed. The are not properly shrouded to prevent shorts from foreign objects. They only have one setscrew for wire connection. They are only suitable for welding applications.

Throw them away and replace with E1016 Cam-Loks.

ST
 
... It does not even have a voltage rating, ...
In the photo above, printed on the jacket of the welding cable is "600 VOLTS (-40°F)". Does that mean it's good for 600V only at forty below? Who would want to weld in that weather?

Is now the time to bring up the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles?
 
In the photo above, printed on the jacket of the welding cable is "600 VOLTS (-40°F)". Does that mean it's good for 600V only at forty below? Who would want to weld in that weather?

Is now the time to bring up the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles?

That 600V is not an NRTL 600V, so it doesn't count.

ST
 

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