Make your Machines Smaller with Smaller Cables

If you’re a machine builder, you know how important the miniaturization trend is and how you need to constantly strive to design precise and efficient machines. Smaller machines reduce energy demand, increase design flexibility, allow for more machines to run in the same crowded factory footprint and reduce maintenance costs, among other things. All of this amounts to lower costs and greater productivity.

And for you, smaller machines not only offer the possibility for you to sell more of them, they can also save time and money at every step of the fabrication process—everything from sourcing to assembly to shipping to logistics to installation.

To support this, Belden has developed high quality, industrially robust electronic cable that offers the same performance as a traditional 300V electronic cable—that is significantly smaller and more flexible. SpaceMaker cable has about 50% of the footprint of traditional cable, and it has innovatively increased stranding that supports a bend radius up to 74% tighter than any other option in the market.

Specialized Cable for a Specialized Need

Belden launched the SpaceMaker electronic cable line in 2017, offering the first branded, in-catalog, readily available smaller diameter cable in a range of popular gauges. With the importance of miniaturization to our original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers, Belden wanted to make smaller diameter cable a priority, not an afterthought.

The SpaceMaker line includes ruggedized AWM style multi-conductor or multi-paired cables that comply with the NFPA 79 standard. It is rated at one million flex cycles, which makes it a perfect fit for moderate flexing applications. To top it all, these cables come with a 10-year warranty.

With the demand for continually upgraded and redesigned equipment, these multi-conductor cables are likely to outlast the practical life of most machines. More great news: with all the advanced engineering that goes into them, they are still competitively priced compared to traditional electronic cables.

What Customers Gain by Reducing Cable Size

Not surprisingly then, these product releases were a big hit with machine builders—and with their customers. They told us how the SpaceMaker cable allowed them to shave down more and more space “inside the box”—thanks to both the size of the cable and its ability to bend tightly in smaller and smaller spaces. Those who used a lot of cable found, literally, pounds of weight savings on cable alone, and they said that was just the tip of the iceberg. The size and flexibility advantages gave them the ability to reduce the size of their enclosures and the ultimate weight of the finished product significantly, meaning that the size difference of SpaceMaker allowed savvy engineers to exponentially compound the benefits in their designs.

More AWG and Conductor Options

Since the launch of the SpaceMaker series, we have learned that some of our customers' machine applications needed greater current capabilities; others were driving even smaller designs. This feedback drove us to engineer new sizes and add even more gauges to the SpaceMaker line. Now, machine builders can find SpaceMaker electronic cable—high-quality, ruggedized industrial cable in 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 AWG sizes with 2-conductor to 15-conductor options. These cables are available in Unshielded, Overall Shielded or Individually Shielded options to suit your application needs. Belden offers over 100 product codes as standard catalog items, with capability to engineer special constructions based on the customer’s project needs.

Going small is big for machine builders and machine users. Smaller diameter SpaceMaker cables are easy to install in tight spaces with increased operational safety.