Type W Cable 600V-2000V Portable Mining Power Cable

Type W Cable for Portable Mining Power

Type W cable is a flexible portable power cable used to connect mobile or relocatable equipment in underground and surface mining. This TEBAOFLEX page covers supplied 600V to 2000V constructions with two, three or four conductors in round or flat arrangements. Flexible tinned-copper conductors, EPR insulation and an extra-heavy-duty CPE jacket support repeated handling where ordinary fixed-installation cable would be a poor fit.

The first selection question is not simply conductor size. Confirm whether the route is dragged, manually reeled, laid temporarily or fixed; then check conductor count, grounding or ground-check requirements, route length, termination space and the applicable mine specification. Type W should not be substituted for Type G-GC cable or SHD-GC when the protection system needs a ground-check conductor or shielded medium-voltage construction.

• Suitable for: pumps, drills, conveyors, shuttle cars, cutters, loaders and comparable portable machinery.
• Choose by: voltage, core layout, AWG/kcmil size, current, voltage drop and mechanical route.
• Confirm before ordering: round or flat profile, cable length, bend path, ambient conditions and documentation.
• Use another construction when: automatic high-cycle reeling, ground-check continuity or phase shielding is required.

Download the Type W cable datasheet (PDF) with the round 3/C, flat 2/C and flat 4/C tables.

Review the mining and tunneling cable solutions or compare the separate flat Type W cable page for a dedicated four-conductor flat option.

Type W Cable Construction

The supplied Type W portable power cable uses a flexible EPR/CPE construction. The exact core arrangement changes with conductor count and round or flat profile, so final identification and dimensions must follow the approved order drawing.

Five-conductor sample boundary

A supplied TEBAOFLEX photograph shows a five-conductor sample. It is included in the product gallery as a visual manufacturing reference only. The 2C-4C dimensions and ampacity values below must not be applied to that five-conductor sample; request the corresponding drawing and technical table when a 5C construction is required.

Type W Cable Applications

Type W cable is intended for heavy-duty portable power routes in underground or surface mining where the cable may be handled, bent, relocated or dragged under controlled conditions.

• Portable power connections for pumps, drills and conveyors
• Shuttle cars, cutters, loaders and continuous miners
• Mobile or relocatable machinery using compatible 600V-2000V circuits
• Temporary power distribution in severe-duty industrial or mining areas
• Round routes where general handling is preferred, or flat routes where equipment geometry calls for a lower profile

Selection limits that prevent a wrong order

Type W is a portable power construction, not a universal replacement for every mining cable. Confirm ground-check continuity, grounding conductors, shielding, mine approval, automatic reeling cycles, pull tension and roller geometry before substitution. A high-cycle automatic reeling route may require a purpose-built reeling cable; a protected mining circuit may require Type G-GC or SHD-GC instead.

For sizing, provide full-load current, duty cycle, route length, ambient conditions and installation method. Ampacity alone does not resolve voltage drop, derating, protection coordination or termination fit.

What is Type W cable?

Type W cable is a flexible portable power cable for mobile mining and heavy equipment, and NEC Table 400.5(A)(2) rates its ampacity alongside Types G and G-GC. TEBAOFLEX Type W is a 600V to 2000V construction with tinned-copper conductors, 90°C EPR insulation and a reinforced CPE jacket, in round 3/C, flat 2/C and flat 4/C versions without a ground-check conductor. Cable schedules also write it as Type W portable power cable or 2 kV Type W.

What is the ampacity of 4/0 Type W cable?

4/0 Type W cable ampacity is 287 A for a TEBAOFLEX round 3/C construction at 40°C ambient (ICEA S-75-381 basis, 90°C conductor) and 316 A in the 90°C column F of NEC Table 400.5(A)(2) at 30°C when three conductors carry current. The TEBAOFLEX flat 2/C 4/0 is rated 328 A at 40°C (NEC 90°C column E: 361 A), and the flat 4/C (three phase conductors plus ground) is rated 255 A at 40°C, the more conservative ICEA four-conductor value. The 405 A often quoted for 4/0 is NEC column D, for single-conductor Type W in free air only.

What is the ampacity of 2/0 Type W cable?

2/0 Type W cable ampacity is 215 A for a TEBAOFLEX round 3/C construction at 40°C ambient (ICEA S-75-381 basis, 90°C conductor) and 237 A in the 90°C column F of NEC Table 400.5(A)(2) at 30°C when three conductors carry current. The TEBAOFLEX flat 2/C 2/0 is rated 250 A at 40°C (NEC 90°C column E: 271 A), and the flat 4/C (three phase conductors plus ground) is rated 192 A at 40°C, the more conservative ICEA four-conductor value. The 300 A quoted for 2/0 is NEC column D, for single-conductor Type W in free air only.

Why do Type W ampacity charts show different numbers?

Type W ampacity charts differ because they use different ambient temperatures, conductor-temperature columns, constructions and counts of current-carrying conductors. ICEA-basis datasheets rate at 40°C; NEC Table 400.5(A)(2) rates at 30°C in 60°C, 75°C and 90°C columns. A 2/0 Type W reads 215 A (ICEA, round 3/C), 192 A (ICEA, flat 4/C), 237 A (NEC 90°C column F), 208 A (75°C column F) or 271 A (90°C column E, two conductors). Compare charts only on the same basis.

Does the ground in 3/C or 4/C Type W count as current-carrying?

A grounding conductor in Type W cable does not count as current-carrying: Section 400.5(A) of the 2020 NEC states that “An equipment grounding conductor shall not be considered a current-carrying conductor.” A 3/C Type W with one conductor used as a ground is therefore read in column E (90°C column: 74 A at 8 AWG, 271 A at 2/0); TEBAOFLEX round 3/C has three phase conductors and uses column F (65 A, 237 A). The TEBAOFLEX flat 4/C (three phase plus ground) also uses column F, but its ICEA four-conductor rating is lower than the 3/C: 255 A against 287 A at 4/0, 40°C.

Which ampacity column applies with 75°C terminals?

Type W cable on terminals or lugs rated 75°C is read in the 75°C column of NEC Table 400.5(A)(2): at 30°C ambient, 208 A for 2/0 and 277 A for 4/0 with three current-carrying conductors (column F), and 238 A and 317 A with two (column E); every size is in the full tables. Correct a 75°C value for ambient with the 75°C column of NEC Table 310.15(B)(2)(a) (2011–2017), 310.15(B)(1) (2020) or 310.15(B)(1)(1) (2023).

Every size and construction is in the Type W cable ampacity chart.

Type W Cable Ampacity Chart and Specifications

TEBAOFLEX publishes Type W ampacity for three constructions from 8 AWG to 4/0 AWG: round 3/C with three phase conductors, flat 2/C, and flat 4/C with three phase conductors plus a ground. Each row gives the TEBAOFLEX rating at 40°C ambient on the ICEA S-75-381 basis and, for comparison with US catalogues, the NEC Table 400.5(A)(2) 90°C-column value at 30°C for the conductors that carry current (for flat 4/C, three; the TEBAOFLEX flat 4/C rating is the ICEA four-conductor value, see Source Notes). Confirm the final drawing, derating, voltage drop and termination dimensions before ordering.

Type W cable ampacity chart by size

Find the construction and size, compare the two ampacity columns, then send the size with the required length for a quotation. Dimensions, strands, insulation thickness, weight and the NEC 75°C column for every row are in the full tables below.

Round 3/C Type W – three phase conductors, no grounding conductor

Flat 2/C Type W – two current-carrying conductors

Flat 4/C Type W, surface mining – three phase conductors plus ground

75°C terminations: which NEC column to read

Where a terminal or lug is rated 75°C, read the 75°C column of NEC Table 400.5(A)(2), printed in the full tables above, instead of the 90°C column; for terminals rated 60°C, use the 60°C column of the same table. For an ambient other than 30°C, correct a 75°C value with the 75°C column of the ambient table: Table 310.15(B)(2)(a) in NEC 2011–2017, Table 310.15(B)(1) in NEC 2020, Table 310.15(B)(1)(1) in NEC 2023. The TEBAOFLEX 40°C ratings are 90°C-conductor values and have no 75°C equivalent in the datasheet.

Reel-layer multipliers (40°C column only)

When Type W stays wound on a cylindrical (multi-layer) drum, the standard ICEA S-75-381 / NEMA WC 58 ampacity tables multiply the 40°C rating by one factor chosen by the number of layers wound: 1 layer 0.85, 2 layers 0.65, 3 layers 0.45, 4 layers 0.35. The ICEA factors assume continuous current flow. Monospiral (radial) reels, common for flat shuttle-car cable, use different factors; confirm the reel type in the RFQ. Apply the factors to the TEBAOFLEX 40°C column only, never to the NEC 30°C reference values. The TEBAOFLEX Type W datasheets do not print these multipliers.

Example (computed, not tested): a 4/0 Type W 3/C at 40°C left with 2 layers on a cylindrical drum: 287 A × 0.65 ≈ 187 A.

Source Notes

• The 40°C column is the TEBAOFLEX rating on the ICEA S-75-381 / NEMA WC 58 basis (2008/2017 editions): single isolated cable in free air, continuous duty at +90°C conductor temperature and +40°C ambient temperature, cable not wound on a reel.
• The 30°C columns reproduce NEC Table 400.5(A)(2) as printed in the 2020 edition (30°C ambient; the 90°C column, plus the 75°C column in the full tables) for the number of current-carrying conductors shown: column F for round 3/C and for flat 4/C, column E for flat 2/C. These are code-table reference values for the cable type, not a TEBAOFLEX performance statement.
• For the round 3/C rows, each 40°C rating is within 1 A of the NEC 90°C column F value multiplied by 0.91, the 36–40°C correction factor for a 90°C conductor in NEC 2020 Table 310.15(B)(1). This does not extend to the flat 4/C rows, although they also have three current-carrying conductors: their ICEA four-conductor ratings are lower (see the next note). It does not hold for two conductors from 8 AWG to 2/0 either: column E × 0.91 gives 67 A at 8 AWG and 118 A at 4 AWG, against flat 2/C ratings of 72 A and 127 A (the two bases nearly coincide at 3/0 and 4/0). Do not convert flat 2/C values with 0.91.
• The flat 4/C rows have three phase conductors and a grounding conductor. NEC 400.5 does not count an equipment grounding conductor as current-carrying, so the NEC reference is column F. The TEBAOFLEX flat 4/C ratings, 72 A at 6 AWG to 255 A at 4/0, are ICEA four-conductor values, lower than the round 3/C rating of the same size (255 A against 287 A at 4/0) and the more conservative figure; they are not column F × 0.91. They assume the fourth conductor is a grounding conductor: if all four conductors carry current, do not use them; apply Table 400.5(A)(3) to column F instead.
• A cable in which four to six conductors carry current (not the TEBAOFLEX flat 4/C, whose fourth conductor is a ground) is reduced to 80% of column F by NEC Table 400.5(A)(3). Table 400.5(A)(3) is the conductor-count adjustment, not the ambient correction table.
• Single-conductor Type W is rated in NEC Table 400.5(A)(2) column D, for example 405 A at 4/0, only for separated single conductors in free air and not in a raceway (footnote 1 of the table). TEBAOFLEX does not publish 1/C Type W on this page, and column D values do not apply to the multiconductor rows above.
• Dimensions and weights are nominal. Single values are overall diameter; paired values are height × width. Confirm them on the TEBAOFLEX order drawing.

Supply and ordering

• Minimum order quantity: 50 m, for standard and custom constructions.
• Cut lengths: supplied cut to the ordered length; state the required length per drum in the RFQ.
• Typical lead time: 7–45 working days depending on size, construction and order details; the written quotation governs.
• Jacket colour: black as standard; other colours on request.
• Packing and marking: drum size, cable marking and the document package are confirmed at quotation.

Type W Cable Standards and Documentation

The supplied TEBAOFLEX datasheet lists the following standards as construction, conductor or Canadian product references for the covered Type W cable data.

These reference standards are named in the TEBAOFLEX datasheet for the constructions on this page; the last row gives the listing status. They are not certifications TEBAOFLEX holds for this product, and nothing in this table should be read as a UL Listing, a CSA certification or a mine-safety agency approval.

Documents to define in the RFQ

• Required cable marking and mine or project reference
• Inspection, routine-test or type-test documentation
• Final construction drawing and dimensional table
• Packaging, drum length and identification requirements
• Phase colour code, minimum bending radius and jacket print legend for the ordered size