The 638 series is a heat, oil and flame retardant rubber trailing cable: EPR insulation with a chlorosulphonated polyethylene sheath, usually abbreviated HOFR. It is built for cables that are dragged, reeled or exposed to hot and oily conditions, and it withstands a higher conductor temperature than H07RN-F. The last digit of the reference gives the core count, so 6381TQ is single core and 6384TQ is four core.
Key applications
- Trailing cables to mobile and reeled plant
- Steelworks, foundries and hot process areas
- Quarry, crushing and screening equipment
- Shipyard and offshore flexible connections
- Welding plant and high-temperature machine wiring
- Links to equipment exposed to oil, grease and coolant
Features and benefits
- Higher temperature capability than a standard PCP-sheathed rubber flex
- CSP sheath resists oils, abrasion and tearing
- Flame retardant to BS EN 60332-1-2
- Tinned or plain annealed Class 5 copper for reliable long-term termination
- Available in single core up to very large cross-sections for mobile power
Specification notes and limitations
The 90°C figure is a maximum conductor temperature, not an ambient the cable can be installed in indefinitely while carrying full load — current ratings must be derated for high ambient temperatures and for grouped or coiled cable. This is a flexible cable and must not be buried, built into structure, or used as fixed wiring. Reeled and festooned installations need the manufacturer's dynamic bending radius and a strain relief at the termination; a cable repeatedly bent tighter than its stated radius will fatigue the conductors long before the sheath shows damage. HOFR does not mean fire resistant: the cable will not sustain a circuit in a fire.
