All industrial machines and equipment have special requirements for their electrical systems. In order to standardize these requirements and also keep up with any changes, the National Fire and Protection Agency developed the NFPA 79 – Electrical Standard for Industrial Machinery. The standard provides guidance on how a machine’s electrical system should be designed, as well as ways to keep machine operators safe.

If you are one of the many machine designers who need to follow the NFPA standard, you’re often left with limited options for applications that require continuous-flex cables. But, there’s good news: NFPA 79 has been revised and the 2012 edition permits the use of certain AWM cables, many of which can be used for high-flex applications.

The NFPA 79 standard outlines the requirements that AWM cables have to comply with. The following summarizes some of the main requirements.

• The standard allows AWM cables when the cable has been identified for use with the approved equipment and is used in accordance to the manufacturer’s instructions. For example, many of igus®’ customers use chainflex® cables because they are specifically designed for continuous-flex applications and many have the UL AWM mark.
   
• The NFPA 79 standard defines some of the cable construction requirements for AWM cables, including the minimum conductor strand count, flame resistance and wall thickness.
   
• The standard also requires the cable adhere to all the requirements of the respective UL AWM style page.