I have a long secondary extension (300 ft or so), so I am running 250KCM (3 legs, Al, USE) for my service entrance.
When I orered it from the supplier, he didn’t know what “KCM” was, so I asked for 250 MCM (which I’ve also heard it called) & he knew what that was. However, when I got it, the cable was labled 250KCM on the jacket – but the receipt said MCM.
The long & short of it is – why are there two names for this diameter cable & which is correct?
Regardless, it’s some heavy stuff.
Replies
those of us that play with it commonly refer to it as
...thousandths....250thousandths...and so on .....until we get to 2000MCM.....then its simply called 2 million
I personally don't compare the CM designations.....just as long as the stuff is the right size
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they also print ...kcmil..... on the jackets too
Edited 2/15/2006 12:47 pm by maddog3
The K comes from Kilo, which is Greek for thousand, the M is from the Latin word for thousand, IIRC, mille or milla or something like that.
Fun, isn't it, how two ancient civilizations can still be confusing electricians after a couple thousand years? ;-)
-- J.S.
Thanks
While Roman Numerals are not used much anymore you will still see M and C used such as,$xx per C fasteners (per hundred)$xx per M board feet (per thousand).The Greek modifiers are used for all scientic and metric measurements. Most common, even outside thsoe areas, are k (kilo - thousand) and m (mega- millions).yotta [Y] 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 = 10^24
zetta [Z] 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 = 10^21
exa [E] 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 = 10^18
peta [P] 1 000 000 000 000 000 = 10^15
tera [T] 1 000 000 000 000 = 10^12
giga [G] 1 000 000 000 (a thousand millions = a billion)
mega [M] 1 000 000 (a million)
kilo [k] 1 000 (a thousand)
hecto [h] 100 (a hundred)
deca [da]10 (ten)
1
deci [d] 0.1 (a tenth)
centi [c] 0.01 (a hundredth)
milli [m] 0.001 (a thousandth)
micro [µ] 0.000 001 (a millionth)
nano [n] 0.000 000 001 (a thousand millionth)
pico [p] 0.000 000 000 001 = 10^-12
femto [f] 0.000 000 000 000 001 = 10^-15
atto [a] 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 = 10^-18
zepto [z] 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001 = 10^-21
yocto [y] 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 = 10^-24
There were wars between the Greeks and Romans in ancient times, and their prefixes are still here fighting it out.... ;-)
-- J.S.
I know the CM stands for Circular Mils. I just wondered about the prefixes.
I know Kilo was 1,000, (mille being lating makes sense for the M)
As stated above, KCM= 1000 circular millsMCM= 1000 circular millsK is Greek for 1000M is Latin for 1000Therefore:KCM=MCMK is well known as 1000 modifier, in uses as KW for killowatts.M is also known in inventory work, price per 1000 pieces is $/M. You see this on invoice when buying wire at the electrical supply house.Frank DuVal You can never make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
seems to me your CSA is a big PITA whereas his CEO has no problem with shipping your order COD via UPS...or FED-EX....
...?
knowledge without experience is just information.... Mark Twain
http://www.cobrajem.com
I'm not sure what your talking about. I just went to the my local electircal supply house. The guy at the counter had never heard KCM before, he knew it as MCM.
However, a couple of posters have already answered my question.
was just pokin' fun at the acronyms...and the fact I have no idea what you were talking about...knowledge without experience is just information.... Mark Twain
http://www.cobrajem.com
I get it now. I guess I was a little slow there...
You said "I just went to the my local electircal supply house. The guy at the counter had never heard KCM before, he knew it as MCM."Even better, I was at Electrical Equipment today (local supply chain) and the Thomas & Betts laminated display on the counter showing different styles of their crimp lugs had MCM in some tables and KCM in other tables! Same company, same display, I guess different departments made the charts at different times.Frank DuVal You can never make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
Dang, and here I always thought KCM was a BBQ sauce!
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Edited 2/17/2006 12:16 am by wrudiger