Cables for Elevators, Lifts and Traveling Cable Systems
An elevator traveling cable hangs from the car through the whole shaft and flexes at the same point on every trip. That single repeated bend, combined with the cable carrying its own weight over the full travel, sets the design: flat or round construction, load-bearing steel wire, and a core count that matches what the car actually needs.
Car height and travel distance drive core count and the need for load-bearing elements. Very tall buildings often need a construction where the steel wire rather than the copper carries the hanging load, and control and communication pairs need shielding to stay clean against the drive.
What decides the cable in this application
Four factors do most of the work. Getting these right narrows the choice to a small number of constructions, and each one appears in the specification table of the cable type you select.
The cable supports its own weight for the full travel
On a long shaft the hanging weight is significant, and it is carried by the cable every second of every day. Steel wire or Kevlar elements take that load so the conductors are not structural.
One bend point, repeated indefinitely
The cable flexes at the same point at the car and at the shaft fixing on every trip. Flex life at that point, not general flexibility, is what determines service interval.
Core count grows with car specification
Car lighting, fan, door operator, intercom, alarm, load weighing and increasingly data for the controller all need conductors. Selecting the core count with headroom avoids a re-cable when a feature is added.
Control and communication pairs need shielding
Modern controllers carry serial or network communication down the traveling cable. Shielded pairs and an overall braid keep that communication reliable next to the drive and lighting circuits.
Cable types for elevators & lifts
7 constructions from the catalogue that suit this duty. Each links to its own page with the full specification table.
What we need to quote accurately
Send these six items and we can confirm a construction and price without a follow-up round. Both the contact page and every product page carry a form that accepts them, and you can attach a drawing or specification sheet directly.
- 1 Travel height Total shaft travel in metres — this drives the load-bearing requirement
- 2 Flat or round Whatever the car and shaft fixing will accept
- 3 Core count and sizes Full core table including lighting, door, intercom and control
- 4 Communication type Serial, CAN or network — determines shielding and impedance
- 5 Voltage rating Typical elevator systems operate at 300/500 V
- 6 Bend radius at the fixing The radius available at the car and shaft anchor points
Frequently asked questions
Flat or round traveling cable — which is better?
Flat cable consumes less shaft space and bends in a defined plane, which suits many machine-room-less layouts. Round cable is often easier to terminate and handles the hanging load more predictably on long travel. Tell us the shaft arrangement and we will confirm.
How do I choose core count for a traveling cable?
Add up everything the car carries — lighting, fan, door operator, intercom, alarm, load weighing, control and communication — then allow headroom. Adding cores later means re-cabling the shaft, so it is worth being generous at specification stage.
When does a traveling cable need steel wire load bearing?
On tall shafts, where the hanging weight of the cable becomes the limiting factor. The steel wire carries that load so the copper conductors are not stressed in tension, which is what would otherwise cause premature failure.
Are shielded pairs necessary in an elevator cable?
Where the controller communicates over serial or network down the traveling cable, yes. Shielded pairs with an overall braid keep that communication reliable in the presence of drive and lighting noise.
Other applications
Need the cable confirmed against your machine?
Send the duty, the environment and the electrical data. Our engineering team will confirm the construction, the standards it meets, and the price — including custom builds where a catalogue type does not fit.