{"id":17210,"date":"2026-10-29T09:19:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T08:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ventsystems.de\/lexikon\/leitungsquerschnitt\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T15:49:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T14:49:07","slug":"cable-cross-section","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ventsystems.de\/en\/lexikon\/leitungsquerschnitt\/","title":{"rendered":"Cable cross-section"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>Cable cross-section<\/strong> is the cross-section of the copper cores in mm\u00b2. With 24 V actuators it matters more than with 230 V: because the voltage is low, the <strong>Voltage drop<\/strong> on long cables has a strong effect.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rule of thumb<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cross-section A = 2 \u00d7 length \u00d7 current \u00f7 (56 \u00d7 permissible <a href=\"\/en\/dictionary\/spannungsfall\/\">Voltage drop<\/a>). 56 is the conductivity of copper in m\/(\u03a9\u00b7mm\u00b2). A voltage drop of at most about 5 % is usual, i.e. around 1.2 V at 24 V.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Example<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Cable length 20 m, actuator 2 A, permissible voltage drop 1.2 V<\/li><li>A = 2 \u00d7 20 \u00d7 2 \u00f7 (56 \u00d7 1.2) \u2248 1.2 mm\u00b2<\/li><li>the next larger standard cross-section is chosen: 1.5 mm\u00b2<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Table: maximum cable length at 24 V<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Guide values for the single cable length (control unit to actuator) with copper cable and at most 5 % voltage drop (1.2 V), calculated with the rule of thumb above and rounded down:<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Cross-section<\/th><th>1 A<\/th><th>2 A<\/th><th>4 A<\/th><th>7 A<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>0.75 mm\u00b2<\/td><td>25 m<\/td><td>12 m<\/td><td>6 m<\/td><td>3 m<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>1.5 mm\u00b2<\/td><td>50 m<\/td><td>25 m<\/td><td>12 m<\/td><td>7 m<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2.5 mm\u00b2<\/td><td>84 m<\/td><td>42 m<\/td><td>21 m<\/td><td>12 m<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Current = sum of the current draw of all actuators on this cable. 7 A corresponds to the full load of the VS-C24-7A control unit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Important<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Exact cable sizing and the connection to 230 V must be carried out by a qualified electrician. Manufacturer information in the data sheet takes precedence.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why is a thinner cable enough at 230 V?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the same power, only about a tenth of the current flows at 230 V. The voltage drop is therefore much smaller.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What happens with a cable that is too thin?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Too little voltage reaches the actuator. It runs slower, does not reach its force or stops.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Read more<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"\/en\/dictionary\/current-consumption\/\">Glossary: Current consumption<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"\/en\/dictionary\/24-v-or-230-v\/\">Glossary: 24 V or 230 V<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"\/en\/connecting-chain-actuator\/\">Guide: Connecting a chain actuator<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not sure which actuator fits? Call us at <a href=\"tel:+494050694631\">040 50694631<\/a> (Mon\u2013Fri 8 am\u20135 pm) or use the <a href=\"\/en\/drive-finder\/\">actuator finder<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"\/en\/dictionary\/\">\u2190 Back to the glossary<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Which cable a 24 V window actuator needs \u2013 with formula and worked example.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"parent":16230,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17210","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ventsystems.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ventsystems.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ventsystems.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ventsystems.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ventsystems.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17210"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ventsystems.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17264,"href":"https:\/\/ventsystems.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17210\/revisions\/17264"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ventsystems.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ventsystems.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}