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Repair & Replacement
Cable carriers (also known as cable tracks and energy chains) are flexible hollow structures composed of links to help guide and protect cables, hoses, and hydraulic lines on equipment and machinery. Dynatect manufactures a complete line of cable carrier assemblies for high-performance, heavy or light-duty applications with abrasives, heat, and debris.
Cable Carrier Design Guide
Cable Carriers RFQ Online
Cable Carrier RFQ PDF
Cable Carrier Long Travel Application Brochure
Cable Carriers for Overhead Cranes
Rotational Cable Carrier Applications
How to Size Your Carrier
Cable and Hose Carrier Installation
Cable Carrier Preventative Maintenance & Tips
Cable Carrier Accessories
Cable/Hose Clamping & Strain Relief
Cable and Hose Distribution Guidelines
Metal Cable Carriers
Dynatect’s metal cable carriers offer a durable solution for high temperatures and heavy loads. Ideal for applications such as steel mills, metal production, gantry mills, and construction these steel carriers deliver strength and long, unsupported spans.
Plastic Cable Carriers
Nylatrac® and Nylatube® plastic cable carriers are molded from high-strength glass-filled nylon or special polymers. These carriers are highly durable, corrosion resistance, and are suitable for applications requiring high speed/ acceleration and/or long travel operation.
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Dynatect supplies optimized cable carrier systems to keep dynamic cable packages in working order. Cable carriers are important to dynamic cables and can also impact maintenance cycles, here’s how:
Cables fail for a variety of reasons. These are ranked in order from the most common problems we see.
When stacking cables/hoses, care should be taken to ensure enough slack has been provided to allow cables/hoses to travel freely on top of one another. The stacking or direct side-by-side placement of cables and hoses with large cross-sectional differences is not recommended.
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The use of cable carriers has increased with the wide adoption of automated equipment, and the technology has fortunately kept up with the demands of higher speeds/accelerations. Plastic link carriers are often used in robotics, automation, and light industry-duty applications. Heavy-duty steel carriers (aka drag chains) are used in steel mills, construction equipment, and drilling equipment for the oil and gas industry. View the examples below to get a sense of how we can provide a carrier for any cable or hose that requires protection and guidance.
Cable Carrier for Robotic Applications – Dynatect’s Nylatrac® cable carriers are ideal for robotic applications, especially the linear travel of a 7th axis slide / robot transfer unit (RTU). Examples of these applications are gantry robots, top loader robots, and paint robots. These robots provide mounting adaptability for a range of floor, wall, invert, angle and ceiling mounting options. Cable wear is one of the first things to cause downtime in a robotics cell and Dynatect’s application-engineered cable carriers minimize that risk.
Gortrac SRC steel cable carrier in an industrial application
Nylatrac NP Series plastic cable carriers installed on a gantry crane designed to offload product to an automated cart-shuttling system.
Gortube enclosed metal cable carrier on a machine tool
Dynatect’s Nylatrac® Modular TL carriers operated fully submerged at an entertainment attraction. These custom plastic cable carriers, nested and in a side-mounted configuration, were equipped to handle rotational movement and long travel while containing an extensive cable package. A custom rail clamping system was provided for both ends of the carrier to prevent entanglement and keep over 15 cables aligned with a neutral travel radius. Additionally, Dynatect provided customized locking hubs (black plastic) to ensure cable carrier was inconspicuous under water.
HDD machine with nested heavy duty Gortrac steel cable track and a plastic Nylatrac KL cable track
Gortrac model XL6 cable carrier used in steel product manufacturing facility
Cable carrier used on paving vehicle application
Offshore Drill Rig – Skate System: Gortrac SRC steel carrier with heavy-duty construction and customized with lowered mounting height and glide blocks for gliding application.
Nylatube carriers on a machine
Does your automated equipment require a long distance cable/hose management solution? Cable carrier long travel systems are an ideal cable and hose management solution for industrial, gantry and port cranes, robotic transfer lines, and other automated systems.
Dynatect offers a variety of support systems for applications that exceed a carrier’s unsupported span. At 200’, Dynatect has the longest cable carrier testing capabilities, located outdoors to experience the same conditions as many applications.
Dynatect’s long travel cable carriers are ideal for many applications including robot transfer units, large machining centers, gantry robots, plasma and flame cutters, CNC drilling, automated welding, CNC burn tables, transfer systems, gantry cranes, and high-speed saw mill equipment.
An application is considered long travel when a cable carrier exceeds its rated unsupported span. Unsupported span is a function of the type of cable carrier (steel or plastic), the total weight of the carrier, its fill weight (cables/hoses), and travel distance. Every cable carrier has an unsupported span. As the unsupported span of the carrier is exceeded, the carrier begins to sag. At this point, the carrier needs additional support or guidance to operate safely and reliably.
In plastic carrier systems, support guidance is required when sag reaches the point where the upper (moving) section of the carrier contacts the lower section.
Metal cable carrier systems tend to have longer unsupported spans than plastic carriers. If needed, long travel guidance systems are available for metal cable carriers.
An important consideration for applications requiring plastic carriers in a guide trough is the bending moment that occurs at the moving end as the carrier is pushing, particularly when high velocities/accelerations and heavy fill weights are introduced.
A potential solution for this problem is lowering the mounting height of the carrier, thereby reducing the bending moment. In a lowered mounting height design, the moving end begins gliding immediately as it begins to push.
The lowered mounting height is achieved by adding reverse bend links, extending the ‘K’ dimension of the carrier.
Dynatect can run tow force calculations on an application to determine whether a lowered mounting height is advisable.
In cases where the moving end cannot be lowered due to application restrictions, a “push plate” may be utlilized. If the moving end cannot be mounted at the recommended mounting height, a push plate provides additional support to the carrier system at the bending moment that occurs at the moving end as the carrier is pushing.
When the carrier performs under normal operation without sag, force is applied is a straight trajectory along the moving section:
As sag is introduced, the mass of the carrier falls below the force plane, creating a bending moment on the links at the moving end:
In a long travel carrier system configured for a lowered mounting height, the sag is eliminated, redirecting the force vector back to a straight trajectory. Furthermore, the loading that the carrier introduces as it is dragged over the bottom carrier section is replaced with a more even wear pattern. The force is distributed over the entire system instead of just the first few links at the moving end:
The most common method of support in plastic carrier applications where unsupported spans are exceeded is to install a guide trough to prevent lateral movement during travel.
In a center mounted application, the trough consists of two sections: deep and shallow. As the carrier begins to travel from the retracted position, it initially sags and rides on itself. When the gliding section passes the center point, it transitions to the shallow trough segment.
Benefits of Guide Trough Systems:
Guide Trough Layout Drawings (PDF)
For Metal or Plastic Carriers
Stationary support rollers are available for unsupported spans that exceed the maximum lengths listed on specific track series load chart. They are available on both plastic carriers and metal carriers.
Support Roller for Metal Carriers
Support Rollers for Plastic Carriers
Support Roller System Layout Views
Carriage support systems are used for long travel applications where cable/hose load, tow force, or speed exceeds the limits available with other long travel systems (support rollers, guide troughs). A rolling style carriage support system can be used with plastic or metal cable carriers. The drum style carriage support system is used exclusively with metal carriers.
Rolling Style Carriage
Rolling carriage support systems consist of rollers, conveyor supports and a moving rail framework that supports the carrier throughout the complete length of travel. The entire system is guided by channels that ensure accuracy and dependability, even at extremely high loads and velocities. The system can be self-guiding for travels under 50 feet. Guide channel required for travels over 50 feet. Depending on mounting location, a guide channel is recommended for all lengths of carrier travel to prevent outside interference.
Features/Benefits
Drum-Style Carriage
Carriage support systems consists of a moving framework that has major rollers (drums) at each end and intermediate conveyor supports between the major rollers, which support the cable carrier for the complete length of travel.
The entire system rolls on “C” -channels on the floor (or a bridge).
Single carrier carriage systems require a return cable assembly. For use with metal carriers only.
The Quick Trough modular trough systems is designed for crane kits, indoor cranes, and most standard crane girders.
Learn more
Dynatect’s patented ARS Long Travel Support System is the evolution of 50 years of experience. Its unique, patented design adds articulating rollers that are positioned to support a standard plastic carrier and provide travels up to 300 feet without a guide trough.
Read more
Dynatect’s patented Hybrid carrier solution offers the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) than any other long travel carrier solution, requires less space and averages 50% less installation time than standard long travel systems with guide troughs.
Cable and hose carriers are essential components for safely guiding and protecting cables and hoses. This FAQ section addresses common challenges and provides answers to your most frequently asked questions.
The answer is not always straight-forward, but you can count on Dynatect to take all factors into consideration and recommend an ideal choice for your application.
See also: Nylatrac Material Properties
General Operating Temperatures
The minimum bend radius of your cable or hose is critical to selecting a suitable curve height (aka mounting height) for your cable carrier. The carrier’s bend radius should be larger than the recommended bend radius of your stiffest cable or hose. Consult the manufacturers’ cable/hose specification for the recommended bend radius. If you cannot access the data sheets, measure the outside diameter of the largest cable or hose. Electrical cables rated for constant motion typically have a minimum bend radius of 7.5 times its outside diameter. Hoses typically have a minimum bend radius of 12 times its outside diameter.
Each product series has a selection of standard bend radii (R dimension). Some metal carriers, as noted, can be supplied with a custom bend radius.
For a quick comparison, the ranges of sizes are listed below.
A cable carrier application is considered long travel when a cable carrier exceeds its rated unsupported span. Unsupported span is a function of the type of cable carrier (steel or plastic), the total weight of the carrier, its fill weight (cables/hoses), and travel distance. At this point, the carrier needs additional support or guidance to operate safely and reliably. In many cases, carriers are designed to glide on themselves in long travel applications to achieve the travel requirement.
At 200 feet, Dynatect has the longest cable carrier testing capabilities, located outdoor to experience the same conditions as many applications.
Beyond gliders and standard troughs for long travel, Dynatect also offers:
Dynatect isn’t just a catalog offering, but also offers highly engineered solutions including:
Dynatect Engineering is located in the United States offering more opportunity for real time interaction with customers. If global support is needed, Dynatect has facilities and engineers in Asia, Europe, and North America.