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Repair & Replacement
Cable carriers (also called drag chains, cable tracks, or energy chains) guide and protect moving cables, hoses, and hydraulic lines on automated equipment and machinery. Dynatect offers both plastic and metal cable carrier systems engineered for different operating conditions. Plastic carriers are commonly selected for high-speed, long-travel applications, while metal carriers are often preferred for heavy loads, elevated temperatures, harsh environments, and longer unsupported spans. Dynatect’s engineering team helps evaluate load, speed, travel, environment, and cable package requirements to recommend the best solution.
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
Cable Carrier Terminology
Long Travel Cable Track Support Systems
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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How cable & hose carriers protect dynamic cables and extend service life
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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“Without proper planning, cable wear can be one of the first things causing downtime on a robot work cell.” – Automate.org
“Without proper wire protection, cable wear can be one of the first things to cause downtime on a robot work cell. Within one month of installing the new robotic cell, the wires were beginning to show signs of damage, and the robot required downtime maintenance and repair, impeding the process improvements.” – Robotics Tomorrow.com
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
Long travel cable carrier systems are used when an application exceeds a carrier’s rated unsupported span and requires additional support or guidance. Dynatect offers long travel solutions for demanding automated and crane applications.
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 straightforward, but Dynatect’s engineering team evaluates several factors to recommend the best cable carrier solution.
In general, plastic cable carriers are commonly selected for high-speed, long-travel applications where lightweight construction and corrosion resistance are important.
Metal cable carriers are often preferred for heavy-duty loads, longer unsupported spans, elevated temperatures, and harsh industrial environments.
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.
(see also: Cable Carrier Terminology)
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.