I bought a 20-meter coil of VVG 3x1.5 cable in Leroy, measured the real cross-section and checked for compliance with GOST.
In Leroy Merlin, power cables are sold made according to GOST and TU, and the latter are far from always cheaper. For cables according to TU, the cross section can be even halved, so you definitely should not buy them.
I bought the cheapest GOST cable - 33.9 rubles per meter, 678 rubles for a 20 m coil. that a cable according to TU, which even honestly has a coil weight of almost 300 grams less, is more expensive - 757 rubles.
Winding 20 m turned out to be the most profitable: 5 m costs from 45.6 r per meter, 10 m from 39.3 r, 50 m from 38 r, 100 m from 37 r.
The cable was produced by Alfakabel LLC in the city of Orel. The exact name of VVG-Png (A), indicated GOST 31996-2012. There are two logos on the packaging: the Joint Initiative "Safe Cable" and a member of the "Honest Position" association. The cable was manufactured in March 2020.
The cable itself reads "VVG-Png (A) 3x1.5 0.66 kV GOST 31996-2012g ALFAKABEL RUSSIA 03.2020 EAC".
I measured the weight of the coil - 1.803 kg and the exact length of the cable - 19.75 m. GOST 12177-79 the deviation of the cable length in the coil is not more than 1%, that is, 20 cm by 20 m. Here they wound less by 25 cm, but the manufacturer can forgive 5 centimeters.
The resistance of the blue and yellow veins was 0.237 Ohm (12 Ohm per km).
The resistance of the white core was 0.239 ohms (12.1 ohms per km).
By GOST 22483-2012 (Table 3) the resistance of a kilometer of a 1.5 mm² cable core should be no more than 12.1 Ohm.
The actual cross-section of the conductors can be calculated based on the measured resistance.
It turned out 1.44-1.45 mm².
Measurement with vernier calipers gave the same result: core diameter 1.35-1.36 mm, section 1.43-1.45 mm².
I told you why GOST allows a slight underestimation of the cable cross-section: https://ammo1.livejournal.com/1054644.html.
I checked the outer sheath of the cable and the insulation of the cores for flammability. Does not burn, immediately fades out.
The cable complies with GOST, but it is felt that all the parameters were selected so as to save as much as possible, but fit into the requirements of GOST.
Fitted in, well done. :)
P. S. It was this cable that I tested with different currents and measured its heating: https://zen.yandex.ru/media/ammo1/test-kakoi-tok-vyderjivaet-kabel-vvg-3x15-5ed13a1a82bed14b19ec4257
© 2020, Alexey Nadezhin
The main topic of my blog is technology in human life. I write reviews, share experiences, talk about all sorts of interesting things. My second project - lamptest.ru. I test LED bulbs and help figure out which ones are good and which are not so good.