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Pilone vs Magna Cables: the copper number you can actually measure

PILONE CABLES TECHNICAL TEAM

Ask for the conductor resistance, not the copper purity. 2.5 mm² class 2 must not exceed 7.41 Ω/km; 4 mm² must not exceed 4.61.

Purity percentages are the standard currency of cable marketing in Pakistan and none of them can be checked by a buyer — we have seen no independent purity assay published here, and we publish none ourselves. IEC 60228 does not work in purity at all. It sets a maximum resistance for each size and each conductor class, and resistance is a number you can put a meter on in the shop. That is the honest ground for comparing Magna Cables, us, or anyone else.

The limits IEC 60228 sets

Resistance is the property the whole cable depends on. It sets how much of your supply voltage the run loses and how much heat the conductor makes carrying its load, which is why the standard defines it and defines nothing about purity. A conductor that meets its resistance limit has enough well-drawn copper in it, whatever a marketing page says about the metal.

Maximum conductor resistance at 20°C per IEC 60228, plain annealed copper. Class 2 is the rigid stranded conductor used in fixed wiring; class 5 is the fine-stranded flexible conductor, whose limit is slightly higher at the same nominal size. The last column is the class 2 figure divided by ten — the reading to expect on one conductor of a 100 m length.
SizeClass 2 maxClass 5 maxClass 2 per 100 m
1.5 mm²12.1 Ω/km13.3 Ω/km1.21 Ω
2.5 mm²7.41 Ω/km7.98 Ω/km0.741 Ω
4 mm²4.61 Ω/km4.95 Ω/km0.461 Ω
6 mm²3.08 Ω/km3.30 Ω/km0.308 Ω
10 mm²1.83 Ω/km1.91 Ω/km0.183 Ω
16 mm²1.15 Ω/km1.21 Ω/km0.115 Ω

Measuring it yourself, and what the reading is worth

Take a 100 m coil of 2.5 mm² two-core. Short the two conductors together at the far end, then measure across the pair at the near end. You are reading the loop, so the figure to expect is 2 × 0.741 = 1.48 Ω. On 4 mm² over the same length the loop is 2 × 0.461 = 0.92 Ω.

Three honest cautions. Short your own probes together first and subtract that reading, because at these values the meter's leads are a large share of the answer. The limits are defined at 20°C, so measure a coil that has been out of the sun, and treat a hot coil's higher reading as heat rather than bad copper. And a hand-held meter resolving hundredths of an ohm is at the edge of its accuracy — the test catches a conductor that is badly undersized, not a 3% shortfall. For the check that is decisive with a kitchen scale instead, use the conductor mass test; for what the metal itself is, see checking the conductor, not the label.

A resistance check confirms the conductor; it does not size a circuit. Current capacity figures on this site are BS 7671 reference method C, clipped direct, 30°C ambient, PVC insulated copper, and must be derated for conduit, grouping and heat. Have a licensed electrician confirm the size for your load and run length, or start with the cable size calculator.

What we will and will not claim

We publish the resistance limits our conductors are drawn to, the stranding for each class, and the installation assumptions behind every current figure on this site, so all of it can be measured against us. We publish no test on Magna Cables' product, because we have not run one, and no purity figure at all, ours included, because a buyer cannot verify one. Pilone draws its cable in Lahore and sells at the day's copper rate — roots in the copper trade since 1992, the cable line running since about 2020, Punjab in 1–2 days and the rest of Pakistan in 2–4. The wider set of questions to put to any supplier is on how to choose a cable company in Pakistan.

Frequently asked

Which cable brand has the purest copper in Pakistan?
We have seen no independent purity assay published here, and we publish none ourselves, so a purity percentage a buyer cannot verify should not decide the purchase. The standard does not work in purity at all. IEC 60228 sets a maximum conductor resistance for each size and class — 7.41 Ω/km for 2.5 mm² class 2, 4.61 for 4 mm² — and resistance is what a buyer can measure.
How do I measure a cable's resistance before I buy it?
Short the two conductors together at the far end of a known length, then measure across the pair at the near end. On 100 m of 2.5 mm² class 2 the loop should read about 2 × 0.741 = 1.48 Ω at 20°C. First short your meter probes together and subtract that reading, because lead resistance is a large share of a figure this small. Measure a coil that has been out of the sun.
Why is flexible cable's resistance limit higher than standard cable at the same size?
Because a class 5 flexible conductor is built from many fine strands rather than seven thick ones, and the standard allows slightly more resistance for it: 7.98 Ω/km against 7.41 at 2.5 mm², 4.95 against 4.61 at 4 mm². That is normal and not a defect. It does mean you must compare like with like — a class 5 figure against a class 5 limit.
Pilone vs Magna Cables — what should decide it?
The measurable things: conductor class, cross-section, insulation voltage rating, metres in the coil, and the resistance the conductor actually reads. We publish the IEC 60228 limits our cable is drawn to so you can hold a meter on us. We publish nothing about Magna Cables' product because we have not tested it, and a claim we cannot support is worth less to you than a number you can check.

Hold a meter on our cable

Send the cores, size and metres for today's factory rate from Lahore — then check the loop against the figures above.

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