Skip to content
Factory-direct from Lahore · Nationwide delivery in 2–4 days +92 319 4262451 WhatsApp

Pilone vs Royal Cables: the one conductor number the standard defines

PILONE CABLES TECHNICAL TEAM

We hold no assay, and we publish no purity percentage — not for our copper and not for anyone else's.

What IEC 60228 does define, and what a buyer can actually measure, is conductor resistance: a maximum of 4.61 Ω/km for 4 mm² class 2 copper at 20°C, 7.41 at 2.5 mm², 1.15 at 16 mm². Hold any supplier's cable to those numbers, ours included. A percentage nobody measured proves nothing; a resistance limit is the pass mark the standard actually sets.

Why resistance, and not a purity figure

A purity percentage is not a measurement a buyer can repeat; a resistance limit is. It is also the wrong measurement for the question being asked. What a buyer wants to know is whether the conductor will carry current without heating and without losing volts, and that is resistance, in ohms per kilometre. Resistance takes in everything at once: the metal, how well it was annealed, and whether the cross-section is really there. Copper that is thin, badly drawn or not copper all the way through fails the resistance limit, whatever a percentage claims.

IEC 60228 sets a maximum resistance for every nominal size and conductor class at 20°C. This is the whole reason the standard is worth citing: it is a pass mark, not a description. A 4 mm² class 2 conductor is a 4 mm² class 2 conductor if it measures 4.61 Ω/km or less at 20°C, and it is not one if it measures more, no matter what is printed on the sheath or claimed on a website.

Maximum conductor resistance at 20°C per IEC 60228, class 2 (fixed wiring) and class 5 (flexible). The coil column is the class 2 limit × 0.090 km — the most a single 90 m conductor should read end to end at 20°C. Readings rise with temperature; correct for it or measure in the cool of the morning.
SizeClass 2 maxClass 5 maxCeiling for a 90 m coil
1.5 mm²12.1 Ω/km13.3 Ω/km1.089 Ω
2.5 mm²7.41 Ω/km7.98 Ω/km0.667 Ω
4 mm²4.61 Ω/km4.95 Ω/km0.415 Ω
6 mm²3.08 Ω/km3.30 Ω/km0.277 Ω
10 mm²1.83 Ω/km1.91 Ω/km0.165 Ω
16 mm²1.15 Ω/km1.21 Ω/km0.104 Ω
25 mm²0.727 Ω/km0.78 Ω/km0.065 Ω

What the check catches, and what it does not

Be honest about the instrument. A 90 m coil of 4 mm² should read no more than 0.415 Ω end to end, and an ordinary hand-held multimeter cannot resolve that — its own leads are worth a good fraction of it. You need a low-resistance meter, a four-wire measurement, or a longer sample: 500 m of 4 mm² puts the ceiling at 4.61 × 0.5 = 2.31 Ω, which an ordinary meter can see once you subtract the lead resistance.

Three things will trip you up. The limit is stated at 20°C and copper's resistance rises as it warms, so a coil measured on a hot afternoon reads high and looks worse than it is. You have to know the true length, so measure a cut sample rather than trusting a coil label. And the check is about the conductor only — it says nothing about the insulation class, the sheath or the voltage rating, which you read off the print. For whether the metal is copper at all rather than copper-clad, see how to check the conductor is copper.

A conductor that reads above its IEC 60228 limit is a smaller conductor than the label claims, and the breaker on that circuit was sized against the label. Treat a failed reading as a size problem, not a paperwork one: have a licensed electrician re-check the circuit before the cable is installed, or size it again in the cable size calculator.

The number we will stand behind on our own copper

Our conductors are drawn to the IEC 60228 resistance limit for their class: 4.61 Ω/km at 4 mm² class 2 at 20°C, and the matching figure at every other size, class 2 for standard cable and class 5 for flexible cable. That resistance is printed on the datasheet for each size, and it is the figure we ask to be held to, because it is the one you can put a meter on. Copper drawn on our own line in Lahore, at the day's copper rate, factory-direct with no dealer margin and quoted on WhatsApp because copper moves daily. Roots in the copper trade since 1992; the cable line itself is newer. Punjab in 1–2 days, the rest of Pakistan in 2–4.

We will not rank ourselves above a named competitor, and we will not publish a figure about another maker's cable that we have not measured. The criteria to judge any supplier by, with what each answer tells you, are on how to choose a cable supplier in Pakistan.

Frequently asked

Which is better, Pilone or Royal Cables?
We will not answer that, because we have not measured their cable — we hold no test reports, and we have found none published for either company. Ask both suppliers for the conductor class and the resistance figure at the size you need, check them against IEC 60228 limits, then compare the delivered rate per metre. That comparison is real.
What does Pilone publish instead of a purity figure?
Conductor resistance, to IEC 60228: a maximum of 4.61 Ω/km at 4 mm² class 2 at 20°C, and the matching limit at every other size and class. It is printed on the datasheet for each size. That limit already fails thin, poorly annealed or clad conductors, and unlike a percentage it is a figure you can put a meter on yourself.
How do I measure cable resistance myself?
Take a sample of known length, let it settle to a cool temperature, and measure end to end with a low-resistance meter — ideally four-wire, or subtract your lead resistance. Compare against the size's limit × the length in km. A 90 m coil of 2.5 mm² should read at most 7.41 × 0.090 = 0.667 Ω.

Compare on the standard, not on adjectives

Send the size, the core count and the metres. We quote the day's factory rate on WhatsApp, with the conductor class and resistance for the size you asked about.

WhatsApp for a quote

Related