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Three 16 mm² class 2 copper conductors, 7/1.70 mm strands per core, PVC insulated and sheathed to 450/750 V. 85 A as line-neutral-earth, 76 A as three phases, 1.15 Ω/km, about 38 kg of copper in a 90 m coil. Drawn on the Pilone line in Lahore.
Prices track the daily copper rate. Bulk and coil pricing on request.
Check the coil before you pay for it
Every coil leaves our factory with a QR code printed on the packaging. Scan it and the factory record for that batch opens: brand, cable size, batch number, year of manufacture and conductor. Compare the batch number on screen with the one printed on your coil — if the two do not match, it did not come from us.
16mm 3 core cable is quoted at the day's copper rate, per metre.
16 mm² 3 core standard cable is quoted at the day's copper rate, per metre — copper moves, so the rupee figure is fixed on the day you order; send the length in metres and your city on WhatsApp for today's number. What the rate buys has two current ratings, not one: wired as line, neutral and earth it has two loaded conductors and carries 85 A on BS 7671 reference method C at 30°C, and wired as three phases without a neutral it has three loaded conductors and carries 76 A.
Sellers quote this size per metre, per foot, per coil, and sometimes as a bare number with no unit at all.
Then pin down the coil. “Coil” is a container, not a quantity — 90 m, 45 m and 30 m coils are all sold in Pakistan, and some shops still sell by the yard. Get the metre count in writing before you pay. The copper column is what should be inside each length.
| Quantity | Length | Copper inside it | To get the per-metre rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 metre | 1 m | 0.43 kg | Nothing to do |
| 1 foot | 0.305 m | 0.13 kg | Multiply the per-foot rate by 3.281 |
| 45 m half coil | 45 m (148 ft) | 19.2 kg | Divide the coil price by 45 |
| 90 m coil | 90 m (295 ft) | 38.4 kg | Divide the coil price by 90 |
| 100 m drum | 100 m (328 ft) | 42.7 kg | Divide the drum price by 100 |
We quote per metre against the length you send us. Search 25mm cable, or this size, or anything in between, and the results come back in three different units on one page of listings — that is the whole problem. The cable price per meter page works through every conversion, and the cable price list sets the sizes side by side.
Three core is the one size buyers get wrong most often, because it has two answers. What matters is how many of the three conductors carry current. A protective earth does not, so a line-neutral-earth circuit is a two-loaded-conductor installation at 85 A. Three phases with no neutral is a three-loaded-conductor installation at 76 A.
| Wired as | Loaded conductors | Current capacity | Supply | 5% limit at full load |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Line, neutral, earth | 2 | 85 A | 220 V | 46 m |
| Three phases, no neutral | 3 | 76 A | 400 V | 94 m |
Work a real run. Voltage drop is current × length × the tabulated mV/A/m, divided by 1000. A 50 A three-phase motor feeder over 45 m drops 50 × 45 × 2.8 ÷ 1000 = 6.3 V, which is 1.6% of 400 V — well inside the 20 V budget. The same cable as a single-phase submain carrying 63 A over 25 m drops 63 × 25 × 2.8 ÷ 1000 = 4.4 V, or 2.0% of 220 V.
| Size | Strands (class 2) | Line-neutral-earth, 220 V | Three phases, 400 V | Voltage drop | 5% limit at full load |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 mm² | 7/1.04 | 46 A | 41 A | 7.3 mV/A/m | 33 m / 67 m |
| 10 mm² | 7/1.35 | 63 A | 57 A | 4.4 mV/A/m | 40 m / 80 m |
| 16 mm² | 7/1.70 | 85 A | 76 A | 2.8 mV/A/m | 46 m / 94 m |
| 25 mm² | 7/2.14 | 112 A | 96 A | 1.75 mV/A/m | 56 m / 119 m |
Step up or step down that ladder rather than guessing. 25 mm cable buys 96 A on three phases against the 76 A here, and 10 mm² buys 57 A — and every step also moves the run length at which voltage drop, not heat, becomes the limit.
Both capacities assume the cable is clipped direct in open air at 30°C. In conduit, bundled with other circuits, or in a hot roof space it carries less. BS 7671 deals with that by multiplying the tabulated figure by correction factors for ambient temperature and grouping, and the factor depends on your installation, so we publish the tabulated number and the method rather than one invented figure. Work yours with the cable size calculator and the voltage drop calculator, then have a licensed electrician confirm it.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Conductor | Plain annealed copper, class 2 stranded |
| Nominal area | 16 mm² × 3 cores |
| Strand construction | 7 / 1.70 mm per core (class 2, computes to 15.9 mm²) |
| Trade strand code | 7/.064 in — 14.5 mm² computed, sold as 16 mm² |
| Max conductor resistance at 20°C | 1.15 Ω/km |
| Current capacity (method C, 3 loaded) | 76 A |
| Current capacity (method C, 2 loaded) | 85 A |
| Voltage drop | 2.8 mV/A/m |
| Voltage rating | 450/750 V |
| Insulation / sheath | PVC / PVC, 70°C conductor rating |
| Conductor copper weight | ≈ 426.6 kg/km (3 × 142.2 kg/km) |
| Copper in a 90 m coil | ≈ 38 kg (conductor only) |
| Reference standards | IEC 60228 (conductors), IEC 60227 (PVC cables) |
Line, neutral and earth in one sheath, from the main panel to a sub-board. Two loaded conductors, 85 A.
Motors and machines that take three phases and no neutral. Three loaded conductors, 76 A.
Floor-to-floor distribution on smaller risers and trunking runs, protected from impact.
Standard cable is fixed wiring: tray, trunking, conduit or clipped to a wall, indoors. If the run goes underground or crosses open ground, armoured cable is the correct family. If the run has to flex or be dragged — a machine tail, a portable panel — use the class 5 build, 16mm 3 core flexible cable. For sizing a whole three-phase installation, start at three-phase cable size.
Core count follows the circuit, not the load. The market writes it loosely — 3 core cable, 4core cable, four core — but all it ever means is how many conductors sit inside the sheath. Count the conductors the circuit has to carry from one end to the other, earth included, and buy that many cores. A single-phase circuit that needs its earth in the same sheath is three core. A three-phase load with a neutral — anything feeding a distribution board with single-phase circuits on it — is four core. Two core is line and neutral with the earth run separately.
| Cores | What runs in it | Loaded | Current capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 core | Line and neutral, earth run separately | 2 | 85 A |
| 3 core | Line, neutral and earth — or three phases with no neutral | 2 or 3 | 85 A / 76 A |
| 4 core | Three phases plus neutral | 3 | 76 A |
The same size in the other two builds: 16mm 2 core standard cable and 16mm 4 core cable. One step up in the same three-core build is 25mm 3 core cable at 96 A on three phases; one step down is 10mm 3 core cable at 57 A, and below that 6mm 3 core cable at 41 A. If the circuit needs a neutral as well as three phases, four core is the build, from 6mm 4 core cable at 41 A up to 25mm 4 core cable at 96 A. Every size we make in this family is listed on the standard cable hub.
“Full gauge” is a claim on a lot of listings and it almost never comes with a test the buyer can run. Here are three you can run yourself, on any seller's cable including ours. You need a weighing scale, a tape and a vernier.
Conductor mass = area × cores × 8.89 kg/km per mm². For 16 mm² 3 core that is 16 × 3 × 8.89 = 427 kg/km, so a 90 m coil holds about 38 kg of copper before insulation and sheath.
Cut the end square. A 16 mm² class 2 core is 7 strands of about 1.70 mm. Fewer strands, or a thinner strand, means a smaller conductor whatever the sheath is printed with.
Get the metre count in writing before you pay, then check it with a measuring wheel. A short coil is the quietest way a per-coil price stops being the price you calculated.
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