Power Cable Types
UL/CSA Cable Jacket Material
| Letter | Meaning |
| S | Service Grade (also extra-hard service when not followed with J, V, or P) |
| J | Hard Service |
| V | Vacuum cleaner cord (light-duty cable) |
| P | Parallel cord ("zip cord") |
| E | Thermoplastic Elastomer (UL/NEC designation ONLY) |
| O | Oil Resistant* |
| T | Thermoplastic |
| W | Outdoor-includes sunlight resistant jacket and wet location rated conductors (formerly "W-A") |
| H | Heater cable |
| VW-1 | Flame retardant |
| FT-2 | Flame retardant |
* When only one "O" appears in a classification (i.e. SOW), only the outer jacket material is oil resistant. If two "O's" are in the classification (i.e. SOOW), the insulation covering the condutors and the outer jacket insulation are all oil resistant. SOOW is not "Service-Grade, Oil, Otter & Weasel-Proof"
UL Definitions of Cable Types (NEC NFPA-70)
| PVC Jacketed |
| SVT | Thermoplastic insulated vacuum cleaner cord, with or without 3rd conductor for grounding purposes; 300V. |
| SJT | Junior hard service, thermoplastic insulated conductors and jacket, 300V. |
| SJTW | Same as SJT, except outdoor rated. |
| SJTO | Same as SJT, but oil resistant outer jacket. |
| SJTOW | Same as SJTO, except outdoor rated. |
| ST | Hard sevice cord with all thermoplastic construction, 600V. |
| STW | Same as ST, except outdoor rated. |
| STO | Same as ST, but with oil resistant outer jacket. |
| STOW | Same as STO, except outdoor rated. |
| SPT-1 | Parallel jacketed thermoplastic cable, 300V. With or without 3rd conductor for grounding. |
| SPT-2 | Same as SPT-1, but heavier construction. |
| SPT-3 | Same as SPT-2, but heavier construction. |
| TPE Jacketed |
| SJE | Hard service cord, thermoplastic elastomer insulated and jacketed, 300V. |
| SJEW | Same as SJE, except outdoor rated. |
| SJEO | Same as SJE, but with oil resistant jacket. |
| SJEOW | Same as SJE, except outdoor rated. |
| SJEOO | Same as SJE, but conductor insulation and jacket BOTH oil resistant. |
| SJEOOW | Same as SJEOO, except outdoor rated. |
| SE | Extra hard service cord, thermoplastic elastomer conductor insulation and jacket, 600V. |
| SEW | Same as SE, except outdoor rated. |
| SEO | Same as SE, but with oil resistant jacket. |
| SEOW | Same as SEO except outdoor rated. |
| SEOO | Same as SE, but with oil resistant conductor insulation and jacket. |
| SEOOW | Same as SEOO, except outdoor rated. |
| Thermoset Jacketed |
| S | Extra hard service cord, thermoset-insulated conductors and thermoset jacket, 600V. |
| SO | Same as S, but with oil resistant jacket. |
| SOW | Same as S outdoor rated. |
| SOO | Same as S, but both conductor insulation and jacket are oil resistant. |
| SOOW | Same as SOO except outdoor rated. |
| SJ | Hard service cord, thermoset insulated conductors and thermoset jacket, 300V. |
| SJO | Same as SJ, but with oil resistant jacket. |
| SJOW | Same as SJO, except outdoor rated. |
| SJOO | Same as SJ, but both conductor insulation and jacket are oil resistant.(thermoset)
|
| SJOOW | Same as SJOO, except outdoor rated. (thermoset) |
UL/CSA Thermoset Cord Classifications
Yes, there's one difference.
| UL | CSA |
| S | S |
| SO | SOW |
| SOW | SOW |
| SOO | SOO |
| SJ | SJ |
| SJO | SJO |
| SJOW | SJOW |
| SJOO | SJOO |
| SJOOW | SJOOW |
AWM Appliance Wiring Material
Lookup AWM Styles by number on the UL Site
| Style Designation | Section | |
| 1000-1999 and 10000- | 1 | |
| 2000-2999 and 20000- | 2 | |
| 3000-3999 | 3 | |
| 4000-4999 | 4 | |
| 5000-5999 | 5 | |
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