Glossary of Terms

Below are listings of industry jargon and their meanings.  The top two sections are regarding the styles and markings for power cord wires and the bottom section is general terms.  We are always available to you through email or call 8 - 5, M - F PST. 

Index of Designations for Wire Markings

D dry
H heater style
J Junior service (up to 300V, if J is not listed in the wire type, then it is rated to 600V)
N neoprene
NI “non-integral”, means inner wire insulation and outer jacket are separate
O oil resistant compound used in wire jacket
P parallel
R round construction
S Service (also stranded copper wire. Designated for heavy duty insulated portable cord)
T thermoplastic
V vacuum (flexible wire initially used for vacuum cleaner applications but now widely used in many applications)
W weather resistant compound used in wire jacket (outdoor use designation to mean moisture and sunlight resistant)

Alphabetically listed UL Power Cord Wire Designations

DRT Dry Round Thermoplastic – Canadian standard (also known as SRDT by UL)
HPN Heater Parallel Neoprene (Neoprene insulated wires)
NI-SPT-1 Non-Integral Service Parallel Thermoplastic (-1 indicates 1/64th" insulation thickness)
NI-SPT-2 Non-Integral Service Parallel Thermoplastic (-2 indicates 2/64th" insulation thickness)
SJO Service Junior oil resistant jacket
SJOO Service Junior oil resistant conductor jacket and oil resistant outer jacket
SJOW Service Junior oil and weather resistant jacket
SJOOW Service Junior oil resistant conductor jacket and oil and weather resistant outer jacket
SJT Service Junior Thermoplastic
SJTO Service Junior Thermoplastic with oil resistant jacket
SJTOW Service Junior Thermoplastic with oil and weather resistant jacket
SJTOOW Service Junior Thermoplastic with oil resistant conductor jacket and oil and weather resistant outer jacket
SJTW Service Junior Thermoplastic with weather resistant jacket
SO Service with oil resistant jacket
SOO Service with oil resistant conductor jacket and oil resistant outer jacket
SOOW Service with oil resistant jacket for conductors and outer jacket and weather resistant outer jacket
SOW Service with oil and weather resistant jacket
SPT-1 Service Parallel Thermoplastic (–1 indicates 1/64th" insulation thickness)
SPT-2 Service Parallel Thermoplastic (–2 indicates 2/64th" insulation thickness
SPT-3 Service Parallel Thermoplastic (–3 indicates 3/64th" insulation thickness)
SRDT Service Round Dry Thermoplastic – UL designation (also known as DRT in Canada)
ST Service Thermoplastic
STO Service Thermoplastic with oil resistant jacket
STOW Service Thermoplastic with oil and weather resistant jacket
STOOW Service Thermoplastic with oil resistant conductor jacket and oil and weather resistant outer jacket
STW Service Thermoplastic with weather resistant jacket
SVT Service Vacuum Thermoplastic

Glossary of Terms

AC Alternating Current
Amp (Ampere) Unit of measure that expresses the rate of flow of an electrical current
ANSI American National Standards Institute
AWG American Wire Gauge
CSA Canadian Standards Association
DRT Dry Round Thermoplastic - Canadian standard (also known as SRDT by UL)
Ferrite Ferrimagnetic ceramic non-conductive compound material used to prevent high frequency electrical noise from entering or exiting equipment
Ferrule A circular metal clamp used to hold wires together
EMI Electromagnetic Interference
GFCI Ground-fault circuit-interrupter
HPN Heater Parallel Neoprene (Neoprene insulated wires)
Hypot testing by introducing electrical current though wire in order to determine the “highest potential” electrical current that can be applied before the wire insulation breaks down
ICC Int'l color code standard for wire jacket colors; hot = brown, Neutral = Blue, Ground = Green/Yellow
IEC International Electromechanical Commission
Insulation The material surrounding a wire or conductor that itself is not conductive
ISO International Organization on Standardization
NACC North American Color Code; hot = black, neutral = white, ground = green
NEMA National Electrical Manufacturers Association
NI-SPT-1 Non-Integral Service Parallel Thermoplastic (-1 indicates 1/64th" insulation thickness)
NI-SPT-2 Non-Integral Service Parallel Thermoplastic (-2 indicates 2/64th" insulation thickness)
O.D. Outer diameter
OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer
Ohm Unit of measure of electrical resistance
PVC Polyvinyl Chloride
RoHS Reduction of Hazardous Substances, a directive from the European community to limit the amount of acceptable content levels of heavy metals enacted in 2003
ROJ The designation to Remove Outer Jacket
Schuko German for “protected contact”, it‘s the commonly used name for the standard European CEE7 three prong plug
SJO Service Junior oil resistant jacket
SJOO Service Junior oil resistant conductor jacket and oil resistant outer jacket
SJOW Service Junior oil and weather resistant jacket
SJOOW Service Junior oil resistant conductor jacket and oil and weather resistant outer jacket
SJT Service Junior Thermoplastic
SJTO Service Junior Thermoplastic with oil resistant jacket
SJTOW Service Junior Thermoplastic with oil and weather resistant jacket
SJTOOW Service Junior Thermoplastic with oil resistant conductor jacket and oil and weather resistant outer jacket
SJTW Service Junior Thermoplastic with weather resistant jacket
SO Service with oil resistant jacket
SOO Service with oil resistant conductor jacket and oil resistant outer jacket
SOOW Service with oil resistant jacket for conductors and outer jacket and weather resistant outer jacket
SOW Service with oil and weather resistant jacket
SPT-1 Service Parallel Thermoplastic (-1 indicates 1/64th" insulation thickness)
SPT-2 Service Parallel Thermoplastic (-2 indicates 2/64th" insulation thickness)
SPT-3 Service Parallel Thermoplastic (-3 indicates 3/64th" insulation thickness)
SRDT Service Round Dry Thermoplastic - UL designation (also known as DRT in Canada)
ST Service Thermoplastic
STO Service Thermoplastic with oil resistant jacket
STOW Service Thermoplastic with oil and weather resistant jacket
STOOW Service Thermoplastic with oil resistant conductor jacket and oil and weather resistant outer jacket
STW Service Thermoplastic with weather resistant jacket
SVT Service Vacuum Thermoplastic
Slitting The designation to separate insulated parallel wires
Stripping The designation of the removal of the insulation or jacket from a conductor/wire
Tin/tinning A treatment for stripped wires whereby exposed wire is dipped into a silver metal to coat wires to prevent fraying and prepare wires for soldering
TPE Thermoplastic Elastomer
UL Underwriters Laboratories
VW-1 UL flammability rating to show compliance to minimum vertical flammability standards
Volt Unit of measure to show electromotive force
Watt Unit of measure to show amount of power
WEEE European Community directive regarding the disposal and/or recycling of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment enacted in 2003
Large Spool 36" diameter and 24" wide, 68lbs.
Small Spool 24" diameter and 18" wide, 28lbs.