Câbles de thermocouples

Suppose that we have to measure an oven temperature (800 °C) with a thermocouple and that the measuring equipment is located at a distance of dozens of meters from the measuring point. Usually a few meters are sufficient to bring the temperature down to 200 °C or less. From that point, in order to reduce the costs, it is possible to use either extension or compensating cable to connect the thermocouple to the measuring device.

Thermocouples can be made from bare wires but need an electrical insulation. While one can use ceramic beads or mineral filled sheaths for high temperature, there exists a variety of application which only require a thin insulation medium to perform the measurement (furnace tests, laboratory tests, combustion tests, autoclave validation, freezers tests, etc.).

Therefore thermocouple cables exist in a variety of types and insulations.

The most common are fluorinated resins, Kapton®, glass fibres and ceramic fibres.


Thermocouple cables are usually manufactured according to IEC 584-2 (EN60584-2) standards, but can also be made according to ANSI, UL or other standards upon request.

Colour identification of the most common thermocouple cables.


Depending on the application and to suit particular environmental factors like temperature, humidity, physical integrity, the user can make his choice from several insulating materials.

  • Glass fibre braids
    Impregnated glass fibres type «E» (code TEX – short code E) usable to 400 °C or Impregnated glass fibres type «R» high temperature (code TRX – short code R), usable to 650 °C
  • Ceramic fibre braids
    Continuous filament ceramic fibres used for conductor and cable jacketing can withstand very high temperature while maintaining significant strength and flexibility up to 1200 °C for long periods.
  • Fluorinated resins
    These resins exhibit outstanding chemical inertia, dielectric properties and heat resistance. Most common types are, PFA (short code A) and MFA (short code M). While PTFE has the highest melting point, other perfluorinated resins like PFA and MFA exhibit similar chemical resistance with slightly lower melting points but have the advantage to be easily extruded.
  • Fluorinated resins
    These resins exhibit outstanding chemical inertia, dielectric properties and heat resistance. Most common types are PTFE (short code F), PFA (short code A) and MFA (short code M). While PTFE has the highest melting point, other perfluorinated resins like PFA and MFA exhibit similar chemical resistance with slightly lower melting points but have the advantage to be easily extruded.
    PFA melts at 306 °C and can be used for continuous operation between -200 and +260 °C. MFA melts at 280 °C and can be used for continuous operation between -200 and +250 °C.
  • Kapton®
    Kapton is a polymer developed by DuPont and exhibits superior performance to any other polymeric organic resin: -200 to +400 °C. These films do not melt and are fire resistant. PVC and silicone rubber insulated cables are usually not used due to their limited temperature range but they are available on special request.

Most thermocouple cables have an insulation around each conductor plus a second layer around the pair. If the application requires it, these cables can be obtained with a metallic overbraid as an option.


Thermocouple cables are usually made of solid conductors and are identified with their diameter in mm (short codes starting with D and diameter in tenths of mm ex: D13 for Ø1,3 mm). On special request they can be obtained with stranded conductors instead.
In the case that stranded conductors are required, the cross section will be mentioned
Remark: more detailed data sheets can be obtained upon request.





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