Overview
Once your wires and cables have an Outer Diameter, each bundle's diameter is shown beside its length on the drawing, for example Ø6.8 mm.
Entering Outer Diameters
A bundle's diameter is calculated from the Outer Diameter of each item in it. All of these fields are optional.
- Wires - open the Wire and enter its Outer Diameter on the Assembly tab.
- Cables - open the Cable and enter its Outer Diameter on the Assembly tab. This is the diameter of the jacket.
- Pigtail wires - open the Connector, right-click a cavity, select 'Edit Pigtail Wire...', and enter its Outer Diameter.
When you create a wire, cable, or covering from an Octopart search, its sizes are filled in for you wherever Octopart lists them.
A Harness keeps its own copy of each part. If you add an Outer Diameter to a part that a Harness already uses, update that part in the Harness to bring the new size in.
How the Diameter is Calculated
The bundle diameter is an estimate based on the outer diameter of each wire and cable in the bundle. Each wire is one item, each cable is one item however many of its conductors are in the bundle, and wires that are twisted together count as one item.
| Method |
Used for |
Diameter |
| Method 1: Single item |
One item |
The item's diameter |
| Method 2: Pair |
Two items |
The two diameters added together |
| Method 3: Packed |
Three or more items |
A packing factor multiplied by the square root of the sum of each diameter squared |
| Method 4: Two largest |
Three or more items, when Method 3 gives less than the two largest items side by side |
The two largest diameters added together |
If any item in the bundle has no Outer Diameter, or a connection has no wire assigned, the bundle shows 'Not calculated'. The same details are available in the app: click 'How diameters are calculated' in the Bundle Diameter Calculation dialog or on the Edit Diameters page.
Viewing and Overriding a Diameter
Double-click a bundle to open the Bundles tab. It shows the Bundle Diameter, which is the wires and cables alone, and the Overall Diameter, which is the diameter over the outermost covering.
Click the Bundle Diameter to open the Bundle Diameter Calculation dialog. It lists every item in the bundle, the method used, and how each covering fits. To use a diameter of your own, enter it in the Overridden box, for example 12 mm or 0.5 in. Leave the box blank to go back to the calculated diameter.
You will see a warning when an overridden diameter is more than 10% smaller or larger than the calculated one.
Covering Fit
Each covering is checked against the diameter directly inside it: the bundle for the first covering, and the covering beneath it for the rest. Coverings are listed from inside to outside, and can be dragged to reorder.
| Covering |
Sizes |
Fits when the diameter inside is |
| Sleeving, Spiral Wrap |
Min Diameter, Max Diameter, Wall Thickness |
Between the Min and Max Diameter |
| Tubing |
Supplied Diameter, Recovered Diameter, Wall Thickness |
Between the Recovered and Supplied Diameter |
| Corrugated Tubing, Custom |
Inner Diameter, Outer Diameter |
No larger than the Inner Diameter |
| Tape |
Width, Thickness |
Any size |
A covering with no size entered is not checked. A covering that doesn't fit shows a warning in the Bundles tab and in the Rule Checker.
To show diameters in the Coverings table on your drawing, double-click the table and turn on 'Show Diameters'.
Edit Diameters
To review every bundle at once, click 'Edit Diameters' in the Utilities group of the toolbar. The page lists each bundle with its diameter, its coverings, and how they fit. Double-click or right-click a diameter to see how it was calculated or to override it. Any parts with no outer diameter are listed at the bottom.
