Blackburn FBF18 FLEX BRAID 230.4 KCMIL 18 IN LONG

The FBF18 is a flexible tin-plated copper braid connector used to bond equipment that moves, vibrates, or shifts, where a solid or stranded conductor would fatigue. It is a flat, two-hole braid, 18 inches long, rated 230.4 kcmil. Typical uses are bonding jumpers across expansion joints, transformer and motor frames, switchgear doors, and busway or enclosure sections that need a flexible ground path.

Yes. The FBF18 carries UL E3060 and CSA LR29625, so it is acceptable on inspected work in both the US and Canada. It is also made in the United States, which matters on Buy American and federal or institutional projects.

230.4 kcmil puts the FBF18 braid between 4/0 (211.6 kcmil) and 250 kcmil copper in cross-section, so it covers bonding jumper sizing where the drawing calls for up to 4/0 copper. Confirm the required jumper size against your equipment ground or main bonding jumper table for the service, then match or exceed it.

18 inches is the stated cable length of the braid. Order to the overall run you need with slack for movement; on an expansion joint or a vibrating frame the braid should never be pulled taut, since flex length is what keeps it from fatiguing. If your span is longer, step up to a longer FBF length rather than stretching this one.

The FBF18 braid is tin-plated copper. The tin plating slows oxidation on the braid strands and on the terminal pads, which keeps contact resistance stable over time, and it reduces galvanic activity when the braid is bolted to aluminum or galvanized steel. Bare copper in a damp or outdoor enclosure will green over and load the connection with oxide.

It is a two-hole flat braid, so each end is a terminal pad that bolts down flat to a ground pad, frame, or bus. You supply the bolts, nuts, and washers to match the pad hole size and the tapped holes in your equipment; hardware is not part of the braid itself. Being flat, the ends sit tight against a bus bar face without the standoff you get from a lug barrel.

Not where the connection moves. A stranded ground cable works for a fixed bond, but on anything that vibrates or cycles (motor and transformer frames, switchgear doors, busway expansion joints, seismic joints) repeated flexing work-hardens and breaks strands, and the ground path degrades without anything visible. A flat flexible braid like the FBF18 is built for that duty, and its flat pads bolt straight to a bus face. For a static bond between two rigid points, a standard bonding jumper is simpler.

The FBF18 is sold each, as one complete braid with a terminal pad at both ends. If you are bonding several joints or a run of busway sections, count one per connection point.

The part number is FBF18, from Blackburn's FBF flexible braid series, where the trailing number is the length in inches. That makes the 18 inch version FBF18.