RS and Phoenix Contact Expand Industrial Field Connectivity
September 2, 2025
RS now offers Phoenix Contact’s extensive range of M12 Power field cabling and connector solutions, including its new tray cable extended run (TC-ER) M12 Power cordsets.
Phoenix Contact’s M12 Power portfolio includes simple prefabricated power cordsets, hybrid power and signal cordsets, convenient field-wireable connectors, device connectors for wire and board connections, and distribution blocks — all engineered to save space, increase functionality, and enhance performance in a wide range of industrial power distribution applications. Popular applications include motors, drives, fans, heaters, and lighting fixtures in the automated manufacturing, intralogistics, robotics, renewable energy, telecommunications, data center, HVAC, automotive, and EV industries.
These M12 Power solutions are also robust, easy to install, safe, and flexible, offering features including:
- Five standard coded-pin patterns — three AC (S, K, and M) and two DC (T and L) — designed to differentiate M12 power connections from M12 signal and data connections and prevent mismatched connectors and swapped AC and DC voltages
- AC ratings up to 16A and 600VAC
- DC ratings up to 16A and 63VDC
- Straight and angled connectors with three termination options: tool-free spring-loaded push-lock connections for quick and easy installation, crimp connections for fast, high-volume automated processing, and classic screw connections for universal suitability
- Conductors with color coded and numerical markings to ensure error-free mating, including PROFINET-conforming color schemes for L-coded versions
- IP65 and IP67 environmental protection
- Advanced 360° shielding technology for reliable, future-proof protection against EMI
- Various cable materials, colors, and lengths
- IEC standardization (IEC 61076-2-111) and UL compliance (UL2237)
Designed for the industrial power distribution networks of the future, Phoenix Contact’s new TC-ER M12 Power cordsets are optimized for field connectivity. Rated for exposed cable runs and compliant with the NEC Tap Rule, these robust, crush- and impact-resistant, multiconductor, PVC-jacketed, and overmolded cordsets are engineered for routing outside of cable trays, which significantly expands application suitability and makes installation quicker, easier, and more cost effective. They’re also fully compatible with existing M12 Power products, UL tested and approved under UL2237, and exclusively manufactured in the United States using regionally-sourced cables.
Phoenix Contact’s TC-ER M12 Power cordsets are currently available in M-code versions rated for up to 8A and 600VAC, S- and K-code versions rated for up to 16A and 600VAC, and L- and T-code versions rated for up to 16A and 63VDC — all of which utilize 14AWG copper conductors. They’re also available with 3–6 pins, straight and 90° socket connectors or open ends, and optional shielding and are rated for operating temperatures extending from -25°C to +85°C (+70° when wet), at least 100MΩ insulation resistance, more than 100 mating cycles, 2 million bending cycles for unshielded variants, 1 million bending cycles for shielded variants, UL94 V-0 flammability, and FT4 flame resistance.
Additional features include oil, sunlight, burial, and water resistance, Overvoltage Category 3 classification, and four minimum bending radiuses: 7 times the diameter for fixed, unshielded installations, 10 times the diameter for both fixed, shielded and flexible, unshielded installations, and 15 times the diameter for shielded, flexible installations.
“The NEC Tap rule for field connectivity in power distribution applications — or all the circuits and systems used to transmit electricity from grid substations to consumers, like houses and businesses — requires overcurrent, ground fault, and short-circuit protection at the beginning of the circuit, leading to the trunk line exiting the cabinet. It also requires feeder taps up to 3m to utilize conductors rated for at least 1/10th of the trunk line and feeder taps between 3m and 7.5m to utilize conductors rated for at least 10A each,” said Dean Smith, Senior Product Marketing Specialist at Phoenix Contact.
“Our factory-molded TC-ER M12 Power cordsets are ideally suited for both scenarios and provide electronic device manufacturers, panel builders, and industrial equipment users with considerable space savings, user-friendly plug-and-play functionality, and enhanced performance compared to standard tray cable.
“Another NEC Tap rule requirement for TC-ER cable is that it must be secured every 2m. And while this does have associated material and labor costs, our TC-ER rated cordsets still provide substantial installation time and cost savings compared to standard tray cable given that they eliminate the need for cable trays and raceways, make installation quick, easy, and cost effective, and allow users with larger trunk lines to switch from bigger, higher AWG solutions to space-saving TC-ER M12 Power cordsets up to six feet without the use of any supports.”
