Power Whip

A power whip (also called a PDU whip) is a heavy-duty, pre-assembled cable that brings power from a remote power panel or busway to a rack or cabinet on the floor of a mining or data facility. One end is the 'whip tail' that is hardwired into the panel; the other end terminates in a receptacle into which a rack PDU plugs. The name comes from the loose, flexible tail of cable hanging from the connection.

Why facilities use them

Power whips arrive pre-cut to length, pre-terminated, and factory-tested, so on-site an electrician only has to land the tail in the panel. This turns what would be custom field assembly into a plug-and-go installation, speeding deployment and making racks easy to add, move, or reconfigure. In a mining hall where layout changes as machines are added, that modularity directly reduces electrician time and downtime.

Construction and connectors

Whips are commonly built from liquid-tight flexible metal conduit (LFMC) with a corrosion-resistant steel core and a PVC jacket that resists moisture, oils, and UV. The receptacle end is typically a NEMA locking-blade configuration for 15-50A single-phase service, or an IEC pin-and-sleeve for higher-current or three-phase feeds. Matching the whip's amperage, voltage, and connector to the rack PDU is essential.

Relationship to other distribution

Whips are the last flexible link between fixed building distribution and the rack. They are often fed from overhead busway, which provides the repositionable tap-off points the whip lands on.

See the busway for the overhead system that commonly feeds whips, and the NEMA L6-30 receptacle for a typical whip termination.