Tape: The final frontier?

[Rockingit]

Alrightee.... I got asked on site the other day to explain why it is that good old pvc insulating tape, so-say rated to around 1000v, isn't good enough to wrap around a cable as replacement insulation (as in a crimp joint), but that heat shrink is.

And....when pressed, I couldn't really think of an answer that genuinely made sense other than 'that's just how we do it'.

So - why DO we shun insulating tape, when, as the name suggests, it is tape made for insulation?

 

[Marvo]

I'd guess because it doesn't stick very well. Saying that I suppose it depends how much you spend on a roll but most of it is rubbish.

I'm not a big fan of heatshrink, I prefer self amalgamating tape personally.

 

[D80]

I find when tape gets cold, tape loses it's stickiness. In wrong areas it will almost unwind itself.

 

[Marvo]

Here it's more that the sticky turns to a snot consistency with the heat and ends up everywhere but the result is the same, it unwinds.

 

[Paul.M]

I was led to believe that tape on a conductor could become undone with heat and moisture but sleeving being a tube could not under the same circumstances.

 

[Darkwood]

heat shrink with self seal glue will maintain a good moisture barrier while keeping good installation value in any environment the cable is design to go, where as tape breaks down mainly on its adhesive layer is a alround poor moisture barrier and cant cope with heat well i.e.. 70c rating of cable.
Some argue amalgamating tape which agree does the job but has the draw back it bulky can maintain a tacky texture and can be arkward to apply if say you are space restricted and cant wrap a coil 360 around cable.... also it dosnt allow choice of properties where you can heat shrink 1000v sleeve over copper then chemical resistant (of choice) over sheath, so if copper is exposed amalgamating tape isnt a viable option but ive seen it used many times as a wrap over multi-core cable where a core been exposed, amalgamating tape thus seals it from environment but wont give its insulation resistance between cores back to their manfactered standards.

 

[malcolmsanford]

DW that is got to be worth a cut and paste for any future questions on the subject, nail and head hitting springs to mind

 

[oldtimer]

Well insulation tape is used for flagging , marking ,labelling, IDing , then theres marking your tools I dont but some wrap green/yellow around theirs but then again so does other folk, then there is tapeing together single cables when run in trunking and in the office as labels when you dont have a Dymo gun . marking the tea , coffee sugar containers in the canteen I also put a colour sequance on my suitcase handles as I can spot them anywhere (please dont try this it will only confuse me if we are flying from Edinburgh,Glasgow or Newcastle at the same time)

O I nearly forgot it is also handy for replaceing any damaged or missing insulation on PVC cables

 

[johnboy6083]

heat shrink with the glue inside is a very god method of insulating cables. It is also a good way of jointing cables, and is used exclusivley in the water board in the area i work for borehole pumps ect, where the joint is submerged for years on end.

 

[Darkwood]

Well insulation tape is used for flagging , marking ,labelling, IDing , then theres marking your tools I dont but some wrap green/yellow around theirs but then again so does other folk, then there is tapeing together single cables when run in trunking and in the office as labels when you dont have a Dymo gun . marking the tea , coffee sugar containers in the canteen I also put a colour sequance on my suitcase handles as I can spot them anywhere (please dont try this it will only confuse me if we are flying from Edinburgh,Glasgow or Newcastle at the same time)

O I nearly forgot it is also handy for replaceing any damaged or missing insulation on PVC cables

You forgot that if combined with tissue paper it makes an excellent first aid accessory to stop the blood flowing.

 

[trev]

You forgot that if combined with tissue paper it makes an excellent first aid accessory to stop the blood flowing.

And can be used by apprentices to stick pictures of poor young ladies who cannot afford clothes all over the workplace. Usually they're cold as well as naked, you can often tell. Poor girls.
Maybe we could do something with the charity pens to help them

 

[plugsandsparks]

Had some lovely green/yellow on my thumb today, was getting a bit sore.

 

[Marvo]

......when you dont have a Dymo gun

Oh Gawd. You just reminded of those old thick plastic Dymo labels where the machine that made them had a thing like a telephone dial on top so you could select the letters. Now that garbage was way worse than tape. Those labels came in a tight roll and the plastic memory meant they always had a curve to them and were guaranteed to pop off within a week and never stick again. That was one poorly designed invention I'd rather forget