IceShark

A big bag of cable ties showed up today for the battery cable project. It has a funny warning on it:

"Caution: Packed in moisture. Do not open this sealed package untill immediately before using contents. Reseal package immediately on any unused parts."

Of course there is a hole in the package. Anyway, these are what I thought were standard black nylon cable ties.

What is going on here with this warning? Nylon perishes if not kept in water?

special tool

Sure - you know how those things dry out after a couple of years in the engine bay. My wife got me a bucket of different sizes last year with the steel inside, I don't know where. Probably Pegasus

SidViscous

Maybe we should seal our engine bay and install a humidifier.

I've never heard of such a thing. Do they get brittle and crack eventually, yes. However what good is a cable tie that cannot be exposed to the air. Most places you use them (electronics cabinets) are usually pretty dry.

Dave

Even the thick, 3/8" wide ones only last about 6 months when exposed to the elements (where I use them), nylon gets brittle fast. Maybe I should store them in the humidor.

IceShark

Well, you would think they would come up with a better material then. All I see in this industrial cataloge is nylon or an all stainless steel tie. The stainless ones are almost 50 cents a copy and take a tool to install so forget that. Besides, an all metal tie could cut your wire bundle.

Everyone gets these nylon ties and has to go out and buy a humidifier. <img border="0" alt="[hiha]" title="" src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" />

Peckster

Maybe that explains what happens to the nylon pads on S chain tensioners. All S owners, take note. Add a quart of water to your oil right away!!!

JOKING!

I have ties I installed on my bike 20 years ago and they're still fine.

User 41221

Where are you guys buying yours? Sheesh... if they are only lasting 6 months, either you guys live in some helacious weather, or you drive like demons. I have nylon ty-wraps on my cars that have been there 6-7 years, and still work fine.

I work in the telecom industry, and we buy a couple of million tywraps a year, so I have a lifetime supply of them. Tyton makes decent ones, available at your local Graybar. I don't like the Thomas & Betts ones with the metal tang, and Home Depot tywraps are poor queality.

Regards,

bf95cab

No reason at all to think that water would preserve (or damage)a nylon tie. Maybe the package was being recycled.

jim968

Shark, Dunno if this has anything to do with it, but nylon absorbs a tiny bit of moisture. It's a bit less brittle after absorbing moisture. I _think_ that it also shrinks minutely when dried out fully, but I don't recall for sure.

We used it for a snap-fit part where I worked way back when. Fresh parts were left in a warm water soak overnight before use.

Since it was a critical-use part, and there were reports of cracking in extremely dry applications, we replaced it with Trogamid.

ISTR that the molding department had to dry the nylon pellets in trays in a low-temp oven before injection molding, but it's been 25 years, and wasn't my department.

Jim, "Deja moo.. the feeling that you've heard this bullsh*t before."

Dave

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by sh944:
<strong>I work in the telecom industry, and we buy a couple of million tywraps a year, so I have a lifetime supply of them. Tyton makes decent ones, available at your local Graybar. I don't like the Thomas & Betts ones with the metal tang, and Home Depot tywraps are poor queality.

Regards,</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">You must be one of those indoor telecom guys , drive out to a tower sometime! Don't look up, look down at all the (halves) zipties that have fallen off.
Tyton sounds familiar, I'll have to take another look at the cases on Monday.

IceShark

Yeah, it is Hellerman Tyton out of Milwaukee. They are the guys that made the ones I'm talking about. They also have the affiliate in Germany that makes the Porsche firewall stud cable ties I'm supposed to get a big sample of.

Jim, yup, I talked to the sales rep and he explained it. Apparently, if they dry out too long (who knows how long that is) the little catch wants to break if you snug them up real tight. So soaking in water is not a bad idea.

Learn something new everyday. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Martin

I use them in elevators to tye in the flourescent tubes, you have to use the black ones as the escaping UV light cooks the clear or white ones in about two weeks, always use black cable tyes on a car.

SidViscous

"always use black cable tyes on a car."

Makes em faster to you know. Little known fact.

Works best on a black car though.

Mr. Avionics

Don't think there is too much to worry about as
far as life span of ty-wraps goes. Yes they do
tend to dry out with age and get a bit brittle but
for the most part they will last quite a long
time. We use both the white and black ones in the
avionics industry and they last a very long time
in aircraft, even with all the temp extreems and
various fluids that they get exposed to. The
biggest killer of nylon ty's is UV fro sun. In
the marine industry only use the black ones where
they are exposed to sun, white ones will only last
6 months here in the Hot Flordia Sun. I agree,
Tyton makes the best ones, Panduit makes many
different types of mounts for ty wraps too, looked
them up on web one time, lots of accessories for
ty wraps.
For what it's worth.
Bill