In many outdoor applications and industries, cable products are required to perform under extreme conditions. Most products are typically not able to handle these environments due to corrosion risks, humidity, UV exposure, and more challenges that exist in outdoor applications. Finding a manufacturer with quick lead times, premium metals, and the coating options to handle these industry challenges can sometimes seem impossible.
Thankfully, our Coated Cable product line is built to help protect cables in these industries and ensure performance doesn’t waver. Our Nylon and Vinyl Coating options each provide different advantages in handling harsh industry conditions.
Continue reading to learn about our Coated Cable manufacturing, and how our precision and specialized manufacturing helps protect cable products in demanding outdoor industry conditions.
Strengths of Nylon Coating
The first of our two main coating options is Nylon, which adds excellent durability and cycle life to any cable product. This material is resilient to abrasion and impact and is perfect for high-use environment where it moves along pulleys or sheaves.
Using Nylon creates a cable with high tensile strength that is capable of handling heavy loads and tension. A Nylon coating is both robust and durable, with a textured surface that remains flexible enough to find many applications.
Nylon Coated Cable boasts excellent chemical and corrosion resistance, making it suitable for toxic and acidic applications such as Mining, or other downhole operations.
Strengths of Vinyl Coating
The other common coating option we offer is Vinyl, which is softer and traditionally more flexible than Nylon. Vinyl features a smoother, glossier outer layer, resulting in a vastly different look than Nylon.
Despite being softer and sometimes experiencing shedding, Vinyl Coated Cable can still withstand tension and abrasion to a certain degree in its application. However, this coating is most recognized for excellent moisture resistance, flexibility and UV resistance.
Thus, in industries like Marine where moisture levels are high, Vinyl is often the right choice. Alternative applications where a product is exposed to the sun all day, such as safety hazards or Architecture, can also use Vinyl when strength is less of a requirement.
Challenging Industries
Many of the industries we serve provide some of these environmental challenges. Let’s take a look at some of the industries where UV, chemical, corrosion, and moisture resistance are key components for products to perform.
Mining
The Mining industry poses many challenges, from trying to improve visibility and safety to hoisting and moving very heavy machinery. For cable products, the industry poses the additional challenge of toxic underground environments.
The abrasion and chemical exposure risks are endless in underground Mining operations. Heavy machinery and other abrasive materials can cause wear and tear on cables, while the use of acids, solvents and reagents can corrode or degrade cable products.
Our Nylon coating offers the perfect qualities to handle the harsh industry conditions often found in downhole Mining settings. The abrasion and corrosion resistance, paired with the strength and durability to handle heavy hoisting and lifting applications match this material to this industry.
Marine
In Marine applications, the main obstacles are finding cable products with excellent moisture and saltwater corrosion resistance, that can also handle harsh weather changes without wearing them down.
Many underwater applications, including buoy moorings, subsea research equipment, and more require saltwater corrosion resistance, as most cable products will fray or become less effective when exposed to large amounts of saltwater and moisture.
Typically, this industry calls for Vinyl coatings to be used, due to their excellent moisture resistance, while the UV resistance also ensures it can handle consistent sunlight.
Safety
This industry presents a mix of the challenges mentioned in the Mining and Marine industries. Depending on where safety or reflective cables may need to be used, the coating preference can change.
For underground safety light cables in Mines or Oil and Gas settings, Nylon would be preferred, as these would be toxic environments with exposure to chemicals.
However, for safety cables used on construction sites or to alert drivers of accidents, Vinyl can do the trick, as there is a low demand for strength abrasion resistance but a high requirement for UV and potentially moisture resistance.
Architecture
Similarly to the Safety industry, Architecture has applications where each coating option may be preferred. Vinyl’s pleasant aesthetic look may fit best with this industry, but the application’s conditions may require Nylon instead.
For outdoor applications where the cable is constantly exposed to the sun or other weather conditions, Vinyl’s UV and moisture resistance makes it the right choice.
In indoor Architectural applications, or in applications where additional tensile strength is required, the robust and durable Nylon coating would be preferable.
Our Coated Cable Expertise
Our Coated Cable solutions involve a meticulous process of extruding a plastic jacket onto standard cable or wire rope, to enhance durability, functionality, aesthetics or resistance to harsh environments. Our Coated Cable products not only add a layer of protection but create the versatility to serve countless industries with high-quality products.
With the capability to coat cables ranging from 1/32” to 1 3/8” in size, and a diverse selection of cable and coating materials, our Coated Cable line serves the industries mentioned above and plenty more. Visit our product page here to learn more about our extensive capabilities.
Investing in our Coated Cable
As industry experts, we understand the challenges of deciding on the right material for your most demanding project applications. If you have any questions about our Coated Cable or other product lines, and how they can support your next project, don’t hesitate to contact our knowledgeable sales team at [email protected].
If you’re ready to invest in our Coated Cable products for your demanding application, Request a Quote with us today!
