Vinyl Caps for Wire Ends

Question:

We use a piece of heavy gage wire in one of our products. We are looking for a replacement for a hand applied vinyl cap. Applying this cap is labor intensive. The cap covers the cut end of the heavy gage wire. The cap protects the customer from a burr and provides a finished look to the wire. Do you know of a product that could be used as a replacement for this cap and be applied in liquid form for dipping the wire end? E. D.

Answer:

here are other ways to cover the cut end of the heavy wire. The following three alternative approaches involve application of a coating to replace the cap. One approach is dipping the wire end into a commercially available tool handle dipping compound at room temperature. This product can be found in mail order catalogs, hardware stores and hardware departments of big box stores. Another approach is preheating the wire end and dipping the heated end into a liquid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compound. The compound will coat the wire to the dipped level and form an elastomeric protective coating on the wire end. Another approach is to dip the heated wire end into a small fluidized bed containing PVC powder coating. Here again, the PVC powder will coat the wire end to the dipped level. In both latter cases, the wire must be preheated above the fusion temperature of the PVC. Based on the number of pieces of wire you cap every day, the cost of the caps, the cost of the coating materials and associated equipment and your labor costs, you can determine which approach is most cost effective for your operation.