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When it comes to wires, there are enormous varieties and choices. Especially with technological developments and other related innovations, choosing a wire can be confusing. However, when there’s a discussion about wires, Silicone wires are always one that appears.

What Is Silicone Wire? Silicone wire is a wire where silicone (a type of rubber) is used as the insulator around the wire. Silicone wire is well known for its flexibility and heat resistance and is highly recommended within extreme temperature environments. These wires usually have a temperature resistance up to + 250°C.

Many people are unaware of how silicone wire can perform better than other types of wires in some circumstances. Especially with the relatively expensive cost, silicone wire has less buying frequencies among many other wires for general purposes. However, there are many performance abilities and benefits that come with this wire. Let’s take a look.

Flexible Silicone wire stripped

How Silicone Wire Performs

As we mentioned, silicone wire is insulated with silicone, which is a type of rubber. This rubber element makes the wire more flexible around rough and tough environments. This flexibility supported by the rubber property also enables the silicone wire to keep its shape/structure when influenced by high temperature or any other rough environmental conditions.

Also as mentioned, the silicon insulation has a higher melting point than many others. This gives the wire the ability to get much hotter than melting the insulator or catching on fire. This performance of better temperature handling is safe and reliable, especially to avoid dangerous explosions.

In fact, silicone wire is an ideal choice for using in high-temperature environments ranging from 103°F to 482°F.

However, to get the maximum performance related to high-temperature resistance and flexibility, you’ll have to choose the right wire. Usually, a thinner silicone wire has more heat resistance and flexibility compared to thicker ones. Thinner wires mean less-weight and so the flexible performance of the wire is high.

The only way a silicone wire can result in a disastrous output is if you choose the wrong wire, which can be too thin. When the wire is too thin, the PVC insulator melts quickly and the bare copper wires short, causing the battery to explode. Therefore make sure to use a thin wire but not too thin or thick.

Also to mention here, one downside of this wire is obviously the price which can be expensive, plus then its ability to attract static. Attracting static makes the wire have a tendency to attract dirt outside the cable. This makes silicone wires get dirtier more easily when compared to other wires.

Now that we know how silicone wire performs and the possible downsides it has, let’s get into the benefits of using this wire. It’s important to understand the benefits to the investment in this wire and how they’re worth the higher price tag.

Silicone Wire Benefits

The following are a few common benefits of silicone wire, this is not all the benefits but they are the main ones.

The are many different types of thermocouples that are available to suit different measuring applications such as industrial, scientific, food temperature, medical research, etc. It is, in fact, the different types of thermocouple wires that enable thermocouples to suit different applications.

So to understand this better the thermocouple wire types are listed below with the positive electrode first, followed by the negative electrode.

Flexibility

As emphasized above, the flexible performance of silicone wire is one of the obvious advantages. The wire is a combination of silicone rubber, ultra-fine wire stranding of copper, along with copper alloy. This combination makes the most flexible wire construction, it can be as limp as a piece of string so it’s very pliable in the right circumstances.

The flexibility gives the benefit of routing these wires into tight spaces such as boxes, builds, and other mechanical equipment. The flexibility also provides the ability to withstand different weather conditions, due to its flexibility.

Temperature Resistance

Silicone wire has a high-temperature resistance. The standard temperature range of silicone wires can resist from around 60°C to 200°C. In most applications, the wires are heated somewhere between 180 to 200°C for a year.

In addition, the flexibility of the wire increases at extremely low temperature. That is approximately a temperature of -115°C.

The temperature resistance can, however, vary depending on many conditions. Some of them include (but are not limited to) the temperature itself, mechanical stress, time of exposure, the type of atmosphere, the nature of the exposure of the wire’s material to the atmosphere.

Also, the physical properties of the wire’s materials will influence the temperature resistance. This is because the material properties vary at both the high and low end of the operating temperature range. For temperatures, 350°C silicone formula is available along with the use of a nickel conductor.

Chemical Resistance

Silicone wire resists chemicals too. Especially as silicone wire is used in applications that come in contact with chemicals such as automotive and industrial, this resistance is beneficial.

Other Specific Requirements

Silicone wires offer certain features that are specific to customer requirements. These include:

• High voltage resistance properties
• Low voltage resistance properties
• Special grades and formulas
• Medical grade / implantable
• Low smoke/halogen-free
• Increased resistance to abrasion
• Flame retardant

These are some of these specific requirements silicone wires can offer.

However, in addition to the above, there are many other benefits different manufacturers offer with this wire as value addition.

This often depends on the brand, the manufacturer and the overall technological advancements embedded into the product. In terms of how you can incorporate these products into your designs, why not take a look at our range of Injection Molding Products available. We always ensure we give reasonable and quality products and service to our customers.

And now finally, let’s take a look at some of the uses of silicone wire.

Uses Of Silicone Wire

The uses of silicone wire are usually more among industrial sectors. This is because of its extremely worthy flexibility, temperature, and chemical-based resistances. However, this wire could also be used for general purpose with more reliability.

But as mentioned, silicone wires can be expensive so be sure to factor this into your designs, and if you’re wondering if they’re necessary within your specifications, then give us a call and we can help with your requirement. So, the two most common uses of silicone wires are as follows,

Aerospace Industry

Aerospace and space applications often require low smoke halogen-free wires. And as we mentioned one of the benefits of silicone wire is that it can be made to specific requirements such as low smoke halogen-free grades.

As such, silicone wires are better compatible with aerospace applications. This is because low smoke halogen-free silicone wires can:

• • Prevent the emission of any corrosive gases
  • Resists flame, which will ensure reduced flame propagation
  • Generates less smoke. This will help where halogen-free silicone wires offer clear vision during fires

Medical Industry

The medical industry uses silicone wires constantly. This is because the chemical resistance nature of silicone wires is an outstanding feature for medical applications. Silicone wires are commonly used in

• Sensors
• Air model batteries XT60 XT90 connector
• Handheld devices
• Implantable aids and devices
• Medical robotics

Some silicone wires are manufactured just for medical tubing. These custom silicone wires are used in drains, feeding tubes, catheters, and peristaltic pumps.  Silicone wires are also used in applications by specifying specially graded wires that meet stringent health agency requirements.

To Conclude

Silicone wires have silicone insulation encoded around the wire. Silicone wires provide high flexibility and greater temperature resistance, which are the two obvious benefits of this wire. On average a silicone wire can have a temperature resistance up to + 250°C.

Due to the nature and benefits of silicone wire, they’re often considered ideal to be used in rough and extreme temperature environments. However, medical and aerospace applications, automotive wiring and heating systems are some common areas in which silicone wires are used. Although they can also be used for general-purpose, they can, however, be expensive compared to many others.

If you need to find out if Silicon wires are the best option for your plans or designs, then get in touch with us here at QL-Custom, we specialize in helping our customers with their injection molding and related designs and will be happy to assist with your requirements.