I believe you Bryan.
That said:
The biggest problem it had was wicking up hydrocarbons, which are not
usually found in the ham shack, or a OEM RF-driven Sealed Laser facility.
:-) In any case, the various oils, or fuel, would wick up the wire and
then through some magic of chemistry turn into carbon. The carbon would
eventually start to conduct, get very hot very quickly and then would
vaporize the whole wire.
Tests were done (and filmed) showing the results of one Kapton wire
shorting, and how it caused others in the wire bundle to also go up in smoke
and catch fire. It worked just fine until the outer insulation became
cracked and contamination creeped in, or it was damaged from a physical hit,
say from a bullet ... which is what the film tests documented.
The stuff may be very tough, but it was so freaking dangerous that NAVAIR
spent tons of money to have whole circuit breaker panels and wiring bundles
replaced, after Kapton wiring was attributed to several in-flight fires.
I personally had some of it carrying 3 phase 115 VAC blow up in my face.
Feel free to use it anyway you like. I would not put it into anything I own
even if I was given it for free... which by the way, I was.
And yep... really. Sorry if this conflicts with your experience, but what I
am telling you is factual.
Take care,
Mark Bitterlich
WA3JPY
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bryan Swadener" <bswadener@yahoo.com>
To: <amps@contesting.com>; "Mark Bitterlich" <markbitterlich@embarqmail.com>
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2014 7:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Amps] L4-B
Yes, really.
We used it for decades, in both tape form and Kapton-insulated
wire form, in critical applications at the world's largest OEM
of RF-driven sealed CO2 Lasers.
The stuff is VERY tough. The only way we found to remove
the insulation from wire ends was by blasting it with one of our
more powerful (> 100W) Lasers or, by mechanically scraping it off.
vy 73,
Bryan WA7PRC
--------------------------------------------
On Mon, 3/31/14, Mark Bitterlich wrote:
Subject: Re: [Amps] L4-B
To: Bryan WA7PRC, amps@contesting.com
Date: Monday, March 31, 2014, 4:26 PM
Really? Interesting.
Just FYI, Kapton insulated wire was removed from ALL
military aircraft after some very impressive tests were done
showing how it
tended to blow and burn under certain conditions. Of
course, that was the
Kapton insulated wire. I know zip, nada, ZERO about
the tape. Possibly it
is A-OK.
v/r,
Mark Bitterlich
WA3JPY
----- Original Message -----
From: Bryan WA7PRC
To: <amps@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2014 7:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Amps] L4-B
> Also, Kapton(tm) aka polyimide tape will work FB.
> It works well at high temperature and high voltage.
>
> vy 73,
> Bryan WA7PRC
> --------------------------------------------
>
>
> Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 23:07:13 -0500
> From: Edwin Karl
> To: amps@contesting.com
> Subject: [Amps] L4-B
>
> Just be very careful with the power resistors used in
the
> bias cutoff/
> bleeder
> They are mounted on long screws that run through the
center
> of the
> resistor. In
> repairing an amplifier for a buddy, I had the
resistors
> short through the
> porcelain of the resistor.
>
> The fix is use good 3m glass tape to insulate the
screw, and
> enough on
> the ends to insure centering the resistors. Unlike
> electrical tape,
> glass tape
> is rated at 240 degrees and will withstand the high
heat.
> Make sure to
> reinstall
> the mica insulators.
>
> Good Luck!
> We're all counting on you ...
>
> 73
>
> Ed K0Kl
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