What is the best cable jacketing material?
For years rubber or neoprene were preferred for their superior abrasion resistance and flexibility, but modern thermoplastic technology has produced a number of PVC compounds that are soft and flexible but also very tough. As previously noted, thermoplastic processing is cheaper, faster and more predictable than that for thermoset materials. Only very specialized situations requiring oil or ozone resistance or extremes of temperature and climate demand neoprene or Hypalon jacketing.
The use of PVC has two other major advantages. PVC is not as elastic as rubber or neoprene, and this lack of “stretch” lends additional tensile strength to the resulting assembly by taking some of the strain that would otherwise be borne solely by the center conductor. This has made a dramatic improvement in the reliability of currently manufactured instrument cables.
The other important property of PVC is its almost limitless colorability. Once found only in gray or “chrome vinyl,” PVC-jacketed cable now ranges from basic black through brilliant primary colors to outrageous “neon” shades of pink and green.
The use of PVC has two other major advantages. PVC is not as elastic as rubber or neoprene, and this lack of “stretch” lends additional tensile strength to the resulting assembly by taking some of the strain that would otherwise be borne solely by the center conductor. This has made a dramatic improvement in the reliability of currently manufactured instrument cables.
The other important property of PVC is its almost limitless colorability. Once found only in gray or “chrome vinyl,” PVC-jacketed cable now ranges from basic black through brilliant primary colors to outrageous “neon” shades of pink and green.
