It's definitely not kapton or silicone. It doesn't look like anything spec= ial at all. My bullshit meter is in the yellow when I look at this stuff. -----Original Message----- From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf Of= alan.b.pearce@stfc.ac.uk Sent: Monday, August 14, 2017 9:12 AM To: piclist@mit.edu Subject: RE: [EE] Fake Cable If it has a polyimide (kapton) insulation it could be quite high voltage ca= ble. One place I worked when I was contracting we got to wondering what the= voltage insulation of a piece of kapton self-adhesive tape was, so we stuc= k a piece to a sheet of aluminium and got out the HV generator probe and ha= d about 8kV (IIRC, certainly well up in the single digit kV) which was the = limit of the HV generator without the kapton failing. Other PETE series ins= ulations are related to kapton and could well also have excellent voltage r= atings. I suspect motor vehicle ignition cable is designed for low capacitance to t= he engine body, which is why it is so thick, instead of using a thinner ins= ulation. I suspect EHT wire in CRT TV sets is derived from vehicle ignition cable, w= hich is why it is so thick, it is a cheap well understood insulation agains= t a higher cost thinner insulation. > -----Original Message----- > From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On=20 > Behalf Of Van Horn, David > Sent: 14 August 2017 15:31 > To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. > Subject: [EE] Fake Cable >=20 >=20 > I hadn't really thought about this before, and now I'm curious. >=20 > I ran across a product which uses some single conductor cable which is=20 > marked with their logo and "50kV". > They certainly don't make any sort of wire, so this is something they=20 > are having custom marked for them. > I worry that the "50kV" is rather fanciful. >=20 > How can I test the insulation of wire, and what exactly causes a wire=20 > to be rated for a given voltage? >=20 > I've seen 600V power tool wire that's got far more insulation than=20 > this stuff, but I can't tell materials by eyeballing it. >=20 > Ideas? >=20 >=20 >=20 > -- > David VanHorn > Lead Hardware Engineer >=20 > Backcountry Access, Inc. > 2820 Wilderness Pl, Unit H > Boulder, CO 80301 USA > phone: 303-417-1345 x110 > email: > david.vanhorn@backcountryaccess.com yaccess.com> >=20 > -- > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive=20 > View/change your membership options at=20 > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist -- http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/chang= e your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclis= t --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .