Negosentro.com | Everything You Need to Know About Plastic Line Ties | Plastic line ties are widely used in our daily life because of their unique superior performance. One of the most common examples we using the plastic line tie is organizing USB data cables. Besides being widely used in daily life, it is often seen in the industry and even in agriculture, but you may not have a full understanding of it.
Starting with the definition, a plastic line tie also called a plastic top tie, is a kind of top tie designed to bundle the conductors to the top curve of the insulators.
Intended Use
Plastic Line Ties are intended for use with only vertically mounted tie top or tie top ANSI C29 compliant insulators and plastic jacketed conductors. These are intended to be used on pole-top mounted insulators, cross-arms, or Spacer Cable brackets. They can be used with any plastic-covered conductor, for example, Spacer Cable or Tree Wire. To guarantee the safety of the total line when there is an angle during the installation, less than a 15-degree line angle is recommended.
Material
There are two versions of plastic line ties available in the market –one is made from standard polyvinyl chloride, known as PVC plastic line tie, and the other one is made from a base of clear PVC, called Semi-Con plastic line tie.
The PVC plastic line tie is made for standard applications because it has UV resistance, impact strength, low moisture absorption, tensile strength, self-extinguishing, and flexural strength properties, whereas Semi-Con Plastic Ties are made for higher voltage applications or more stressful electrical environments due to its superior electrical tracking resistance properties.
Voltage Applications
The electrical performance of a PVC plastic line tie for jacketed conductors depends upon multiple factors such as insulator style, the line voltage, the BIL of the line/pole, type and condition of the covered conductor, atmospheric contamination levels, and so on.
The electric stress environment of the installation may particularly be affected by the design of the insulator being used. For example, multi skirt porcelain insulators offer a greater electrical safety margin by providing a less stressful electrical environment than single skirt porcelain insulators.
Following are the operating line voltage applications for a PVC plastic top tie suggested by PLP:
- PVC Plastic Top Ties: 13kV or below
- Semi-Con Plastic Top ties: Up to 30-35kV
Mechanical
It has been proved by testing that plastic line ties will develop lift-off and unbalanced loads in excess of, or equivalent to, a hand tie over a covered conductor.
Insulators
The plastic top tie is highly recommended to be used with ANSI C29.5 or C29.7 compliant insulators with nominal neck diameters only, to ensure proper fit and performance. They are suitable to be used with either ANSI Compliant Polymer insulators or porcelain insulators.
In addition, the installation of a plastic top ties to the insulator is also a simple work. After learning about the installation steps, even one attempt makes you successful.
Cold Weather Installation/Removal
Plastic material usually becomes brittle or breaks in cold seasons due to extremely low temperatures, so it is important to exercise caution during the installation or removal of any plastic line ties in very cold weather. Plastic line ties should be kept in a warm environment before the installation under approximately 25-degree Fahrenheit.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this knowledge will make it easier for you to choose and buy the plastic line tie. Seeing there are many manufacturers of plastic line ties available in the market, it will take more effort to select a reliable manufacturer. Here is a suggestion, Henvcon, a professional manufacturer for preformed electricity cable fittings, wire fittings, and line fittings with more than 7 years. All the characteristics and features of plastic line ties discussed above are covered by their products, Insulator Top Tie.
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