EoW July 2013

Feature

Compounds, colourants & masterbatches ‘The international standard for the “live”wire is brown.’ Unfortunately for the newcomer to house-wiring colour codes, primers do not stop with basic brown. Black wires are connected to brass-colored screws, white to silver, blue to white, green/yellow to green. Three-way circuits impose their own rules on blue, red and white wires. Switched live voltage applications are more complex – and colour-critical – still. The obvious lesson here is that colourants are vitally important in the production of electrical wire, with zero tolerance for error. And what applies to the ultimate product – the coloured wire – is no less true of the masterbatches that impart that colour and the compounds that render insulation and jacketing materials capable of retaining it. The companies reviewed in this section of EuroWire never allow themselves to lose sight of the basics. An industry whose customers are always setting new and higher standards for safety, sustainability and reliability demands no less.

Photo courtesy of Woywod Kunststoffmaschinen GmbH & Co Vertriebs KG

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July 2013