Black Tie Affair

One thing for certain-I have yet to see anything colored other than black as far as ties, clips, convoluted conduit etc. Some TTMA tractor to trailer 7-conductor cables are green for ABS brakes.


This thread is closed.

Why must you keep restating (wrongly) what I am asking? In my OP and follow ups, I wondered if anyone had any clue as to the life expectancy of white versus black zip ties. Apparently you don't.

From OP:

"Any idea the difference in service life between the two styles?"

What about that requires absolute or laboratory exactness. A couple of people have offered their opinions and that is great.

Its not worth the debate. You are looking for results that simply cannot be produced except in a controlled enviroment. Who cares? You already decided to go for the white ones anyway.

Where did I say that I wanted, "Absolute" anything? I do think that they could give relative answers since they said that they do testing. What's wrong with "Tests indicate double or even triple the useful life of one over the other"? (If that is the case) I certainly do not expect expiration dates on the packaging, although other products provide such information and they are just as "fluid" as plastic zip ties. Obviously, nobody knows or can predict the "Absolute" moment that anything will fail. That would be foolish and unreasonable to expect.

TomG2 wrote:
They could have said something like "Useful life is doubled when UV protection is added", instead of all the maybes. The NEMA article describes the test involved without giving any conclusions or results. I am looking at less than fifty ties, so I will go with white. If they fail in a year, I will replace with something better. If they last 3-4 years, they will be someone else's project.

you are expecting absolute results with the conditions of the test are 100% fluid.

They could have said something like "Useful life is doubled when UV protection is added", instead of all the maybes. The NEMA article describes the test involved without giving any conclusions or results. I am looking at less than fifty ties, so I will go with white. If they fail in a year, I will replace with something better. If they last 3-4 years, they will be someone else's project.

They can't possibly say WHEN a zip tie will fail. Has nothing to do with the lawyers. All you have to do is give it a little shade and it MIGHT get 10. Or maybe 1. Possibly not.... Maybe

Thanks Ductape. NEMA must have some lawyers on staff.

"Manufacturers are often asked: “What is the life expectancy of a cable tie when exposed to sunlight?” This is a difficult question to answer because of the variety of applications and other variables."

They don't want to be "Tied down". Pun intended.

NEMA says

In my experience only- white may go a year or three outdoors. Black decades.

Will you be using it full time? If not, it hardly matters.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
See above post about carbon black. It isn't a joke.

That is the process, but how much improvement does it really accomplish? These ties will be used to secure some white plastic sun shade panels is why I would prefer white ties if there is little difference.