Quartz Glass Tube Against Ceramic Tube for Conductor Welding

Seven Differences That Matter

Hole diameter tolerance: ±0.01 mm for quartz against ±0.1 mm for ceramic — if the accuracy is not enough, the conductor passes through too tight or too loose, and both the weld quality and the outside diameter suffer. Bore smoothness: smooth against rough, and a rough wall causes cracks and unsound joints. Transparency: transparent against opaque, so the operator can see whether the jointing ends are fully aligned or fused and control the quality. Cone angle at the hole mouth: better on quartz, which makes threading the strand easier. Resistance to sudden temperature change: excellent against poor — ceramic is fragile when the conductor is heated instantly. Softening point: 1300 °C against 960 °C. Insulation degree: rated ten thousand times better than ceramic, which is stated as safer and more reliable.

What a Break Actually Costs

Every cable plant wants continuous insulation extrusion, and an interruption always produces broken and short conductor. The source assessment breaks the loss into four parts: the cost of copper materials and copper processing, the cost of insulation materials and processing, the waste of working hours, and others such as electricity. Taking only the copper on a 0.5 mm² (20 AWG) conductor line, resuming production after an insulation extrusion shutdown wastes around 500 m of conductor, which at the prices quoted works out at roughly ¥140 per single break. That is copper alone, before the hours.

The Validation

Welding equipment, welding current, welding pipe and conductor gap all influence the result. The published validation uses a smaller stranded conductor as the example: 28 AWG, 0.089 mm² sectional area, 7/0.127 mm construction, 200 N/mm² minimum tensile strength. Before welding the breaking force was 23.52 N, translated to 23.52 N/mm². After welding it was 19.6 N, translated to 220 N/mm². The conclusion recorded is OK.

Where It Is Used

The manufacturer records the sales range as Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, India, China and Taiwan, and states the product has been rated the best by many Japanese car cable companies for 3 years.

Specifying a Tube

Hole diameter A runs 0.3-8.2 mm at ±0.02 mm normal or ±0.01 mm high precision. Length B and outside diameter C both run 6-20 mm at ±0.05 mm. The surface of both ends of the inside hole can be ground and inverted at a cone angle of 45° or 30°, and the product can be customised to the customer's requirement.

Where to Go Next

• Quartz Glass Tubes
• Conductor Butt Welding Machines
• Automotive Wiring Harness