Tinsel Wire
Silver-Plated Alloy Tinsel Wire
Silver-copper alloy foil with silver plating: strength and surface both at the top of the range.
View specifications
Tinsel Wire
Silver-Plated Tinsel Wire
Silver surface for demanding termination and contact requirements.
Overview
What Silver-Plated Tinsel Wire Is For
Silver-plated tinsel wire is specified where the surface of the conductor has to stay conductive and solderable under harder conditions than tin will comfortably cover. Silver is the plating you reach for when the conductor runs warm, when the cable is expected to have a long service life, or when contact resistance at the termination matters as much as the resistance of the conductor itself. Underneath, the construction is the same foil-over-fiber design, so the flex life and the low specific gravity do not change; what changes is what the outside of the conductor tolerates.
Value
Why Engineers Choose This Construction
Key benefits
- Silver surface for demanding termination and contact requirements.
- Suited to conductors that run warm or need a long service life.
- Plating thickness customizable between 0.3 um and 2 um.
- Same bending strength, tensile strength and low specific gravity as the rest of the tinsel range.
Problems it solves
- A solid conductor of the same gauge fatigues at the flex point; foil over a fiber core does not.
- Resistance and outer diameter can be met together instead of traded against each other.
- Oxidation resistance and weldability stay workable at very fine gauges.
Fit
Where It Is Used
Application scenarios
- High-end audio lead wire
- Aerospace and military special equipment cable
- Medical cable with long service life
- Contacts where termination resistance is specified
Who it is for
- High-end audio and instrument makers
- Aerospace and defence cable suppliers
- Medical device manufacturers
- Engineers specifying contact resistance
Engineering
Construction And Materials
Technical features
- Foil-over-fiber construction: silver-plated copper foil on the surface, a soft textile fiber core inside.
- Single-layer or multi-layer copper foil structure.
- Can be twisted into strands or mixed with copper wires to raise bending strength.
- Low specific gravity, high bending strength and high tensile strength for the size.
- Silver plating at a customizable 0.3 um to 2 um, uniform and continuous, with strong adhesion and a smooth surface free of discoloration.
Materials
- Metal foil: silver-plated copper foil
- Fiber core: nylon, polyester, aramid, liquid crystal fiber, heat-resistant cotton yarn and glass fiber
Specifications
Silver-Plated Tinsel Wire Technical Data
Values that depend on your application are set against your targets rather than fixed here.
| Construction | Metal foil wound over soft textile fiber core |
|---|---|
| Surface Material | silver-plated copper foil |
| Single Wire Outer Diameter | 0.04 mm - 0.40 mm |
| Foil Structure | Single-layer or multi-layer |
| Fiber Core Options | nylon, polyester, aramid, liquid crystal fiber, heat-resistant cotton yarn and glass fiber |
| Stranding | Single, twisted into tinsel strands, or mixed with copper wires |
| Plating | Silver |
| Plating Thickness | 0.3 um - 2 um, customizable |
| Conductor Resistance | Customized to your target |
| Minimum Order For Samples | None |
Production
How It Is Made And Checked
Manufacturing process
- Select the metal foil material and the fiber core for the electrical and thermal requirement.
- Draw and roll the copper to extremely fine foil.
- Apply plating where specified, at a coating thickness between 0.3 um and 2 um.
- Wind the foil around the soft textile fiber core, single layer or multi-layer.
- Twist into tinsel wire strands, or mix with copper wires, where extra bending strength is needed.
- Test resistance, tensile strength and elongation, then pack with a loading report.
Quality control
- DC resistance measured on a resistance tester to confirm the conductor lands on the agreed value.
- Tensile testing for tensile strength, yield strength, elongation and elongation after fracture.
- Elongation rate measured during stretching to evaluate mechanical properties and mechanical strength.
- Salt spray testing where the finished cable will face a corrosive environment.
- A comprehensive loading report issued with every shipment.
Customization
What You Can Change
Customization options
- Conductor resistance set to your target value.
- Outer diameter held to your ceiling.
- Tensile strength and breaking load specified to the application.
- High swing performance tuned to the flex life the cable has to reach.
- Solderability matched to your termination process.
Certifications
No third-party certification is published for this product line. Test data from our own resistance, tensile, elongation and salt spray equipment is supplied with samples and with every shipment loading report.
Related
Other Conductors To Compare
Reference
Background Reading
technical guide
What Tinsel Wire Is, And Why It Outlasts Solid Wire Where Cables Bend
The construction, the materials and the reason a foil-over-fiber conductor beats a solid wire of the same size on flex life.
Read the guide
material guide
Choosing The Fiber Core: Aramid, Liquid Crystal Polymer And The Alternatives
What each fiber core actually gives a tinsel wire, and which service conditions should point you at which one.
Read the guide
Questions
Silver-Plated Tinsel Wire: Frequently Asked Questions
When is silver plating worth the cost over tin?
When the conductor runs warm, when the cable has to hold its properties over a long service life, or when contact and termination resistance are as tightly specified as conductor resistance.
Is silver plating available on alloy cores as well?
Yes. Silver-plated alloy tinsel wire uses a silver-copper alloy foil and is supplied as a separate product in the range.
Does silver plating affect the flexibility?
The construction underneath is unchanged, so bending strength, tensile strength and specific gravity stay as they are for the tinsel range. Plating changes surface behaviour, not the mechanics of the foil-over-fiber design.
Quote Silver-Plated Tinsel Wire
Tell us the resistance, outer diameter and flex life you need. Samples on conventional and customized products carry no minimum order quantity.