I’ve been reading in these post about useing kapton tape for insulating motoers and such. Where can i get it ?
tried lowes,home depot and radio shack. no one knows what i am talking about. Can you guys help? Thanks
Remember, Google is your friend. I searched on “kapton tape” and got 61,500 hits, including several who will sell you more kapton tape than you could possibly use in a lifetime of decodering.
But, the places most likely familiar to Model Railroaders are
Loys Toys - http://www.loystoys.com/loystoys/yellow-insulation-tape.html
and
Tony’s - http://www.tonystrains.com/tonystips/1999/052699.htm
HTH,
Steve
Interesting. We use kapton labeling material where I work because of high temp rating. What about using plain old black electrical tape ? Any reason not to besides needing something very thin because of space ?
My understanding is that Kapton is a better conductor of heat than PVC is, but a similar insulator of electricity. It’s also thinner than PVC. Both of these properties would solve certain problems I’ve had in using PVC tape (regular black electrical tape) in securing decoders and associated wiring.
Loy’s and Tony’s sell this stuff by the foot, but I’ve been trying for a long time with little luck to find rolls of it. The local suppliers have rarely even heard of Kapton, and at the online sources I have found an order for tape alone was prohibitively costly by the time I shipped it and paid taxes and collection fees with the carrier. One of these days I’ll stumble on a source for it…till then I’ll keep being creative with PVC tape and cable ties. [:)]
Bruce at www.litchfieldstation.com sell the Kapton tape by the 36 yard roll in different widths too. I prefer this tape due to its being very thin. Makes it easier to fit Athearn motors back in the slot after insulating them from the frame. Also the Kapton tape doesn’t unstick itself from wires etc like regular electrical tape does over time. If you do remove the tape, it doesn’t tend to leave the sticky muck that regular tape does either.
Most DCC decoder installers such as Tony’s Trains and Litchfield Station sell Kapton tape, or you can order it from any major electronics supply house such as Mouser Electronics or Jameco Electronics.
kapton tape is far thinner than plain black electrical tape, and also far less gooey and messy. Plus it is insulating, and a lot stronger than plain old clear tape if you use it to simply fasten the decoder in place (with a strip across the decoder or something). I got mine from Litchfield since I was ordering some decoders and other stuff at the same time.
–Randy
You can buy Kapton Tape from Tony’s Train Exchange. One roll is about $12.00, at least it was when I purchased it. I too went all over town only to discover that I could get it from Tony’s–you can’t get it from Digitrax which makes little to no sense because the primary reason for having to use Kapton tape is to insulate decoders.
Good luck.