Polar Wire Review

[icecube57]

I just recieved a few samples of Polar wire. I normally use silicone wire from EP Buddy but lately he is having trouble keeping stock in and he is talking about 2-3 weeks to restock. I had to find an alternative source for wire. A friend turned me on to Polar Wire. This is a company that provides wire to mainly the marine industry and industrial applications. The wire temp rating is -55 to 105c. The jacket comput properties make it able to with stand an open flame but not indefintelyand self extinguish meaning it doesnt hold a flame. PVC insulation burns and drips away. The insulation on this wire just charrs or deforms but the jacket remains intact.. All wire below 10G is pre tinned copper. Anything 8G or higher is Bare Copper.

 

[icecube57]

The insulation isnt 200C like silicone only 105C. Its higher than PVC. The strand count isnt the best thing thats out there. So the wire has quite a bit of memory to it. It isnt the limpest thing out there. This can be advantage or a disadvantage. If you want you wire or harness to lay all limp and cute this isnt the wire you want. Sometimes you know how you are working on a wire and you want to bend it out of the way for a second. This does have that type of memory. A quick run down the length of the wire with your hand normally release the memory and it become straight again. Another advante of it for me is since its low strand count there is alot less chance of stray strand running away from where you want them to go. I use copper crimp sleeves. I had an extremely hard time gettin 4 12G and 2 10G silicon wires to lay neatly in the crimp sleeve. When I recieved the Polar Wire I tried the same thing and I was able to do it easily with room to spare. The wire strand reminds me teflon but i think its better. Compared to silicon wire of the same gauge the Polar wire seems smaller but I think this is due to the jacket thickness. Its thicker on EP Buddy silicon wire and thinner with polar wire.

EX 10G EP Buddy wire OD is 5.4mm or .212 Inches
EX 10G Polar Wire OD is .174 So there is a little less insulation thickness.

This counts as a plus because EP buddy 10G wire doesnt fit in HK HXT 4mm bullet housings. But this polar wire does.

 

[myzter]

any pics or prices ?
where to buy?

 

[scoot]

Great discription icecube... useful to me anyway. I like a wire with a bit of memory like you described in some places. The polarwire.com site has a bunch of handy and really nice high DC current products too.

 

[amberwolf]

where to buy?

http://www.google.com/search?q=Polar+Wire

 

[Farfle]

We use polarwire pretty much exclusively here at the bike shop. after sampling a half dozen mfgs of better than budget, but not quite silicone wire, we ended up picking them. Plus, shipping out of Alaska, it doesn't take long to get to the west coast.

 

[icecube57]

Going to show a harness I made with the wire so you can know what to expect from it.

 

[icecube57]

Harness