Choose A Suitable Type of Cable Tie For Your Application

When talking about cable tie, many people may think it’s just a strip for bundling cables and there is nothing special about it. But the fact is that if you want to make your messy cables well-organized, cable tie can offer an easy and cost-effective solution for your cable management. On the market, there are various types of cable ties with different colors and sizes, which are designed for different applications. Choosing a suitable type of cable tie can greatly improve your working efficiency. Therefore, this article is going to introduce four types of cable ties, which aims to help you know more about cable ties and make a suitable choice for your application.

Self-Locking Nylon Cable Tie

Self-locking nylon cable tie is made of nylon which is a kind of material with good reliability, high durability and low friction coefficient. From the figure below, we can find that it has a locking design. When using it for self-locking connection, you just need to insert the flexible tail into the head hole, which is constructed precisely for easy and fast attachment. Then the cables will be locked firmly. In addition, this type of cable tie is available in a variety of colors for unique identification purposes, as shown in the following figure.

ID Marker Cable Tie

ID marker cable tie is also made of nylon which is a kind of polyamide material for light weight and flexibility. There is an outside flag design—a rectangular labeling area, on its head, which allows users to imprint or write some information related to the cables on it. This can save a lot of time for the identification of cables. Structured with a self-locking mechanism, the using way of ID marker cable tie is the same with that of Self-Locking nylon cable tie, which is easy to operate and can realize a quick lock on the cables. Besides, this type of cable tie can also be found with different colors for easy identification of wires. To have a better understanding of the structure of ID marker cable tie, here is a figure for you.

Back to Back Velcro Cable Tie

Back to back velcro cable tie, also referred to as hook and loop cable tie, is made of a kind of self-attaching hook and loop material, which is perfect for controlling cables. This material has two sides—hook side and loop side. The hook side is molded, while the loop side is soft knitted. It is very easy to use that you just need to put hook side and loop side together or pull these two sides apart. This type of cable tie is characterized by high cost effectiveness because it can be reused for many times. What’s more, it can be cut according to the desired length which is really convenient to use. Here is a figure of back to back velcro cable tie which can help you to learn about its construction.

There is a special type of hook and loop cable tie that is necessary to be introduced to you—T type magnetic velcro cable tie. It is durable and reusable. We can learn from the figure below that the design of T type magnetic velcro cable tie is a little different from that of back to back velcro cable tie. Instead, it is similar to the nylon cable tie with self-locking design. Therefore, this type of cable tie combines the using way of velcro cable tie and self-locking cable tie, which just needs to pass the tail into the head hole, then the hook side and loop side will naturally stick together, which is flexible and convenient.

Conclusion

Although cable ties look inconspicuous, the importance of these cheap components can not be ignored. It is not difficult to find that cable ties are very useful for neat and tidy cable management and is greatly favored by data center managers. With a variety of cable ties on the market, it is necessary to choose a suitable type of cable tie according to different applications. FS.COM provides the cable ties mentioned above and some other types, such as stainless steel zip ties.

Do You Know Cable Tie?

Cable tie, also known as tie wrap, hose tie, zip tie, zap strap, is a type of fastener, for holding items together, primarily electric cables or wires. It is designed to quickly fix wire bundles and components without slipping. Because it is low in cost and easy to use, cable tie is commonly used in cable management.

Different Types of Cable Ties

There are cable ties with all kinds of sizes and materials for different requirements in different projects.

Material

• Nylon Cable Tie

Nylon cable tie is a kind of common cable tie with low cost which can even be found in our daily life. For example, it is often used for bundling in home cabling. Because of the low cost, light weight, good flexibility, quick and easy to use, nylon cable tie is widely applied to wiring system of many data centers.

• Stainless Steel Cable Tie

Stainless steel cable tie is made from stainless steel material which is much stronger and can make tensile strength reach 400 pounds or more. The using way of stainless steel cable tie is different from others. You just need to pass the stainless steel end through its self-locking mechanism. This kind of cable tie is characterized by high strength, high temperature resistance, anti-corrosion, and it is a good option for applications in harsh environment.

• Velcro Cable Tie

Velcro cable tie, also known as hook and loop cable tie, is made from soft hook and loop material. When putting the hook side and loop side together, there will be natural sticky force; when pulling them with a force, the two sides will naturally separate. The opening and closing operation can reach 10,000 times. This kind of cable tie can adjust tightness and can also be reused for many times. It is available in a variety of sizes, styles and colors. Velcro cable tie is more and more popular with data center managers for its reusability, high reliability and aesthetics.

Function and Structure

• Beaded cable ties: Unique beaded design allows them to be releasable and reusable.
• Releasable cable ties: Easy to apply and remove, reusable.
• Ladder style cable ties: For intermediate bundling and retail applications.
• Identification cable ties: Built-in flags for written or printed identification.
• Parallel entry cable ties: Tamper-proof, low profile heads.
• Tear-off cable ties: Quick release design requires no cutting tools.

Benefit

• Point 1: Cable tie can reduce the lateral movement and rotation of the cable or hose.
• Point 2: Cable tie can repair the tamper-proof lock box of cable bundle, the AC power unit, the power outlet and the door.
• Point 3: Strap hoses with high performance cable tie can be used in projects where wires have to withstand constant vibration, exposure to UV rays, rain and salt water. These products have high all-weather adaptability.
• Point 4: Stainless steel cable tie with fire-resistant and high temperature resistant coat is used to fix cables and hoses in car engines and oven/baking chambers.
• Point 5: Elastic cable tie can protect photosensitive cables and wire bundles from being damaged by excessive tension, protect the shape of wire bundles, and maintain the optimum signal integrity of the network.

Application

In tool bag, cable tie is as important as Phillips screwdriver. It has a wide range of applications. Because of low cost and easy to use, cable tie is popular with contractors and home users. For example, cable tie can be used in bundling applications due to its low profile and high tensile strength. Followings are four common applications of cable tie.

• Application one: Cable tie is used to bundle cables and wires securely. You can make minute adjustments on the positive-locking teeth of the cable tie to realize bundling with various sizes. That means when your cable bundle has a breakout point and the bundles are split into smaller groups, the cable tie can be tightened to form the new constraint.
• Application two: Cable tie is used to organize, identify and code cable bundles to realize optimum cable management, so that the cables laying behind your desk or home theater are neat and tidy. Cable ties with built-in flags are helpful because you will never have to worry about which cable is connected to which device.
• Application three: Cable tie is used to fix and mount tools, bicycles and wires in the garage.
• Application four: Cable tie can be used as clip for holding cables, tubing and hoses. It is great to use cable ties for fixing cables in confined space.

Conclusion

Although cable ties look inconspicuous, the importance of these cheap components can not be ignored. It is very useful for neat and tidy cable management and is greatly favored by data center managers. With a variety of cable ties on market, it is necessary to choose a suitable type of cable tie according to different applications.