In harsh industrial environments, cable failure isn't just inconvenient — it can lead to costly downtime, safety risks, and frequent replacements. That's why thermoset jacketing has remained a core part of Amphenol TPC's cable design philosophy for decades. So, what exactly are thermosets? You may be familiar with everyday thermoplastics – things like PVC – that soften and melt when exposed to heat. Thermosets like vulcanized rubber and epoxy resins are the exact opposite in terms of what happens in the presence of heat. After they’re initially cured, they cannot be remelted. Able to withstand heat, abrasion, impact, oils, and demanding operating conditions, thermoset materials deliver the rugged durability industrial operations depend on.
In this video, our experts discuss the history behind thermoset cable construction here at ATPC, exploring why rubber-based jacketing still outperforms many alternatives in heavy-duty applications and how those performance advantages helped shape our reputation in the field. Watch the full video to hear firsthand why thermoset cables continue to earn their place in steel mills, foundries, automotive plants, and other demanding industrial environments.
Transcript:
[On-screen text: Why use thermoset materials?]
The thermoset product line was on board here at Amphenol TPC before I even came on board myself.
But the main purpose of that product? Two things. That was the initial insulation back in the 40s and 50s that everybody used. Because they really didn't develop a lot of thermoplastic materials, rubbers were big back then. So those are the types of materials that were just readily available and very inexpensive as well, as far as the materials are concerned. Now, the reason we stayed with that material — a lot of people haven't stayed with rubber — is because of the industries we're in.
Some of the abuses that the rubber can handle include heat — it can take some heat, it could take a huge amount of abrasion, you could drag it across the ground without impact. And it's great for flexibility, too.
I remember it a little bit differently. I started in 1988, so it's just sort of fairly close to 10 years out from when the company started. But it was started as part of Cadillac Electric. And I think at the time, the founders of the company had a relationship with a particular manufacturer that focused on rubber products. So I'm sort of guessing that those relationships are what got us into rubber products. And at the time, I think there were a lot of PVC products out in the marketplace that didn't perform very well. They tended to dry out and crack and fall apart in a relatively short period of time, where the rubbers held up much, much better. But to Tim's point, I think when you go into the industries we're in, you know, rubber just generally holds up much better, especially if you're looking at our main customers.
It was metal fabrication, steel mills, foundries, and then automotive plants. And with steel mills and foundries, you know, thermoplastics tended to melt when the environment got very hot. Rubber will, if it gets too hot, burn, but it won't melt.
And then again, in the automotive space that we were involved in with the plastics, they were exposed to oils, coolants, and things like that. And then they tended to fail fairly quickly. Again, rubber held up much better.
And also to add to that, the nice thing about the rubber stuff was that it's regulatory. So we had the S-cords, which got us into the Class 1, Division 1 stuff.
The performance of it, I think, was the key factor for ATPC. Like you guys were saying, it's abrasion resistant. You know, look at our E-1. You can't do that with the thermoplastic. Well, you could. It would have a disastrous result.
In the E-1 demo, we beat on it with a hammer, burn it, et cetera. So that was kind of the key to showing our customers to buy our product instead of the competition. It's going to hold up a little bit better.
The amazing thing is the E-1... When I started with the company, it's virtually the same E-1 that we do today. So it's been around 38 years, and it was around before I started. So it's kind of interesting.
And what's interesting about that, too, is when I was in the field more, we would talk to customers and they'd say, "you're the guys that burn the cable! Oh, you're TPC, you're the guys who burned the cable!" Which I guess if you're going to be remembered, you might as well be remembered for something. Whenever you pull out a torch in a factory environment, it attracts a lot of attention.