Tape

[ksjh]

The cloth tape used on automotive wiring looms is commonly called "Tesa tape", since Tesa is a leading brand name of this type of tape.

In Germany, Tesa tape would just be golden-clear transparent office adhesive tape, like Sellotape in the UK or Scotch Tape in the US or Canada. The automotive stuff is most likely Tesa 51608, a 280 µm thin PET fleece wire harness tape: https://www.tesa.com/en/industry/tesa-51608.html

Tesa makes a number different non-woven wire harnessing tapes, where 51608 is one of the thinnest variants: https://www.tesa.com/en/industry/applications/bundling/non-woven-tapes

[tooki]

There are too many tapes that are visually identical but have subtly or radically different characteristics.

"friction tape" as a range that as DigiKey serves up has a spread of matching styles including branding like "StrongHold". Adhesion in production relies on cleanliness/surface prep and/or activators.

Well yes, but it's not just surface preparation (cleaning, priming, activating, etc). They make tapes with a HUGE array of different adhesives that behave entirely differently. Some are good for certain materials, others better for others.

I work in the workshop at a university chemistry department, and we have to use a huge variety of materials due to the various chemical compatibility needs, with stainless steel and teflon being disproportionately represented (but also lots of glass, polycarbonate, hard PVC, PEEK, PBT, and others). Each poses different challenges with adhesives (both tapes and liquids/pastes/gels) and sealants. So it's not unusual for us to call up the adhesives suppliers for advice on what to use for a particular job. It goes way beyond the basics of cleanliness and primers.



(At work I recently threw out a few rolls of ~$35/roll 3M double-sided tape that went bad after too many years of storage -- it has strong adhesive on one side, and weak (similar to post it notes) on the other. Unfortunately the strong side aged to where it adhered permanently to the liner. )

[ksjh]

In addition to the non-woven (Tesa) fleece tapes, the automotive industry also uses some woven cloth tape variants, e.g., from certoplast: https://certoplast.com/en/products/fabric-tapes/

[Someone]

Digikey > Product Index > Tapes, Adhesives, Materials > Tape
+ filter for fabric carriers = 500 something results

I like friction tape, but it does not have a very sticky adhesive.

as above

There are too many tapes that are visually identical but have subtly or radically different characteristics.

"friction tape" as a range that as DigiKey serves up has a spread of matching styles including branding like "StrongHold". Adhesion in production relies on cleanliness/surface prep and/or activators.

Well yes, but it's not just surface preparation (cleaning, priming, activating, etc). They make tapes with a HUGE array of different adhesives that behave entirely differently. Some are good for certain materials, others better for others.

I work in the workshop at a university chemistry department, and we have to use a huge variety of materials due to the various chemical compatibility needs, with stainless steel and teflon being disproportionately represented (but also lots of glass, polycarbonate, hard PVC, PEEK, PBT, and others). Each poses different challenges with adhesives (both tapes and liquids/pastes/gels) and sealants. So it's not unusual for us to call up the adhesives suppliers for advice on what to use for a particular job. It goes way beyond the basics of cleanliness and primers.

I agree with all of that! Your quote was included for agreement/acknowledgment that it had already been said. That full stop in the middle, makes it two distinct statements/claims.

"friction tape" as a range that as DigiKey serves up has a spread of matching styles including branding like "StrongHold"

David Hess incorrectly claims friction tape is associated with a single range/form of adhesive.

Adhesion in production relies on cleanliness/surface prep and/or activators.

Something that had not yet been mentioned in the thread and important for people seeking maximum adhesion.

Still more agreement, for people unsure you're sadly not going to get much out of the catalogues or online listings (once upon a time I had some selection matrix charts for material adhesion) so ask a specialist.

[mikerj]

The cloth tape used on automotive wiring looms is commonly called "Tesa tape", since Tesa is a leading brand name of this type of tape.

In Germany, Tesa tape would just be golden-clear transparent office adhesive tape, like Sellotape in the UK or Scotch Tape in the US or Canada. The automotive stuff is most likely Tesa 51608, a 280 µm thin PET fleece wire harness tape: https://www.tesa.com/en/industry/tesa-51608.html

Tesa makes a number different non-woven wire harnessing tapes, where 51608 is one of the thinnest variants: https://www.tesa.com/en/industry/applications/bundling/non-woven-tapes

This shows how industries adopting brand names as a generic product name can be confusing!

[David Hess]

"friction tape" as a range that as DigiKey serves up has a spread of matching styles including branding like "StrongHold"

David Hess incorrectly claims friction tape is associated with a single range/form of adhesive.

When someone mentions "friction tape", this is what I think of and I have a roll of it in front of me:

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b00042714/
https://www.amazon.com/1755-Friction-Tape-Inchx60-0-01/dp/B003WLVJZ4

It is cotton cloth embedded with rubber with no adhesive other than the rubber itself.  It never really sticks to anything else, but when wrapped tightly, the rubber between layers sort of merges.  Heating will burn rather than melt it.

A search on Amazon for "friction tape" returns many similar cloth+rubber tapes.

The tape mentioned in the OP is something I may have seen before but never identified despite wanting a roll.  In at least the form I am familiar with, it is shiny black, or sometimes shiny yellow, with a visible loose crosshatch of fibers, and has an incredibly strong adhesive so I end up just cutting and scissoring it off.  I have sometimes seen what is apparently the same tape used for motor windings.

[shabaz]

This is the closest I've seen to the type of tape in some laptops and other basic consumer electronics; it's available at Amazon with the following title:
uxcell Acetate Cloth Tape for Laptop Electric Auto Guitar Repair High Temperature Adhesive Tape Black

The tape is very flexible, can be torn at a right-angle (i.e. tearing of the warp) so scissors are not essential.

The tape comes on a backing sheet. Personally I prefer using Kapton tape instead if possible, since there's less time-wasting, due to no need to peel any backing sheet.

[jonpaul]

For HV, mains or power Use only UL/ETL/VDE approved electrical grade tape.
We use 3m or Ideal tape on pour production.

Nuts to use  cheap Chinese knockoffs

Jon

[shabaz]

For HV, mains or power Use only UL/ETL/VDE approved electrical grade tape.
We use 3m or Ideal tape on pour production.

Nuts to use  cheap Chinese knockoffs

Jon

It's used for WiFi antennas, and guitar internals, and the like. It has got nothing to do with high-voltage or mains, and Chinese origin isn't relevant either.