Hi;

I'm looking for some old style spaghetti tubing similar to this picture. Appears to be braided cloth with some type of coating.
Any ideas?



Thanks

Ed

AES, www.tubesandmore.com has it listed as S-M436W and S-M401W.

That stuff is known as cambric. Usually, it was varnished after installation to make it stiffer so it does not flop around. I have seen it placed on transformer leads to protect the high voltage leads where they exit the transformer end covers. It used to be very common, but I don't know if it is made anymore or not. But you may do an internet search on cambric and see.
Curt

I did an exhaustive search in the late 1980's and the only stuff you could buy was the fiberglass tubing.

I've seen this stuff that looks like this in modern electronics.

Its usually put over wires that are exposed to high temperatures to prevent their plastic insulation from melting off if the wire should touch a hot surface. The wires coming out of a heating element for example.

I have only been able to find varnished cambric tape not tubing when I did a search.

I would say its not made anymore. The fiberglass tubing has a much higher fire resistance then the cambric which is lightweight cotton. Which may be one of the reasons for its demise.

If you buy the fiberglass in white you could always paint it to match the old tubing. If you're that inclined.

Unfortunately, AES now only stocks WHITE spaghetti. I have looked around and asked on other forums, and there does not appear to be a source of the BLACK spaghetti that AES used to sell. Their stock appears to be fiberglass, but the black was a very good match to the original, especially if the shiny finish was dulled somewhat.

I have not tried painting the white stuff, but that might work.

I'm not familiar with the term Spaghetti Tubing but is this what your looking for?

Radio Daze Lacquered Cloth Wire

Raven

I can confirm that the AES product is white fiberglass.
Have purchased both sizes.

Nope, Raven. Think of it as hollow, semi-flexible tubing, meant to slide onto other wires.

Oh okay. Thanks

Raven

This question has come up several times in the past few years.

Currently the consensus is that Alpha PIF-130 tubing (available only on 100' spools from Mouser and other sources) which is black PVC coated Fiberglas, is a very close replacement for the original. Some Forum members ordered earlier this year and were satisfied that by rubbing it with steel wool to take off a bit of the shine it would be the closest thing you can find to real spaghetti. Depending on which size you order, the price varies + or - from about $30 for 100 feet.

Also some had reported that local electric motor rewinders use similar material in their shops, in a variety of sizes and colors. So if you have a local rewinder still in business, it may be worth checking there first.

Thanks again for the info. I have some of the white stuff that I got I think from AES. It is not pretty, but it does the job. Some people have colored it with Magic Marker or paint I think...

Alrighty then. Some good information here. Thanks too to all of those who replied.

On occasion, I've used a shoelace for this. Get the round variety, in whatever color you want. Then cut the ends off, and pull out the core strands. What's left is pretty close. I give it a spray coat of lacquer to make it look a bit more authentic, and to keep the ends from unravelling. It's usually not as tightly braided as true spaghetti, so I make sure the wire underneath is still properly insulated for the given voltage.

You might want to look at the McMaster-Carr offerings at http://www.mcmaster.com for products called "sleeving". They have several pages in the catalog, some of which might work. Many different materials.

[Hello="Mr. Detrola"]
your correct on that product from Alpa well I have been buying it from mouser for a while and it does work really well here is the website renaissance.man &Ttibiaclausa www.mouser.com/alpawire
mouser is great place to order stuff I have ordered from them since the early 80s and they have been good to me ever since the stuff mite be little spendy but hey 100 feet lasts while
sincerely Radio Rich

I've been using teflon tubing, available from Mouser in various gauges. Black is preferred. "Natural" is essentially clear.

It is effective, but doesn't quite have the look of varnished spagetti - but much cheaper, per foot.
Doug