Is duct tape conductive?

[Polish3d]

The way I have my system set up, I had to duct a part of the back, and there is a slight chance that the tape could touch the mobo, is this dangerous? I was out of electrical tape

 

[jonnyGURU]

Depends on the duct tape!

REAL duct tape has aluminum in it. That's the stuff that you would actually use to tape up holes in ducts. That would be bad to use.

The more common "duct tape" you get at the store, which is really "duck tape" (originally introduced as a waterproof means of taping up ammunition cases during world war 2, hence the term "duck") is not "duct tape" at all. It might have a metallic color to it, but it isn't metallic. It's just adhesive PVC.

 

[harobikes333]

Claps at the reply that jonnyGURU posted!

 

[corkyg]

Yeah! That reminds me of when I was a jumpmaster, and prepping the doors of a C-46 involved taping them with that 2-in wide tape JonnyGURU was talking about - we called it "90 Mile an Hour tape." It came in large rolls, red or green or gray in color. It was also called "duck tape."

Another round of applause from an old trooper.

 

[jonnyGURU]

I thought it was called "100 mile an hour tape" because it was able to hold thing down in a hurricane.

 

[Bill Kunert]

Originally posted by: corkyg
Yeah! That reminds me of when I was a jumpmaster, and prepping the doors of a C-46 involved taping them with that 2-in wide tape JonnyGURU was talking about - we called it "90 Mile an Hour tape." It came in large rolls, red or green or gray in color. It was also called "duck tape."

Another round of applause from an old trooper.

C-46's - You have been around for a while. Only rode in a C-46 once. 1959 transferring from Lackland AFB to Lowery AFB. The plane was probably 20 years old then. I thought Duck tape was 200MPH tape because NASCAR uses it to patch bodies back together and I've even seen some on NHRA Funny Cars.

Bill

 

[jonnyGURU]

Here we go: http://www.octanecreative.com/ducttape/duckvsduct.html

100MPH tape: Original military "duck" tape (the stuff used to seal the ammo boxes.)

200MPH tape: Duck tape commonly used by NASCAR. Term actually trademarked by Manco (makers of the "Duck Tape" brand tape.)

1000MPH tape: Duck tape is used by the Navy to repair randomes on aircraft.

 

[Kakumba]

wow, very informative thread. great stuff jonnyGURU.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
I thought it was called "100 mile an hour tape" because it was able to hold thing down in a hurricane.

Well, we called it 90 mph tape because that was the speed of the C-46 at jump altitude. The tape around the doors was to prevent the static lines from being chafed by the aluminum door edges. The application was very liberal.

It could well have had hiher speed names based on applications.

 

[Cruise51]

I remember seeing duct tape covering a 10 inch gash on a mig-17 air inlet, when I asked if it was air worthy I got the answer "that shits good to 1000 miles per hour".

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: Bill Kunert

C-46's - You have been around for a while. Only rode in a C-46 once. 1959 transferring from Lackland AFB to Lowery AFB. The plane was probably 20 years old then. I thought Duck tape was 200MPH tape because NASCAR uses it to patch bodies back together and I've even seen some on NHRA Funny Cars. {/q]

That was in 1965 when I was with the 8th Special Forces Group in Panama - the aircraft were provided by the 605th Air Commando Squadron. Those old birds were great for getting in under radar - then popping up to 100 feet for the drop. Training jumps were at 1200 feet. Man . . . those were fun days!

 

[Cruise51]

Originally posted by: Frackal
The way I have my system set up, I had to duct a part of the back, and there is a slight chance that the tape could touch the mobo, is this dangerous? I was out of electrical tape

You can check yourself if you have a multimeter. Set it to resistance (Ohms) and space the probes 1/8th of an inch apart. Don't use it if you get much higher than zero.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I just checked with my Fluke 77 and a roll of tape. No, it is not conductive in the least. In fact, I put one lead on the sticky side, and the other lead right next to it, but on the outside, and even though they were ~1mm from each other, it was not conductive... So there is your answer about that.