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April 6, 1964 Electronics
 [Table of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics.
See articles from Electronics,
published 1930 - 1988. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.
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Did you know that at least originally
the term "Wire-Wrap" was - and maybe still a - registered trademark of
Gardner-Denver Company?
Kynar insulation, whose full name is
Kynar polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) resin, is most likely a familiar type of
insulation due to its widespread use on wire-wrap wire. It had very recently been
introduced to the electronics world when this advertisement appeared in a 1964 issue
of Electronics magazine. The contemporary name used by its manufacturer,
Arkema, is Kynar500®, and the
coating's use has expanded well beyond the electronics industry into architectural
and mechanical coatings. I did a LOT of manual wire-wrapping on Mil-Spec equipment
while working as a technician at
Westinghouse Oceanic Division (now Northrop Grumman) in the early and mid 1980s.
The massive wire-wrapped board shown in the ad was done by an automated machine.
There were times that the guys in my work area (code-named "HK") had to do rework
based on an engineering circuit change. Most often it was a nightmare because the
manner in which the machines wrapped wires on posts (sometimes three-high) required
unwrapping and then re-wrapping dozens of wires because the ones we really needed
to access were below a wrap that was at the top of the post. Workmanship standards
prohibited (for good reason) unwrapping and then re-wrapping the same wire because
the sharp edges of the square posts (which created the gas-tight connections) weakened
the wire during straightening. Other than the dread caused by needing to rework
them, those machine-wrapped boards looked awesome.
Kynar Pennsalt Vinylidene Fluoride Resin Ad
 Machine-wired backplanes for "Burroughs"
Computers now use hook-up wire insulated with "Kynar,"* Pennsalt vinylidene fluoride
resin. Why "Kynar"? No cold flow or cut-through when wire is pulled tight around
sharp corners. "Kynar" is tough ... withstands tension of machine application to
backplane. Has U.L. approval for "Burroughs" B-5000 computer operation.
Each "Burroughs" backplane is checked visually, tested electronically. Machine
wrapping with Gardner-Denver "Wire-Wrap"† drastically reduces incidence of error;
concentrates 100,000 circuits in same space that formerly allowed only 10,000 circuits.
For more data on "Kynar" ... sources of hook-up wire insulated with "Kynar,"
write Plastics Department, Pennsalt Chemicals Corporation, Three Penn Center, Philadelphia,
Pa. 19102.
"Burroughs" is a Registered trademark of Burroughs Corporation.
Kynar ... a fluoroplastic that's tough!
* "Kynar" is a Registered trademark of Pennsalt Chemicals Corporation.
Pennsalt Chemicals
Established 1850
† "Wire-Wrap" is a Registered trademark of Gardner-Denver Company.
Posted April 5, 2024
(updated from original post
on 2/21/2017)
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