Professional BoatBuilder - December-January 2018

DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018 13

economic steam rate about 10 mph. Immanuel is in service

100 hours per week.

Nidec Industrial Automation, 7078 Shady Oak Rd., Eden

Prairie, MN 55344–3505 USA, tel. 952–995–8000, website

http://www.controltechniques.com.

Kramer Marine Engineering, 46 Houtkopersstraat, 3334

KD Zwijndrecht,  e Netherlands, tel. +31 (0) 78 61 00 112,

website http://www.kmebv.nl.

Masterplan Sustainable Fisheries Foundation (MVD),

website http://www.masterplanduurzamevisserij.nl. —D.S.

Ball-Lock Cable Ties

When it comes to stocking inexpensive multi-

purpose supplies in your boat or toolbox, cable

ties are right up there with duct tape. Nylon

cable ties are not only essential for securing bun-

dles of electrical wire, they’re handy for taming a

coil of hose or an errant  ap of canvas, and they’re

reasonably strong. But sometimes you need a

more robust solution.  omas & Betts, a global

supplier of wire and cable, manufactures a stain-

less steel retained-tension ball-lock cable tie that

has myriad applications. It features a spring

crimp “engineered to provide positive clamping

in high-vibration applications” that include ship-

building. A DAS-250 tool from  omas & Betts

is not required but recommended for assembly

and installation with the proper tension. Ties are

available in 304 and 316 stainless steel, and fea-

ture a channel for a trace wire to protect against

crushing and short circuits.  ey are approved by

UL, Germanischer Lloyd, Lloyd’s Register, and

Det Norske Veritas.

A company spokesman says the smaller Ball-

Locks can replace inex-

pensive nylon ties for

more security, and that

the larger Ball-Locks are

for applications where

nylon ties would not be

appropriate. Electrical-

Hub (www.electricalhub

.com) sells a 25-pack of

316-grade 18" (457mm) 900-lb (408-kg) Ball-Lock cable

ties for $81.90.

T&B also makes more conventional stainless steel cable

ties with self-locking heads; Uline (www.uline.com) sells a

box of 100 8" (203mm) ties for $63.

 omas & Betts Corp., 8155 T&B Blvd., Memphis, TN

38125 USA, tel. 901–252–5000, website http://www.tnb.com.

—D.S.

When nylon cable ties

aren’t strong enough,

Ball-Lock Cable Ties

from wire and cable

manufacturer Thomas &

Betts can hold up to

COURTESY THOMAS & BETTS900 lbs (408 kg).

800.653.

tacomarine.com

CREATING PRODUCTS

FOR YOUR FUTURE

Same quality and service

you’ve come to expect

from TACO for 60 years.

See us at • Booth 512

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