Band Marking

Could any one inform me what is the difference between Band Marking and Ring Marking in terms of their application and equipment to apply?
Are Automotive wires need to mark with ring or band marking?
What is the purpose of this process?

Hello Waqar,

Ring Marking and band marking are indeed the same thing. They are rings of typically a single color ink, high speed applied at regular intervals to the just extruded and hot, single color pvc insulation. The purpose is to provide secondary color identification to the insulated wire. Examples would be say orange insulation with purple ring marks or orange insulation with green ring marks. Ring marking is commonly found in switchboard cable specifications.

Generally speaking, ring marks are not used in the automotive industry very much any more because the ink rings are not as permanent or as easy to distinguish in poor lighting as that industry would like. Instead, longitudinal single or dual colored stripes are co-extruded right into the insulation. This of course is a permanent secondary color coding solution.

Sincerely,

Peter J. Stewart-Hay
Principal
Stewart-Hay Associates
www.Stewart-Hay.com