TE Wire & Cable Thermocouple Solutions Blog

I miss David Letterman. I actually missed Letterman even when he was doing his last shows on the air. The Letterman I miss was the one who threw weird objects off the roofs of tall buildings, just to see what would happen to them when they hit the ground. You name it, he tossed it. Watermelons, cans full of paint, TVs—anything that was breakable and made a big mess was fair game. I loved it. I can’t help it; I’m filled with a kid’s curiosity and inventiveness. I was the kind of boy who, when I was given a toy in a box, threw the toy aside and played with the box.

Now that I’m an adult entrepreneur, I have to keep my inner child in check. Besides, throwing things off rooves is wasteful. Every once in a while, though, I see an opportunity to make a good point and have a little fun at the same time.

At TE Wire, our products are delivered on reels—traditionally, wooden reels. Throw one of these loaded reels off a roof and you’d have a mess of wire and splinters. Just rolling one down some steps can create landfill fodder.

Reels of wire may not fall off roofs every day, but they have been known to fall off docks, downstairs, off forklifts, etc. Damaged or not, many end up in landfills when they don’t have to—especially if they’re made of wood.

TE Wire now offers its products on plastic reels. Speaking as an adult committed to sustainability, that quality offers us as an OEM and you as our customer several advantages.

New 13" RHDPE Reels (Recycled High-Density Polyethylene) for Thermocouple Wire

View the durability test video: All tests were performed on the same reel.

First of all, regardless of the different types of thermocouple, you may use, the benefits remain the same. Not only can you recycle these reels, but just by purchasing our product on plastic reels, you are being an active participant in the recycling supply chain. These reels are RHDPE, recycled high-density polyethylene—and had previous lives as water bottles, milk jugs, shampoo bottles, etc. That’s great for the environment, and good for you, too. Let’s count the ways:

1. Durability:  Plastic reels are significantly more durable and we expect to eliminate breakage completely.  Watch our video of Smart Reel tricks to see why.
   
   
2. Consolidation:  We can replace both the 13” wood reels and 16” wood reels with a 13.5” reel. Shown here are FW13500-5000ft, regularly put on 16” reels.
   
   
3. Boxes: The reel fits in the existing box with room for pigtails, eliminating current box bowing problems during skid staging.
   
   
4. Environmental:  Plastic HDPE reels are made from 100% curbside collected post-consumer recycled material, and as I mentioned, are easy to recycle—and therefore recover some money.
   
   
5. Shipping cost:  With a new box design, it may be possible to get an additional layer of reels on a pallet and still meet the height requirement for air shipment. 

Finally, in addition to surviving impacts, these reels resist most solvents and can be stored outside. But if you store yours at roof level, avoid the Letterman durability test. It’s more fun than practical.

Learn More:

• 3 Basic Steps to Selecting the Right Thermocouple Wire for Your Application 
• Can different thermocouple wire calibration types be used in the same circuit?
• 4 Ways Thermocouple Wire Vendors Build Value, Long Term Relationships