Thermocouple ribbon cable - does it exist?

I have never heard of such a thing, and have questions about the reliability of an IDC connector attaching to Chromel and Alumel solid thermocouple wires when they are designed for stranded copper. But if your quantities justify it you could check with specialty cable manufacturers like Cooner Wire, or find a harness assembler which could make your harness and connector assembly with automated equipment at lower cost than hand assembly.

I doubt the quantities we need would be worthwhile for a special run. I accept what you say, but it seems the easiest way to kill 2 birds with one stone, one being ease of assembly and the other to clamp the cable between two blocks of aluminium.

Many thanks for your reply.

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:26:07 -0700 (PDT), Fred proclaimed to the world:

Take a look at this.

Thanks for the link. The ribbon refers to a single conduction which is wide but very think. I was hoping someone may have made a multi- conductor ribbon. I can get cables with multiple conductors but they won't do the same job.

Type K is nickel-alloy wiring, Chromel and Alumel in the old brandname scheme, and doesn't crimp well. You'd do better with acid flux and soft solder, or welding.

Omega sells multipair cable, but it isn't 'thermocouple' cable, but the lower-precision 'thermocouple extension wire' cable. See

For best results, even the connector pins should be of the thermocouple material, and only screw-barrier and some of the familiar thermocouple plugs are really available in that form. The easiest quick-connect to find (like, at Radio Shack) is the tube-with-a-setscrew type wire splice.

I think (not completely sure) one can gang multiple plugs side-by-side to make a complex connector. The sockets stack, and the plugs have a through-hole that allows one to bolt them together. These are listed as type NMP or SMP connectors...

You should talk to those Mylar/Kapton "flex circuit" makers.

They could likely laminate your wires into a cable form.

You could actually do it yourself if you can find the kapton sheet stock and an appropriate adhesive or surface prep that allows you to laminate your runs inside it. Double space it, and fold the ribbon in half to get the offset right for the pin spacing.