based on my understanding, the problem of Kapton is corona discharge. a
mechanism required high voltage...That is why the Kapton is not suitable for
wire insulation material for air craft or other similar application.  The
low voltage application appear to be no such an effect...At least not to my
knowledge of such sustainable mechanism for 5V... Please let me know if you
have any updated information reqarding this issue.
(check the web site for corona discharge:
http://www.clarkson.edu/~mcgrath/web.html

As for using Kapton as insulation material at localized area, steve, you
should worry about the adhesion of the adhesive in a long run...If the box
is not sealled properly, you may have the tape flying like a kite if
convection cooling is used...

my 2 cents..
                               jk
At 11:22 PM 11/1/99 EST, you wrote:
>Hi ya'll,
>
>Not to start another thread about something that will upset people, but
>lately in the media there has been some talk about Kapton (tm) materials
>being somewhat unstable at elevated temperatures...there's stories about this
>with the recent crash of Egypt Air flight 990...
>
>I, as undoubley as possibly many of you, have always understood that Kapton
>(tm) tapes are what you should use when high temperatures are encountered.
>I've used it on numerous assemblies to in the past to prevent such things as
>a metal connector body connecting to a via that was mistakenly laid-out
>without mask beneath the footprint. As a big as a pain in the butt as it was,
>we would cut a teeny piece of kapton (tm) tape to cover a via so that there
>was no chance of a via to short to the connector. This is just one
>example...there have been many other instances in the past (crystals,
>oscillators, etc..) or with other components where I've used Kapton (tm) tape
>to do similar things...the tape needed to stay with the assembly as a finshed
>product.
>
>Should I, or designers who specify the use of Kapton (tm) in this manner be
>concerned about this? Or is this just media hysteria?
>
>-Steve Gregory-
>
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