Frosted Polycarbonate Tube Specifications for LED Fixture Engineers
Standard extrusion data. Anything outside this table is quoted against your drawing.
| Material | Polycarbonate. The same section also runs in PVC. |
|---|---|
| Profile size | 25 mm wide |
| Surface | Frosted |
| Colour and diffusion | Clear, semi-clear, opal |
| Length | 0.5 m to 5 m |
| Design | Standard size or custom made sizes |
| Service temperature | −40 °C to 120 °C |
| Flame behaviour | Self-extinguishing grades available. Some grades meet UL94 HB, V-2, V-1, V-0, 5VB and 5VA, depending on the resin and wall section. |
| Other properties | High impact strength, optical clarity, weather resistance, electrical insulation |
| Packing | Carton packing or wooden box packing |
How a Light Diffusing Polycarbonate Tube Hides Your LED Diodes
A frosted wall scatters light as it passes through, so the eye stops picking out individual emitters and reads a lit surface instead. That is the whole job. Get it right and the fixture looks like one continuous line. Get it wrong and every diode shows through as a bright dot down the length of your product.
Because the frosting forms during extrusion rather than being added afterwards as a film or a sleeve, there is nothing to peel, bubble or shift out of position in the field. It also means the diffusion level is a decision you make once, at quotation, instead of a component you keep buying separately.
Choosing between clear, semi-clear and opal
All three run on the same 25 mm die, so switching between them costs no tooling.
| Finish | Light through | Diode hiding | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clear | Highest | Lowest | Output matters more than looks, or the diodes sit deep inside the fixture |
| Semi-clear | Balanced | Good | The usual pick when a strip sits close behind the wall |
| Opal | Lowest | Highest | Fixtures viewed at eye level, where a visible dot becomes a returned unit |
If you are not sure which one your fixture needs, do not decide from a screen. Ask for the three-piece sample set, light it with your own strip, and choose with the part in your hand.
Why Project Buyers Choose Our Wholesale Frosted Polycarbonate Tube
One part number instead of two
Diffusion is built into the extrusion, so you are not buying a clear tube plus a diffuser film and paying someone to put them together.
Your BOM loses a line, assembly loses a step, and the delamination complaint that arrives eighteen months later never happens.
It survives the parts of the job you cannot control
Polycarbonate takes impact that would crack acrylic, and holds up from −40 °C to 120 °C with good weather resistance and dielectric strength. Flame-retardant grades are available where your certification file needs one.
Fewer units broken between the container and the ceiling, and exterior or cold-store installations that still look right after the first winter.
Cut to your fixture, not to a stock length
Runs are cut anywhere from 0.5 m to 5 m. Dies are built in-house, which keeps the wall even along the length and tolerances tight enough for press-fit end caps.
Less offcut waste per unit, and end caps that seat first time instead of going to a rework bench.
Still deciding on diffusion? Ask Dachang for a three-piece sample set of the 25 mm tube in clear, semi-clear and opal, and test it against your own LED strip before anyone quotes volume.
Optical Grade PC Diffuser Tube Material and Surface Finish Explained
Extrusion sets the optics. Raw pellets are melted and drawn through a profile die as one continuous section, so diameter, wall thickness and surface texture are fixed by the tool rather than by a finishing step that drifts from batch to batch.
- Even walls, even brightness. A purpose-built die holds the wall consistent along the run, which is what stops a 5 m length from banding light and dark once it is lit.
- A working range of −40 °C to 120 °C. Covers driver heat trapped inside a sealed fixture as well as exterior and cold-store mounting.
- Self-extinguishing grades. Some resins meet UL94 ratings up to V-0 and 5VA. Which rating you can claim depends on the grade and the wall section, and it goes in writing on the quotation before tooling starts.
- The wall is also an insulator. Useful when the profile doubles as the enclosure around live conductors instead of sitting outside a separate housing.
- Other polymers, same section. PVC runs on this profile too, and our lines also process PMMA, ABS, PE, PP and TPE when a project needs a different cost or chemical profile.
Where Our Project Ready Polycarbonate Diffuser Tube Gets Specified
LED lighting covers and lenses
Pendants, cove and shelf lighting, batten and tube-format luminaires, and anywhere the diffuser is the visible face of the product.
The wall carries the appearance of the entire fixture, which makes batch-to-batch consistency a warranty question rather than a cosmetic one.
Electronic components
Insulating sleeves, indicator windows and protective housings that need a translucent, non-conductive section around a sensor or a live part.
One extruded section can replace a machined or moulded housing at project volume, with no mould amortisation sitting on your side of the quote.
Construction and architectural work
Illuminated handrails, signage elements, balustrades and ceiling details exposed to impact and weather.
Long lengths mean fewer joints per metre installed, so less visible seaming on site and less silicone work for the contractor.
Custom Frosted Polycarbonate Tube Extrusion and OEM Tooling Service
Send the drawing, or send the fixture. Dies are designed and cut in our own tool room, which is why a custom cross-section does not have to sit in an outside toolmaker's queue before you see a sample.
What you can change
Diameter and wall section, snap or groove features in the profile, diffusion level, colour within clear, semi-clear and opal, cut length between 0.5 m and 5 m, and the base polymer.
If your current supplier's 25 mm section is close but not right, what stands between you and the right part is a die, not a new product programme.
How the project runs
Drawing or sample review, with feedback on anything that will fight the extrusion process
Die design and cutting in our tool room
Trial run and sample shipment to you
Your written approval on physical parts
Volume production against the approved sample
Have a drawing already? Send the section, the wall and the length you need. A Dachang polycarbonate tube engineer will tell you whether the standard die covers it or a new tool is required, before you spend anything.
How Dachang Keeps Every Factory Tested PC Tube Batch Consistent
The sample you approve becomes the reference. Everything below exists to make later batches match it, because on a lit product the differences a customer notices are usually the ones nobody measured.
- Dimensional checks against the die drawing. Width and wall thickness are verified through the run, since drift shows up at your end as end caps that no longer fit.
- Optical comparison to the approved part. Frosted sections are checked batch to batch, because a shade shift is invisible in a carton and obvious on a wall of installed fixtures.
- Material grade held for the order. The resin used, including its UL94 rating where a flame-retardant grade is specified, is confirmed on the quotation and not substituted mid-order.
- Documentation agreed up front. If your market needs specific test reports or certificates, say so at enquiry stage so the grade is chosen accordingly rather than sorted out after production.
Packing and Shipping Bulk Order Polycarbonate Tube Without Damage
Carton packing
For shorter cut lengths, trial quantities and mixed sample sets.
Takes courier and air freight, and splits across several delivery addresses without anyone repacking at your end.
Wooden box packing
For 5 m lengths and container volumes, where the risk is bending and end damage rather than the material itself.
A long extrusion that arrives bowed is scrap, not a discount. Boxing is the difference between a usable pallet and a claim.
Goods leave our factory in Tangxia Town, Dongguan, Guangdong. Packing method, marking and shipping terms are agreed in writing before production, so nothing gets renegotiated at the loading bay.
MOQ and Lead Times for Frosted Polycarbonate Tube Orders
On an extruded profile, minimum quantity is driven by the die and the line setup, not by what happens to be in a warehouse. Setting up a run costs the same whether the run is short or long, which is why the answer differs for a standard section and a new one.
Standard 25 mm section
The die already exists, so there is no tooling stage and the quantity threshold is lower.
Worth checking whether your fixture can be designed around it before you commission anything custom. It is usually the fastest route to a first shipment.
New or modified cross-section
Die design, trial run, sample approval, then production. Each stage is quoted with its own timing.
Build the approval window into your launch date. It is the stage most often left out of a project schedule, and the one that moves the ship date.
Quantity thresholds and production timing are confirmed in writing against your specific section, length and finish. Ask early, even if the project is still at the design stage.
Frosted Polycarbonate Tube Photos from Our Extrusion Floor
Why Lighting Brands Choose Dachang as Their Polycarbonate Tube Manufacturer
Dachang is a dedicated polycarbonate tube manufacturer and OEM supplier running its own extrusion plant in Tangxia Town, Dongguan. The tool room, the extrusion lines and the sampling process sit under one roof, so the person answering your tolerance question is the person holding the die drawing.
Tooling stays in-house
A cross-section change is handled internally instead of being passed to a third-party toolmaker with a queue and a margin of its own.
Seven polymers, one supplier
PC, PVC, PMMA, ABS, PE, PP and TPE run on the same site, so switching material is a quotation question rather than a new vendor qualification.
No layer between you and the line
You deal with the factory that extrudes the part. Specification questions get a technical answer instead of being relayed twice.
Frosted Polycarbonate Tube Questions Sourcing Managers Ask Us
Which finish should I specify, clear, semi-clear or opal?
It depends on how close your diodes sit to the wall and how visible the fixture is in use. Clear passes the most light but shows the emitters. Semi-clear is the usual choice when a strip sits directly behind the wall. Opal gives the most even surface and the lowest transmission. All three come off the same 25 mm die, so the fastest way to decide is to light a sample of each with your own strip.
Can you extrude a tube outside the standard 25 mm size?
Yes. Standard and custom sizes are both produced, and dies are cut in our own tool room. Send a drawing or a physical sample with the wall thickness and length you are targeting, and it comes back quoted as a custom die project with a sample stage before volume.
What lengths can you supply, and how are 5 m pieces packed for export?
Cut lengths run from 0.5 m to 5 m. Short pieces ship in cartons, and long lengths or container volumes ship in wooden boxes, which is what keeps a 5 m extrusion from bowing or taking end damage in transit. Packing is agreed before production rather than decided at the loading bay.
Is a flame-retardant grade available for fixture certification?
Polycarbonate is self-extinguishing, and some grades meet UL94 HB, V-2, V-1, V-0, 5VB and 5VA. The rating you can actually claim depends on the resin grade and the wall section. As a frosted polycarbonate tube manufacturer, Dachang states the grade and its rating on the quotation, so your certification file is built on the material you are really being shipped.
Can the same profile be supplied in something other than PC?
Yes. The section also runs in PVC, and our lines process PMMA, ABS, PE, PP and TPE. As a polycarbonate tube supplier with extrusion and tooling in the same building, Dachang can quote one cross-section across several materials, so you can weigh cost against impact strength and temperature range before committing.
Do you supply small quantities for prototyping?
Sample lengths for design validation are handled separately from a production order, and the standard 25 mm section is the quickest route because no tooling is involved. Tell us what you are testing and how many pieces you need, and the sample stage gets quoted on its own.
What do you need from me to issue a quotation?
Section size or drawing, wall thickness if it is specified, finish, cut length, quantity per order or per year, and any flame rating your market requires. With those in hand, a Dachang polycarbonate tube quotation comes back covering material grade, tooling status, packing method and production timing.
Request a Frosted Polycarbonate Tube Quote from Dachang
Tell us the section, the finish and the quantity. What comes back is material grade, tooling status, packing and timing, not a company brochure.