adheasive backed foil tape

[rtrg]

is the front side of the tape copper or other electrical conductive material? is the backside covered with electrical conducting adhesive sticky enough to hold a small gauge conductor? can it be cut with a shear? does the foil read 0 ohms front to back? can it be folded over a non conductive material? folded over so the wire is in contact with the copper either through or not through the adhesive or copper directly? I am a newbie with this stuff. I ask because I need to make a unique contact to match the existing mating contact and foil is the only way to do it, unusual space and twist and turns. the two ribbons will not short, plenty of space in between. the foil will carry 24 volt dc up to 20 amp, probably less. any advice welcome.

 

[Bluejets]

What foil?

 

[ChosunOne]

There's more than one kind of adhesive backed foil tape. I did a quick scan of "adheasive backed foil tape" (sic) on eBay and found a variety of different types. I often use eBay to search for something I'm not familiar, because they usually have informative pix so you can see what you're talking about.

I used to use a lot of adhesive backed lead foil tape, decades ago; which is what I originally thought you were talking about, but it wouldn't be suitable for your application. Hopefully someone else will be able to point you in the right direction to find something suitable.

 

[Harald Kapp]

Let's take for ewxample this type of foil.

is the backside covered with electrical conducting adhesive

Yes.

does the foil read 0 ohms front to back?

Apart from superconductors no conductor hass 0 Ω resistance. This foil has 0.005 Ω*in² from front to back.

can it be cut with a shear?

Yes. You'd probably not use your best scissors, rather a tough one from your toolbox.

the foil will carry 24 volt dc up to 20 amp

That's a lot for foil. What is the contact area of your unique contact? Assuming a 0.04 in² area for you contact (0.5 mm*0.5 mm which is already a rather large contact area) the resistance from front to back is ~0.125 Ω. 20 A through this resistance will dissipate 50 W! Way too much for a contact. You could increase the contact are considerably. However, that's not a good option in my opinion.
Better use a solid conductor and find a way to wriggle it in place.
By the way: 'pure' copper is not suitable for a contact. Over time it will corrode and the resistance will increase up to the point of being useless. A good contact uses non-corrosive material or at least is coated with such.

I need to make a unique contact to match the existing mating contact

As there is an existing mating contact, the should be, or at least should have been, the required counterpart. Show us a photo of your special contact and add any information you have (manufacturer, model etc.) This may help find the correct matching contact as a spare part.