The Ultimate Automobile Manufacturing Guide

Heat Shrink Tubes — An Important Selection Guide To Utilize

24 May 2023 by Carlos Sullivan

There are a lot of brilliant applications for heat shrink tubing, a material that shrinks down in size once heat is applied to it. If you're planning to buy some for a project, take a look at the following guide before purchasing from a supplier.

Find Out What Temperature Range is Appropriate

Heat shrink tubes are designed to hold up to only so much heat, so it's important to figure out what temperature range is appropriate for these materials. Where will these tubes be used and what type of conditions will they be subject to?

As long as you find out these details, you can get tubing that's perfectly suited to your project and subsequently lasts month after month. Just remember that the hotter your intended environment is, the more durable heat shrink tubing needs to be in order for it to hold up in a reliable way.

Determine How Tight of a Fit You Need

Once you figure out what type of temperature support your heat shrink tubes require, now you should focus on how tight said tubing should be around materials you're trying to protect or insulate. Tightness for heat shrink tubing is based on shrink ratio, a figure that you can find online.

There should be two numbers separated by a colon. So say if a heat shrink tube had a shrink ratio of 3:1, the material will shrink down to a third of its original state after heat is applied. You have a lot of standard shrink ratios to choose from. Think about what makes sense based on how heat shrink tubing will be used.

Carefully Assess the Available Materials

You can find heat shrink tubes in several materials; some of the more common options include PVC and polyolefin. Take as long as you need to review the properties of several different options so that at the end of your search, you can find heat shrink tubing that's easy to work with and has optimal longevity.

Polyolefin might be ideal because it offers great thermal resistance, which is an important attribute if the tubing's environment is extremely hot. Whereas if you want to save money, PVC materials might be better because of their cost-effective price points.

A lot of amazing things are done with heat shrink tubing every day. You can do some spectacular things with it too if you take a measured approach when buying it. 

To learn more about heat shrink tubes, reach out to a supplier.

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