What You Need to Know About Heat Shrink Tubing


Heat shrinking tubing, also called electrical shrink tubing, are key protective and organizational products used in a wide range of electrical setups. It is often utilized to insulate electrical components from external factors like moisture, dust, abrasion, and sharp objects that can damage wiring and other sensitive components, potentially leading to shorts and failures. Such tubing can also bind loose wires, connectors, joints, terminals, and splices together, creating more organized and manageable bundles. Moreover, color-coded heat shrink tubing is available for ease of identification, separating sections of assembly for easy recognition upon maintenance.

Essentially, heat shrink tubing is a thermoplastic tubing which shrinks when exposed to heat. It collapses radially to blanket wires or electrical components, thereby creating a protective layer. To create heat shrink tubing, plastic manufacturers take advantage of extrusion to make a tube of thermoplastic material. However, the materials used usually vary based on the intended application. Once the desired plastic has been extruded, the material is heated and forced to expand to increase the tube’s diameter. Finally, the tubing must cool to room temperature.

It is important to note that heat shrink applications differ according to various shrink ratios. Once heat is applied to the heat shrink material, the shrink ratio indicates how much that specific material will shrink from its original form. The most common shrink ratios include a 4:1 ratio where the tubing returns to 25% of its original form, a 3:1 ratio where the tubing returns to 33% of its original form, and a 2:1 ratio where the tubing returns to 50% of its original form. As the tubing also shrinks in circumference and overall length, both of these factors are important to consider when planning out an application.

In general, heat shrink tubing comes in one set construction where varying sizes are available which correspond to the insulation thickness of certain materials. Insulation thickness determines how much voltage a single wire can handle; therefore, the thicker the insulation, the higher the voltage level the heat shrink tubing can handle. This is also a major consideration in operational environments that have very limited space.

Different Types of Heat Shrink Tubing Materials

Heat shrink tubing can be manufactured from an array of thermoplastic materials and is typically combined with additives to enhance specific characteristics.

  •  Polyolefin is the most frequently used material for shrink tubing because of its thermal resistance. Unfortunately, it is more expensive than PVC, but can withstand temperatures as high as 125-135 degrees Celsius, making it a good choice for manufacturing, industrial, and mechanical applications.

  • Adhesive-Lined Polyolefin provides tubing with characteristics that do not allow it to slip in critical conditions. Additionally, the adhesive inner layer melts and adheres to the wires and components inside the tubing to fill any clearances and ensure a tight fit

  • PVC serves as the least expensive option but has a lower temperature threshold of about 105 degrees Celsius. More than that, it is durable and highly abrasion resistant, in addition to being manufactured with high clarity, bright colors, and flame retardant qualities.

Other common materials utilized for heat shrink tubing include PTFE, FEP, elastomers, silicone rubber, and Viton.

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