What is Heat Shrink Tubing?

Heat shrinkable tube is a special polyolefin heat shrinkable sleeve. The outer layer is made of high-quality soft cross-linked polyolefin material and the inner layer of hot melt adhesive. The outer layer has the characteristics of insulation, corrosion prevention, wear resistance, etc., while the inner layer has the advantages of low melting point, waterproof and sealing, and high adhesion.

Performance: High temperature shrinkage, soft flame retardant, insulation and anti-corrosion function. It is widely used for insulation protection of various wire harnesses, welding points and inductors, and rust and corrosion prevention of metal tubes and rods. The voltage level is 600V.

Polymer materials will experience glassy high elastic state from low temperature to high temperature. Their properties are close to plastics in glassy state and rubber in high elastic state.

The material used for heat shrinkable tubes is glass at room temperature, and becomes highly elastic after heating.

Use: heat the heat shrink tube to a high elastic state during production, apply load to expand it, cool it quickly while maintaining expansion, and make it enter the glass state. This state is fixed. When heated in use, it will return to a high elastic state, but when the load is gone, it will retract.

Classification of heat shrinkable tubes (use and classification of heat shrinkable tubes)

1. Classified by shrinkage ratio:

Heat shrinkable casing with 2 times shrinkage ratio 3 times shrinkage ratio 4 times shrinkage ratio 5 times shrinkage ratio 6 times shrinkage ratio heat shrinkable casing.

2. Classification by temperature ratio:

High shrinkage ratio heat shrinkable casing, high temperature heat shrinkable casing (105-260 ° C), 200 ° military heat shrinkable casing, 175 ° transparent flame retardant heat shrinkable casing, acid and alkali resistant soft vulcanized rubber heat shrinkable casing, 105 ° high temperature heat shrinkable casing, 125 ° high temperature resistant heat shrinkable casing, 135 ° high temperature heat shrinkable casing, 150 ° high temperature heat shrinkable casing, 175 ° high temperature resistant heat shrinkable casing, 200 ° high temperature heat shrinkable casing, 260 ° high temperature heat shrinkable casing, 400 ° high temperature heat shrinkable casing.

3. Classified by heat shrinkable materials:

Fluorocarbon heat shrinkable casing, Teflon heat shrinkable casing, FEP heat shrinkable casing, PTFE heat shrinkable waterproof casing, PVDF heat shrinkable casing, PET heat shrinkable casing, PE heat shrinkable casing, PVC heat shrinkable casing, polyvinylidene fluoride heat shrinkable casing, polytetrafluoroethylene heat shrinkable casing, fluorogel heat shrinkable casing, silica gel heat shrinkable casing, chemical cross-linked polyolefin heat shrinkable casing, polyester heat shrinkable casing, Teflon heat shrinkable casing, etc.

4. Distinguish by color:

Yellow green two-color heat shrinkable casing, gray black heat shrinkable casing, milk white heat shrinkable casing, light yellow heat shrinkable casing, dark blue heat shrinkable casing, bright red heat shrinkable casing, dark gray heat shrinkable casing, fully transparent heat shrinkable casing, emerald green heat shrinkable casing, yellow green heat shrinkable casing, dark brown heat shrinkable casing.

5. Classified by main use:

Sealed moisture-proof heat shrinkable sleeve, ship heat shrinkable sleeve, heat shrinkable sleeve for cable marking, heat shrinkable sleeve for automobile harness, anti-corrosion heat shrinkable sleeve for steel pipe, heat shrinkable sleeve for cable safety protection, heat shrinkable sleeve for communication, heat shrinkable sleeve for medical devices, high shrinkage ratio heat shrinkable sleeve for military heat shrinkable sleeve, anti-corrosion heat shrinkable sleeve, acid and alkali resistant heat shrinkable sleeve, and optical fiber line heat shrinkable sleeve.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How to use the heat shrinkable sleeve?

First, the heat shrinkable tube is sleeved on the product. If the output is small, it can be shrunk with a hot air gun, which is convenient to use; If it is mass production, use the oven to bake. The temperature and baking time depend on the product. Generally, 1 minute is the best time.

2. What are the advantages of heat shrinkable casing and traditional PU casing?

PU casing cannot be shrunk, its scope of use is narrow, and the product cannot be completely wrapped. It is easy to enter water, air, etc. to damage the product, and the protection effect is poor. The heat shrinkable sleeve has the advantages of shrinking, better sealing, wide application range, wear resistance, etc.

3. In what field can we use it?

Electronics and electricians, mechanical equipment, medical machinery, fitness equipment, etc. are the best choices. Single wall heat shrinkable tubes are mostly used for cables; The outdoor repair cable shall be made of plastic heat shrinkable tube; There are many cases of using high-temperature heat shrinkable tubes with high requirements for high resistance.

4. How to select the proper heat shrinkable sleeve?

For linear objects such as wire, it is the simplest to select the size of heat shrinkable sleeve with the outer diameter of the product; Busbar heat shrinkable tube is selected for protection of power station, electrical cabinet and other busbars; Waterproof heat shrinkable pipe shall be selected for those with sealing requirements; How to select a suitable heat shrinkable sleeve when encountering a complex object, with a shrinkage ratio ≥ 3 times and a diameter of the smallest object after shrinkage. There is a special topic in this case. For details, please enter how to select a suitable heat shrinkable tube to wrap the product. It may be described in this way directly, without comparability and hard to guess. The development of heat shrinkable tubes has penetrated into all aspects of life. Because of the particularity of heat shrinkable casing material, environmental protection, halogen-free and other characteristics, it has gradually transferred from the mechanical industry to people's lives.

Common problems and solutions of heat shrinkable tubes

Under normal circumstances, the pipelines are generally made of normal temperature heat shrinkable tubes. High temperature heat shrinkable tubes are rarely purchased. The main areas where high temperature heat shrinkable tubes are purchased are the Middle East and Africa, where the weather is relatively hot. Therefore, our staff must be clear about the operating temperature of heat shrinkable tubes when selling and distributing heat shrinkable tubes for foreign trade, because the price of high temperature heat shrinkable tubes is a little higher than that of normal temperature heat shrinkable tubes. Although high temperature heat shrinkable tubes are more suitable for normal temperature environments, they are not economically suitable, but low temperature heat shrinkable tubes are not suitable for high temperature environments, which will cause huge waste of financial, material, human and time. The normal shrinkage temperature of the heat shrinkable tube is 125 ± 5 ℃. When the temperature is higher than this temperature, if the heat shrinkable tube is mixed and placed irregularly in the oven or tunnel furnace for shrinkage, the following problems may occur:

A.Product holes caused by mutual adhesion

1. Put all products on the corrugated paper orderly to prevent sticking;
2. Reduce the shrinkage temperature to 110 ± 5 ℃ for shrinkage;
3. Use the normal wall thickness pipe of the company, or use the thickened pipe.

B. Shrinkage and blistering when the length exceeds 50 cm

1. Unilateral contraction from left to right to exhaust air;
2. Shrink with hot water without affecting product performance;
3. Inform the production technicians of the company to arrange special customization.

C. Shrinkage caused by product stretching

1. The stretching of our products is generally controlled within 5%. If the stretching rate is required to be small, it needs to be specially customized;
2. The stretching of thin tubes leads to different shrinkage lengths of products.
Suggested scheme:
After the two sides are positioned and shrunk with an air duct, the middle part is shrunk

D.When the customer requires pipe cutting, the calculation size should be accurate

1. Accurately calculate the product pipe cutting size and inform the customer of the pipe cutting size tolerance;
2. When the pipe cutting length is more than 30mm, and the drawing requirements are strict, it shall be specially noted when placing an order. Our company will arrange special production.

E. Product shrinkage is not in place

The size of the sleeve is too large, and the size after shrinking is larger than the size required by the customer
Suggested scheme:
1. Replace the existing casing with products with smaller specifications;

2. Select products with large shrinkage ratio;

3. As the shrinkage temperature is low, the low-temperature pipe shall be used if it is not shrunk.

F. The wall thickness of casing product is relatively thick and the shrinkage is slow

Use products with large shrinkage ratio or our products

G. Color difference of product

1. There are many kinds and colors of casing products, and the color of casing is seriously affected by masterbatch mixing, raw material batch, etc;
2. The color of high and low pressure buses is inconsistent. The color of pipes for high and low pressure buses is different due to different formula systems. The color of products in different batches is inconsistent. The raw materials used in different batches may not be the same batch of products, so the color of pipes may be different.

The History of Heat Shrink Tubing

The development history of heat shrinkable tubes can be traced back to the 1950s, 1959, A Charlesby and his student Pinner jointly published the first patent on radiation crosslinking heat shrinkable materials for their company Raychem, in which they proposed the "Charlesby Pinner relationship", laying the foundation for the development of heat shrinkable materials. Later, Raychem successfully developed "polyethylene heat shrinkable tubes", that is, heat shrinkable tubes, and then developed them through continuous technical improvement, Heat shrinkable products have been widely used in the world. 3M, Sumitomo, Changyuan, Walsing and others in the United States are currently doing this, mainly for insulation protection.

How is Heat Shrink Tubing Used?

1.To prepare materials, first understand the size of the cable diameter, or calculate the corresponding diameter of the length and width, and select the heat shrinkable tube whose diameter is slightly larger than the cable diameter.
2. Remove the burrs and sharp corners on the cable to prevent cracking caused by piercing the heat shrink tube during the retraction process. Use quick drying cleaning agent in advance to clean the oil and impurities in the cable connection part and keep it clean
3. Calculate the length to be wrapped and cut the corresponding length of heat shrinkable tube. When cutting the heat sink tube correctly, the cut should be neat and smooth, without burrs or cracks, so as to avoid the stress concentration generated during heating shrinkage and spreading along the cracks
4. Put the heat shrinkable tube into one end of the cable, and move the sheathed heat shrinkable tube to a proper position. For bent cables, arrange the heat shrinkable tube at the corner to prevent wrinkles.
5. The heating tools are generally hot air guns, ovens or hair dryers. During the heating process, heat from left to right or from right to left in a single direction, or from the middle to both ends, to avoid air remaining in the heat shrinkable tubes. After shrinking, wrap the cables tightly, and do not heat too close to the surface of the sleeves or concentrate in one place, otherwise the thickness will be uneven or the sleeves will be burned.Shrink Temperature

Heating Methods

1. Lighter:

Make sure to use a windproof lighter, which is the kind of lighter that can't see the waving open flame and light cigarettes with high-speed flame. Use the disposable type to adjust the fire to the minimum and burn it directly. Keep away from the plastic film! The temperature of the lighter is not easy to master. The key is that the lighter is not reliable in some places because of the angle problem.

2. Electric hot air gun or hair dryer:

In the heating process, it is necessary to heat from left to right or from right to left in a single direction, or from the middle to both ends, to avoid air remaining in the heat shrink tube. After shrinking, it tightly wraps the cable, and it is not allowed to heat too close to the surface of the sleeve or concentrate in one place, otherwise the thickness will be uneven or the sleeve will be burned.

3. Heat shrinkable tube heater:

With the promotion of the internationalization process of enterprises, the requirements for wire harness processing are getting higher and higher, which require energy saving, high efficiency, less labor, and the processing quality of heat shrinkable tubes has good consistency, good air tightness and other properties. In this environment, a new product - heat shrinkable tube heater was born. FBELE heat shrink tube heater does not require manual operation. Compared with traditional manual operation, it can save at least 2-4 people.

Heat Shrink Tubing and Its Many Applications

Generally, electronic, electrical appliances, batteries and other packaging are used for insulation. By using the hot air blower, it can be compressed, insulated and protected.

FBELE specializes in the production and sales of heat shrinkable tubes, double wall tubes, identification tubes, busbar heat shrinkable tubes, high temperature oil resistant heat shrinkable tubes, and medium thick wall tubes, which meet the international RoHS, halogen-free, REACH, red phosphorus and other environmental protection legal requirements. The production equipment is complete, and various types of heat shrinkable tubes can be supplied. Welcome to order!

Heat Shrink Tubing

Heat shrinkable tubes are widely used in the wiring waterproof of electronic equipment, the sealing and fixing of wire branches, the anti-corrosion protection of metal pipelines, and the prevention of looseness and falling off caused by the relaxation of polymer chains, such as underwater lighting, automobile oil pipes, high-grade wire bundles, etc. Initial shrinkage temperature: 70 ℃; Minimum complete shrinkage temperature: 125 ℃, standard colors are green, yellow, white, transparent, blue and red (other colors can be customized).

FBELE heat shrinkable sleeve and cable sheath joint have passed the strict quality certification. Welcome to call for details. Professional manufacturers, cost-effective, can be customized as required

What kind of heat shrink tubing should I buy?

Heat shrinkable tubes, also known as heat shrinkable sleeves, are used in many different applications of harness and cable assemblies. It has a variety of applications in commercial electronics, automobiles, military, industrial equipment, trucks and ships, aerospace, communications and other fields. The complete shrink tubing range is ideal for wire and cable protection.

Select Option 1: Inner Diameter

In order to determine the proper inner diameter, it is necessary to know the maximum and minimum perimeter of the object to be coated. In order to obtain the maximum circumference, select the appropriate inner diameter of the heat shrink tube "provided", and leave an additional allowance of 20% to 30%, which will provide enough space for the heat shrink tube to fit any abnormal shape. For the minimum circumference, selecting a smaller shrink inside diameter ensures that the shrink tube is fully shrunk and tightly wraps the object.

Select Option 2: Shrinkage

The Shrinkage parameter is also important in selecting the appropriate shrink tubing. There are several shrinkage options for shrink tubing, such as 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, and so on.
Shrinkage=inner diameter before shrinkage/inner diameter after shrinkage. High shrinkage means that the heat shrinkable tube is more suitable for objects such as connectors, because it can wrap the connector body and still shrink to a smaller diameter, such as wires or cables. In general, it is recommended that the ratio between the inner diameter of the heat shrinkable tube provided and the size of the object to be protected should not exceed 40% to achieve effective coverage.

Select Option 3: Length

It should be noted that heat shrinkable tubes will also shrink 5-7% longitudinally when heated. Therefore, the length should be adjusted to ensure full coverage.

Select option 4: wall thickness of heat shrinkable tube

Heat shrinkable tubes have various wall thickness parameters. When selecting this parameter, you should consider the application scenario and environment
Other selection options: material, working temperature and shrinkage temperature
The material heat shrinkable tube is made of its characteristics. For example, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) pipe is characterized by flame resistance and chemical resistance, and its operating temperature is 260 ° C. HTK150 – 150 ° C is a high-performance PVDF heat shrinkable tube.

outline

In conclusion, the following factors should be carefully considered when selecting suitable heat shrinkable tubes:
Determine the inner diameter, shrinkage and length of the coated object, and the size of the object to be wrapped.
Determine the appropriate wall thickness according to the application scenario and environment. The material, characteristics, working temperature and shrinkage temperature of the heat shrinkable tube determine the overall compatibility in the application field.

How to install heat shrink tubing?

1. To prepare materials, first understand the size of the cable diameter, or calculate the corresponding diameter from the length and width, and select the heat shrinkable tube whose diameter is slightly larger than the cable diameter.

2. Remove the burrs and sharp corners on the cable to prevent cracks caused by piercing the heat shrink tube during the retraction process. The quick drying detergent must be used in advance to clean the oil and impurities at the cable connections and keep them clean.

3. Calculate the length to be wound, and cut the corresponding length of heat shrink tube. When cutting the radiator pipe, the cut shall be neat and smooth, without burrs or cracks, so as to avoid stress concentration and propagation along the cracks during heating and contraction.

4. Slide the heat shrink tube into one end of the cable and move the wrapped heat shrink tube to a suitable position. For bent cables, arrange heat shrinkable tubes at the corners to prevent wrinkles.

5. The heating tools are generally hot air guns, ovens or hair dryers. In the heating process, it shall be heated from left to right or from right to left in a single direction. It can also be heated from the middle to both ends to avoid residual air in the heat shrink tube. After shrinking, wrap the cable tightly, and do not heat it too close to the surface of the sleeve or concentrate it in one place, otherwise the thickness will be uneven or the sleeve will be burned.