Heat Shrink Tubing – An Overview Of It’s Many Uses
This article is meant as a rough introduction to the many general commercial uses of heat shrink tubing. However, there are also specific types available that are used in more specialist fields, such as the Automotive Industry (for dashboard wire harnesses, etc.) and the Military and Aerospace Industries.
Originally developed in the 1950s, heat shrink tubing is a type of plastic tubing that shrinks in diameter when heated.
Heat Shrink Tubing
It is used widely in electrical applications, protecting cables from a variety of degrading elements including chemicals, weather and general abrasion. It’s also very useful for bundling and colour coding your cabling as it comes in a wide range of colours and can even be printed with labels, to help with identification.
When you apply the tubing to connectors, it helps relieve the stress of cumulative wear and tear caused by the actual movement and bending of the cabling. If the cables endure some serious flexing in their use, they may need firmer protection and semi-rigid heat shrink tubing would be preferable here.
Another very popular use is to provide extra insulation. Heat shrinkable tubing possesses excellent electrical qualities, making it perfect for using on connections, terminations, and any circuit that may need extra electrical protection.
It provides even further protection for cables by acting as a sealant. You can place it over substrates, connections, joints, and gaps to protect them from a range of environmental issues such as damp and dust. It can also offer protection from UV, oxidisation, corrosion, and general abrasion.
In addition to the many protective applications, heat shrink tubing can be a great temporary fix for covering damaged cable coatings and cable splices, giving you time to source a replacement cable. In fact, sometimes it works well enough as a permanent repair, saving you money in the long run.
Heat Shrink Tubing – An Overview Of It’s Many Uses
Friends Link : MyCoolbookmark Kingbookmark
Tags: Overview, Shrink, Tubing
heat shrink tubing | | 17 April 2011 |
