The Inner Workings of Heat Shrink Tubing

The Inner Workings of Heat Shrink Tubing

The Inner Workings of Heat Shrink Tubing

Hollywood has shown us this scenario a thousand times. A frazzled man or woman with beads of sweat collecting above their eyebrow, hands trembling as they hold on to a pair of wire cutters. It's the red one. No, no, it's the blue one. Snip the wrong colored wire and pay dire consequences.

In all my years of movie watching, I don't think I've ever seen a character cut the wrong wire. At least not off the top of my head. But, today, I'm not here to talk about clich Hollywood endings. No, I'm actually here to talk about those red, blue, green, and other colored wires. Why are they different colors? What purpose do they serve? What are they made out of? I'm here to talk about heat shrink tubing.

Even if you've never defused a bombwhich I'll assume is a strong possibilityyou've probably come across heat shrink tubing before. A number of appliancescomputers, stereo systems etc.utilize heat shrink tubing.

Common applications include:

Wire Insulation

Abrasion Resistance

Protection for conductors, joints, connections, terminals, etc.

Electrical protection of wires and cables

Mechanical and Water Protection

Typical Fluoropolymer properties, including Corrosion Resistance

Wire Repair and Bundling

And many more

So why heat shrink tubing? When you buy tubing, you typically buy it "as supplied diameter." Normally, tubing is extruded, heated, and then expanded by infusing air into it. You buy the expanded version. However, fluoropolymer materials have a certain "memory" capability. And applying heat activates that memory.

Once you have your tubing and the piece that requires protection, you simply slide the tubing over it and apply a heat gun, shrinking and sealing the part to the Shrink to Diameter. The materials used for heat shrink tubingtypically PTFE, FEP, and PFAcombined with its high upper temperature, prevents corrosion, protecting covered parts from chemical attack and mechanical damage.

Simply put, heat shrink tubing is an effective and practical way to protect wires and cables. As for the coloring, most heat shrink tubing is actually clear. However, colors can be utilized for aesthetics as well as simple electronic color codingi.e. your bomb scenario. So, while you might not rig or defuse a bomb in the near future, you most certainly will encounter heat shrink tubing.

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