Heat-shrink tubing

Heat-shrink tubing is manufactured in a multitude of varieties and chemical makeups with the exact composition of each type being dependent on the intended application.

Heating causes the tubing to contract to between half and one sixth of its original diameter, depending on the material used, providing a snug fit over irregularly shaped joints.

[3] One application that has used heatshrink in large quantities since the early 1970s is the covering of fibreglass helical antennas, used extensively for 27 MHz CB radio.

[5] It is manufactured from a thermoplastic material such as polyolefin, fluoropolymer (such as FEP, PTFE or Kynar), PVC, neoprene, silicone elastomer or Viton.

Later, when heated (above the crystalline melting point of the material) by the end user, the tubing shrinks back to its original extruded size.

In the early twenty-first century heat-shrink tubing started to be used for PC modding to tidy up the interior of computers and provide an appearance considered pleasing[citation needed].

In response to this opening market[citation needed], manufacturers started producing heat-shrink tubing in luminous and UV reactive varieties.

Solder sleeves also commonly contain a ring of heat-activated sealant on the inside of each end of the tubing, allowing the connection to also be made waterproof.