How to Measure and Choose the Correct Heat Shrink Tubing

You already know what an amazing product heat shrink tubing is, but do you know how to measure and choose what is best for your application? It’s not rocket science and Steve from WireCare® walks you through the steps of measuring your various wire harnesses for heat shrink. He also demystifies the shrink ratio topic and how to select tubing with the most appropriate shrink ratio for your project.
Products shown in this video:
Wires and Cables: www.wirecare.com/category/wires-cables
Connectors and Terminals: www.wirecare.com/category/connectors-terminals
Heat shrink: www.wirecare.com/category/heatshrink
Heat guns and blowers: www.wirecare.com/category/tools/heatguns-blowers/heat-guns-and-blowers
Tape Measure: www.wirecare.com/category/tools/measuring-tools/measuring-tools/w606p-mini-1-4-x-6-executive-diameter-pocket-tape-measure-ruler
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[@gatewayautomotive5789]

Steve’s out here dropping that knowledge!

[@WireCare]

Yes sir!

[@OWK000]

"Thicker and better insulation" [with higher ratios of shrinkage]. Good to know. I started with heat shrink by using those plastic shrink labels you can peel off plastic bottles like for Kefir and I would cut strips and wind that around a splice and then heat shrink it tight. It is best followed by some liquid electrical tape after that, but holds pretty well on its own. I think I used some electrical tape with it once. So then I was thinking how great real shrink tubes would be and got some Harbor Freight. I was really dissapointed by how thin the covering was. Really not good for some applications. Now I am thinking I still need recycled shrink wrap kefir labels to use with the Harbor Freight thin stuff. It could be helpful to cover tough sharp spots that might poke through too easily.

[@WireCare]

Anything is better than nothing at all. Love the ingenuity of using the recycled labels.

[@jc6993]

When I buy heat shrinking tubing, are the inches the shrunken size or just the width of the tubing before it is shruken. E.g 1/4". is marked on the package. Thanks.

[@WireCare]

The shrink sizing is based on it's expanded diameter. If your package says 1/4" and it is a 2:1 shrink ration then it should shrink to 1/2 its starting size or 1/8". I hope this helps!

[@fuegonato06]

I was expecting a more simple explanation, looking simply for "A number 10 wire should use XX size tubing" or such, lazy to go and measure all commonly used wires...

[@WireCare]

A 10 ga wire is roughly, .102 inches in diameter so 2:1, 1/8" or 3:1, 1/4" shrink would work well.

[@fuegonato06]

Awesome, you should add a table like that for all common sizes. I bet it would be helpfull for many people.

[@WireCare]

@@fuegonato06 Totally agree! Thanks for the input.