Heat Shrink Tubing is a widely used product type that finds a home in a myriad of applications for many purposes and functions. Heat shrink’s primary use is to constrict around cabling as part of cable management strategies, often imparting abrasion or corrosion resistance as it does, and one of its main specifications is its shrink ratio i.e.how much the tubing contracts when heated. We’ve had questions recently concerning quality issues where heat shrink tubing also constricts lengthways, becoming shorter after its recovery is complete. is this normal, and if so why?
Heat shrink tubing shrinks in all directions when recovered; lengthwise shrinkage is normal and expected, generally between ten to fifteen percent. While the material is optimized for crossways shrinkage, avoiding lengthwise shrinkage entirely is not currently possible.