Parts - Heat Shrink

Radio and RF Connector Heat Shrink Tubing

Heat Shrink Tubing can be used to protect wire connections and splices, cable bundles and protect and cover RF or radio connections.  A good marine grade heat shrink tube with adhesive will also work for such needs as protecting antenna joints and stiffening joints, etc. 

Heat shrink can be a bit confusing if you have never used it before but in the end it really is quite simple. Heat shrink comes in many sizes of shrink percentage. For example, a 2:1 shrink ratio would mean the tube will shrink to one-half the non shrunk size. A 3:1 shrink ratio would mean the tube will shrink to one-third the non shrunk size.  You get the idea and there are many different shrink ratios available such as 2:1, 3:1, 6:1 etc. We generally stock off the roll in a 3:1 shrink ratio type as that seems to work very well for RF connectors and coax lines. 

Size your heat shrink tube to just clear and slide over the largest diameter part of what you want to cover. If you want to cover the connector and the coax cable, make sure the non shrunk size clears the connector diameter and the shrunk size shrinks down smaller than the diameter of the coax cable for a good tight fit. Remember, the length will also shrink a tiny bit as well. 

Our heat shrink will come either in round form and flat depending on size. The round measure is the actual heat shrink size for the diameter and for a example a 1" diameter heat shrink tube will measure in diameter 1". If you flatten it, the across the width measure of it would be about 1-1/2" for a 1" diameter tube, so don't let that confuse you. 

We stock standard heat shrink and this is good for a lot of applications including marking lines, wrapping indoor connections, etc. If you want a tougher more moisture resistant shrink tube, choose our Double Wall with Adhesive Marine Grade which is handy for those outdoor connections. HINT - Heat Shrink Tubing is not the end of weather proofing for your outdoor connections. While the marine grade with adhesive helps a lot, you still need to properly apply tape and sealant over anything you need to survive long term. 

Colors may vary slightly in color depth from lot to lot. 

Off the roll shrink tubing is sold per foot. If you order more than 1ft of shrink tubing we will do our best to send one long length to you unless something prevents it. We also have packges of short pieces and color coded marking tape.