Comments Off on Improvisation at Its Finest: The All-Purpose Heat Shrink Tubing!
We all know how heat shrink tubing can do wonders for any system where cables or wires need to be protected. Whether you need something to insulate bare wires, cover wire splices, color code wires or bundle together some badly sprayed out network cables – heat shrink tubing can be used for anything and everything.
But what if you’re not an electrician or a network installer, then what?
Is the use of heat shrink tubing only restricted to wire and cable related applications, or can you do much more with it?
To find the answer to this question, we reached out our ingenious Tef-Cap team and our simply amazing Tef-Cap customers. The uses they suggested left us in complete awe.
So we decided to share some of these heat shrink uses with our readers too—the homeowners, the handymen, the hobbyists, and everyone in between.
It’s improvisation at its finest!
Heat Shrink as Pencil Grips
One of our customers, who just so happens to teach occupationally impaired children, told us that he uses heat shrink tubing as a pencil grip. Because the children he teaches have difficulty with motor skills, they write with pencils that are larger in size than your average pencils. Hence, these pencils can’t be fit with standard grips. By cutting down heat shrinks in shorter lengths, he can slip them around the pencils and heat-shrink them into place. This makes it easier for his students to hold the pencils.
Heat Shrink for Curling Iron Repair
This use was suggested to us by one of our staff members who is very particular and conscious about the hair style she wears. She told us that recently the plastic grip on her curling iron came off. She tried to put it back, but couldn’t. Of course, she could not use the curling iron with a bare handle as it was quite risky, so she came with a genius idea. She used the heat shrink tubing to cover her curling iron’s handle, and the fix worked.
Heat Shrink for Glass Repair
Have you ever found yourself in a situation, where one arm of eyeglasses snapped and you just didn’t know what to do to repair the pair? Well, we could not help you at that time (sorry for that), but now we can. We’ve got a fix for you. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation again, simply get a heat shrink from your local store, slip it over the broken ends of your eyewear and eyewear arm, and shrink it to size. It may not serve as a permanent fix, but it buys you enough time. And yes, it would also save you from short-term blindness.
Heat Shrink as Furniture End Caps
That outdoor furniture in your patio, it has constantly being leaving rust rings on your patio floor for the last year or so. And you’re absolutely tired of cleaning these left behind marks again and again. Well, you can save yourself from the inconvenience by installing heat shrink tubing onto the feet of your furniture. Those rust rings aren’t coming back—trust us!
Do you have any unconventional use of heat shrink in your mind that you would like to share with us?
Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments section below.
Comments Off on Fits Like a Glove: Buying the Right Size Heat Shrink Tubing
Imagine if buying a heat shrink tubing was as simple as buying a coat. You measure the object you want to cover and then buy a heat shrink to fit.
Unfortunately, it’s not.
Buying a right size heat shrink is much more complex than buying a right size coat. Because the tubing shrinks, when heated, does not retain the same dimensions it originally has pre-heating.
As such, it’s common for buyers (especially, first time buyers) to make sizing mistakes when buying a heat shrink tubing, ending up with a purchase that just won’t fit into their application.
Before we get into the nitty gritty of how to measure a heat shrink when purchasing one, it’s worth noting that heat shrink tubing is first made to the diameter it will be when it’s shrunk. After that, it is expanded and packaged for sale.
So when you buy a heat shrink tubing, its shrunk dimensions are already known; they’re stated on the specification sheet.
Having this explained, we can now move on to the actual measuring step.
Dimensions and Dimension Facts—You Should Know About!
When measuring a heat shrink tubing, there’re basically two types of dimensions you’ll be working with: i) Recovered dimensions and, ii) Expanded dimensions.
Recovered dimensions are the shrunken dimensions and expanded dimensions are the dimensions of the tubing in the stretched form.
On a typical heat shrink datasheet, you’ll find the following dimensions listed:
Recovered internal diameter
Recovered wall thickness
Expanded internal diameter
Let’s say you want to buy a heat shrink to cover a cable which has an outer diameter of 7 mm.
The heat shrink that you buy must have:
An expanded internal diameter greater than 7 mm
A recovered internal diameter of just under 7 mm
Please note that you won’t find the exact dimensions listed on a heat shrink tubing’s datasheet. They will always have some tolerance range which will be mentioned on the sheet. So make sure you keep that in mind.
What about the wall thickness?
It depends on the application in which you want to use the heat shrink. If wall thickness is really important for your application (for e.g. If you’re looking to insulate a piece of wire), we would recommend that you purchase a heat shrink tubing with the maximum recovered wall thickness.
Let’s take a look at another example.
Let’s say you want to buy a heat shrink tubing to insulate a cable wiring. The cable has a diameter of 7 mm. It has bare wires running through it which are 4 mm in diameter. Plus, the cable has a connector at each of its end, which has a diameter of 15 mm.
The heat shrink that you buy must have:
An expanded internal diameter greater than 15 mm
A recovered internal diameter of just under 4 mm
For wall thickness the rule is same as discussed above.
One more thing you should keep in mind…
A heat shrink tubing not only shrinks in diameter when heated, but it also shrinks in length. Although the change in length is minimal, usually 10% of the original expanded length. So if you need a heat shrink tubing to cover an object of length 2 meters, you should buy a heat shrink which is at least 2.2 meters long. You can later cut off the tailing end if you wish to.
And that is how you can buy the right size shrink tubing for your application that will fit like a glove.
Comments Off on Teflon Industrial Coating—Everything You Need To Know
Industrial coating refers to the application of protective material over wiring and other important equipment in order to ensure that it stays safe from harmful materials.
Teflon is one of the most commonly used materials when it comes to industrial coating. There are several benefits of using Teflon for industrial coating. Some of these benefits include:
Non stick surface
Teflon is extremely popular because of its non-stick feature. Sticky surface can be quite inconvenient especially if you are involved in the business of manufacturing cooking products.
It can completely ruin the product because of which these people prefer to buy products that have Teflon industrial coating. The liquid does not accumulate on the surface of the machine and instead just slides off.
You might want to know that the coefficient of friction on Teflon products also happens to be really low, because of which it is very easy for you to move machines.
Highly resistant
Another great feature of Teflon is the fact that it has high resistance to heat as well as water. This ensures that the material stays clean. It also prevents water from becoming saturated. You can simply wipe down the surface with a cloth. It does not take a lot of time and does not leave behind any kind of debris.
Teflon also has high resistance to heat. It can withstand the temperature of up to 260° Celsius. Due to its high resistance, Teflon is the ideal material in tasks, which involve use of excessive heat.
The process of industrial coating involves multiple steps, which include:
Primer
Full Coating
Sealant
You need to know that Teflon is an ideal sealing material. It is a strong electrical insulator and does not dissipate very easily. The level of frequency varies in different industrial applications because of which you need a highly resistant industrial coating material like Teflon.
It is not prone to chemicals
Chemicals can adversely affect the product. In some cases, they can also be quite dangerous. Teflon coating can be beneficial in this regard since chemicals do not easily affect it. It acts like a filter and prevents harmful elements in the chemical from causing any kind of damage.
You need to know that Teflon refers to multiple materials, which are all made of fluoropolymers. These include:
PFA
PTFE
FEP
All of these materials have different characteristics and you need to identify which one best fits your needs. Get in touch with us. We offer a wide collection of Teflon products, which include:
Comments Off on Teflon Hoses—Some Common Mistakes You Need To Avoid
It is quite rare to see Teflon hoses in hydraulic systems. This type of material is specifically used in aerospace and medical industries, and a major reason for this is the fact that it is a tough material.
The material can easily withstand harsh conditions and last for a long period of time because of which it is common to see Teflon hoses in the following places:
Space shuttles
Airplane brakes systems
Breathing equipment for firefighters
Here is a look at some of the things you need to keep in mind when selecting Teflon hoses:
The size
Not all materials are the same. This is also true in the case of the base material, which in this case is Teflon. A major difference between the materials can be in terms of the size and radius of the material.
A smooth bore has the radius of 12 inches whereas the convoluted one has a bend radius of 3 inches.
Is it conductive or not?
Some people prefer to use Teflon hoses as fuel lines as well. These fuel lines allow the flow of hydrocarbons at a very high speed, which can end up causing damage to the Teflon. Therefore, it is preferable that you opt for Teflon, which is a conductor.
How thick is the material?
Another factor that you need to keep in mind is the thickness of the material. While thin, hoses cost less. It is preferable that you opt for thick hoses. This is because it is not easy for elements like gasses to enter these types of hoses.
People often make several mistakes when selecting Teflon hoses. This is because of several myths that exist around these types of materials.
Here is a look at some of the common mistakes or misunderstandings that people have about Teflon hoses:
They are expensive
Teflon paste, a material used for manufacturing these kinds of hoses, is fairly expensive. However, when you take into account the long-term benefits of Teflon hoses, you might realize that it is a lot more economical than traditional hoses.
Teflon hoses generally tend to last for a long period of time and they are much more resistant to damage in harsh weather conditions.
These hoses can easily be crushed
Another reason why people avoid these types of hoses is that they feel that Teflon hoses can easily be crushed. This is true for all kinds of hoses.
However, a benefit of these types of hoses is that you can ensure that they stay strong by adding spring guards. You also need to know that a thick hose is less susceptible to damage.
All the Teflon hoses are the same
You need to know that Teflon refers to multiple materials, which are made up of fluoropolymers. These include:
All of these materials have different characteristics. Some are more resistant to chemicals while others have different melting points.
You need to search for a Teflon hose, which best fits, your requirement. Get in touch with us. We, at Tef-Cap offer an extensive collection of Teflon products.
Being used as an electronic insulator for high temperature applications and corrosive environments, PTFE Tubing often referred as Polytetrafluoroethylene has been playing an incredible role in operations of various industries since its inception in 1950. Normally, there are different types of operations and activities that are carried for long hours in industries and due to regular wear there are chances of their damaging due to high temperature. Use of PTFE tubes help in smooth functioning of various operation without damaging the wires that make the flow of electronic, chemical and gaseous elements in industries.
The major features of PTFE are referred below:
It supports low coefficient of friction for all types of fluoropolymers;
It can be chemically sterilized;
It is self lubricant and water resistant; and is
Developed to Mil -I- 23053/12
Now, the question might rise that why PTFE tubes are used for various industrial operation rather than tubes that are made from metal or carbon despite of same type of polymer that is used for developing such tubes. Well, an answer to this question in simple words is that these tubes are capable of operating at extreme temperature up-to 680 degree Fahrenheit. This exclusive property of teflon PTFE tubing is further enhanced with integration of additional feature of dielectric consistency. Moving ahead combination of ultra violet and radiation properties these tubes are preferred by all types of industries. It would be interested to know that heat shrinkable PTFE tubing is easy to remove from the objects on which it is installed and does not get stick on them.
The tubing system can be use for covering tube shafts, radio market bands and on all those products which despite of having thin layers require strong protective sheet to cover them. Here, one thing which needs to be mentioned about this tubing system is that as it is widely used in different industries depending upon the type of operations performed by them it would be better to keep your requirement in concern because depending upon the nature of different industries there are different types of fluoropolymer tubes installed in these industries.
Today, there are various online stores which expertise in offering you wide range of such tubes depending upon your requirement at competitive price.
Having trouble figuring out what material to use for your project ? Let the experts @ Tef Cap help you out…From Fluoropolymer PTFE, FEP & PFA Tubing to simple Heat Shrink Polyolefin Tubing we have a solution for all you applications
Polyolefin tubing is an all purpose insulation used in electrical wires and cables. It is known for its high durability and thermal stability, and manufactured using an irradiated type of plastic.
Polyolefin is a type of polymer that is manufactured using olefins. Butylenes, propylene and ethylene are some of the most common types of olefins used in manufacturing polyolefin. They are known for their remarkable chemical resistant properties and adhesive bonding capabilities when they are treated with heat.
It comes in heat shrink as well as non-heat shrink variations, but generally heat shrink is more commonly used due to certain advantages it has over non-heat shrink.
Installation
When polyolefin tubing is being installed, it is put onto the surface and then heat is applied, generally using a gas torch, to shrink it to the required size. If excess heat is applied, it will make the tubing tighter than required. However, it can be loosened with a silicone lubricant and readjusted accordingly. The silicone lubricant does not compromise the integrity of the polyolefin in anyway.
The applications and benefits of insulating with polyolefin include:
Safety against fire hazards
Different insulation materials pose fire hazards, especially in aero planes. However, polyolefin tubing ensures prevention from any fire. It is highly flame retardant and provides an important safety measure in airplanes, as well as in different military applications.
Flexible
Polyolefin provides a high-degree of conductive flexible tubing and can be used to insulate long cables. It can adjust according to the wiring contractions and expansions. Polyolefin tubing can also be used to cover protruding parts and irregular sized components.
Prevention from Electric leaks
Polyolefin tubing prevents from electric leaks, which is an important safety measure for professionals and electrical operators. In case of irregular current flow, the wires can get overheated and burn the insulation. Any cracks or breakage can also cause leakage. But polyolefin tubing provides excellent resistance from any electrical shocks and heat, which prevents any electric leak from happening.
Multiple Ratios
The Polyolefin tubing can be used in multiple ratios that include 4:1, 3:1 and 2:1. The ratios are achieved by applying different amount of heat levels when applying heat to shrink the tubing. Because of this, polyolefin tubing has extensive use in several industries such as electronics, automotive and aerospace industries.
To learn more about polyolefin tubing, visit our website or get in touch with us at 610-692-2576. We offer different types polyolefin tubing along with high-quality PTFE and FEP tubing solutions.
Comments Off on Important Properties And Benefits Of PTFE Products
PTFE is a synthetic fluoropolymer that is typically opaque or ivory white. It is manufactured through free-radical polymerization of multiple tetrafluoroethene molecules. The exceptional properties of PTFE make it perfect for a number of different applications in pharmaceutical manufacturing along with food and beverage processing.
Even though we maintain a diverse variety of PTFE tubing products, they can be custom manufactured in any size and shape. Moreover, they can also be modified to boost certain characteristics like strength and resistance.
Properties of PTFE
If you are looking for a material that is highly resistant to heat, chemical reactions and electricity, while also displays an exceptionally low coefficient of frictions, you need PTFE.
PTFE has a dramatically high melting point (almost 327 degree Celsius). However, it is thermally stable enough to be used between temperatures ranging between 260 degree Celsius and -200 degree Celsius. The fluoropolymer is also highly insoluble in chemicals due its chemically inert characteristics. It can withstand the harsh conditions created by most acids and bases.
Other important properties of PTFE include:
Dielectric strength
Exceptional flexural strength (even in low temperatures)
High resistance to electricity
Highly resistant to water due to high electro-negativity of fluorine
High density
A significantly low coefficient of friction
The truth is, apart from a few chemicals, the only thing that needs to be considered when using PTFE is high energy radiation which can quickly break down PTFE molecules.
Benefits of PTFE
The most important benefits of PTFE include its wide variety of applications across different industries.
Apart from tubing or handling chemicals, the versatile characteristics of this fluoropolymer make it perfect for coating bearings, screws, and any other sliding machinery.
Take the example of a PTFE coated screw. It is able to repel oil and water, is inherently lubricated due to the coating which makes it easy to drive into a surface. At the same time, the low coefficient of friction results in lesser wear and a long lasting surface.
Similarly, friction can be an important factor with bearings. It can experience the same benefits as with screws, and also benefit from exceptional heat resistance.
Parts that are long lasting and resistance to heat, at the same time resistant to corrosion can contribute to the long life of machinery.
Tef - Cap Industries Inc. Park Valley Corporate Center 1155 Phoenixville Pike Suite 103 West Chester, PA 19380 Phone : 610-692-2576 Fax : 610-430-0116 Mon-Fri : 8:00-5:30
Industrial coating refers to the application of protective material over wiring and other important equipment in order to ensure that it stays safe from harmful materials.
It is quite rare to see Teflon hoses in hydraulic systems. This type of material is specifically used in aerospace and medical industries, and a major reason for this is the fact that it is a tough material.
All the Teflon hoses are the same
