What Is Silicone Cold Shrink Tube？

Heat Shrink Tube VS Silicone Cold Shrink Tube

Heat shrink sleeve is a special polyolefin heat shrink sleeve, which can also be called EVA material. The outer layer is made of high-quality soft cross-linked polyolefin material and the inner layer of hot melt adhesive. The outer layer material has the characteristics of insulation, corrosion resistance, and wear resistance, while the inner layer has low melting point, waterproof sealing, and high adhesion. advantage. The heat shrinkable tube not only has high elasticity, but can also be deformed. When the temperature drops, it will begin to shrink and shape. Therefore, after the heat shrinkable tube is placed on the base material, it will begin to soften and shape after heating. It shrinks and finally sticks to the base material. After cooling, it will be finalized and seems to be completely attached to the base material, thereby forming protection, insulation and other functions for the base material.

Cold shrink tube is also a kind of elastic casing. After it is stretched, it expands to a spiral support. When it is needed, put the cold shrink tubing on the cable joint or end and remove the inner sleeve. When the spiral support is pulled out, the cold shrink tube will quickly shrink like a spring and stick tightly to the surface of the cable. Unlike heat shrink, it does not require any type of heat to reduce size, which is where the name "cold shrink" comes from.

Figure1: Heat Shrink Tube VS Silicone Cold Shrink Tube

Heat Shrink Tubing Advantages:

1. Low price: the price of heat shrinkable tube is relatively low and suitable for cost-sensitive occasions.

2. The installation is relatively simple: the heat shrink tube needs to be heated with a heat gun or fire source to shrink it and fix it on the cable, which is easy to operate.

3. Widely used: Heat shrinkable tubes are used in many fields such as cable insulation, terminal processing, and identification.

Shortcoming:

1. Safety risk: there is a risk of fire and burns during the heating process, so you need to operate with caution.

2. Relatively poor heat resistance: the heat resistance of heat shrink tubes is usually lower than that of cold shrink tubes and is not suitable for high temperature environments.

3. Uneven shrinkage: since the heat distribution may be uneven during the heating shrinkage process, the shrinkage of the heat shrink tube may also be uneven, affecting the insulation performance of the cable.

Cold Shrink Tubing Advantages:

1.Much time cost, and labor cost saving.

2.IP68 class, stable and long life during operation.

3.Easy to install, only three steps (Cover, pull and clench).

4. Uniform shrinkage, the cold shrink tube can shrink evenly during the shrinking process to ensure the insulation performance of the cable.

5. Environmental adaptability, cold shrinkable tube can be installed in a variety of environmental conditions and is not restricted by weather and site conditions.

6.Fast installation, only 15-30 seconds needed to seal one connection.

7.High elastic silicone rubber tube structure with mastic built-in, dual layers design can bring double guarantee of weatherproofing protection.

Shortcoming:

1. Higher price: Compared with heat shrink tube, the price of cold shrink tube is usually higher.

2. Size and material restrictions:

One of the main disadvantages of cold shrink tubing is its limited size and material options compared to heat shrink tubing. This limitation may limit their suitability for specific applications requiring specific dimensions or material properties. Users may need to carefully select cold shrink tubing that meets their project requirements, which may limit its versatility in some cases.

Figure2: Production Of Cold Shrink Tube

What Is Cold Shrink Tubing Made Of?

Cold shrink tubing is usually made of two materials: silicone or EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer). Silicone shrinks to a smaller and tighter size than EPDM, making it ideal for applications such as weatherproofing cell phone towers. The cold shrink tubing produced by FCST is usually made of Solid Silicon Rubber. Cold shrinkable cable accessories are made of elastomer materials, commonly used are ethylene propylene rubber and silicone rubber. They are injection vulcanized in the factory, and then expanded and lined with plastic spiral supports to form various cable accessories.

In addition, FCST have silicone cold shrink tube with mastic. The silicone cold shrink tube with mastic (also known as communication-specific cold shrink tube) is mainly used in the installation of wireless network communication engineering equipment. The silicone rubber cold shink tube is to add a clay structure to both ends of the original cold shrink tube, and permanently radial the casing. Under the action of shrinkage pressure, a tight structure is formed between the silicone tube and the cable, a new base station waterproof product. Simply positioned at the installation site, the core rope is withdrawn to provide permanent radial pressure, creating a reliable waterproof seal without the need for heat or special tools. Moreover, the cold shrink tube can be easily removed during system maintenance.

How To Use Cold Shrink Tubing?

During on-site installation, these pre-expansion pieces are placed at the treated cable joints or ends, and the internal supporting plastic spiral strips or supports are pulled out and pressed against the cable insulation layer to form a cable accessory. Here is a step-by-step video on how to use cold shrink tubing.

Figure3: Cold Shrink Tube Application Scenario

Cold shrink joint can provide long-term protection for products and perform well in indoor and outdoor environments (including harsh environments). Moreover, the rubber material conforms well to the bending characteristics of the cable. The cold shrink tube can fit tightly against the cable without gaps, preventing moisture from entering to ensure long-term protection of the cable.

As an important cable accessory, cold shrink tubing has the characteristics of high tensile strength, good elasticity, resistance to breakage, and easy and quick installation. It is mainly used for sealing communication cables, optical cables, and can also be used for pipeline repair and sealing of other components. . Additionally, cold shrink tubing is very popular in the telecommunications market as well as the energy, cable TV, petroleum, WISP industries, and satellite.

FCST - Better FTTx, Better Life.

We have been designing, manufacturing and supplying passive components for fiber optical networks since 2003. Everything we do in FCST is designed to provide efficient, simple and innovative solutions to solve complicated tasks.

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lUnderground Cable Installation Solution

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