Heat shrink tubing

[oldbilbo]

This may possibly be of interest, or help, to others.... I can see several other uses for this material.

I recently determined to address the tatty condition of a pair of mast spreaders, which had been wound around with electrical tape sometime in the past. Now peeling off, it's time had come. But what to replace it with? A smart paint job, or powder coating, would be ideal - but time-consuming and costly.

These 'before and after' pics show a quite satisfactory improvement, using heat shrink tubing....

The most-helpful supplier was Brian Wragg at http://www.finishrink.com/contact_us.html He/they have a huge stock of all sizes, colours and types.... and are impressively efficient via their eBay shop, once what's needed is identified.

 

[prv]

Seems like a good way of trapping water against the metal and then hiding the resulting corrosion...

Pete

 

[oldbilbo]

There's no pleasing some folk. Oh, well.

 

[prv]

Sorry. Really didn't mean to piss on your chips, but it's the thought that sprang instantly to my mind as soon as I saw it.

Pete

 

[JumbleDuck]

Sorry. Really didn't mean to piss on your chips, but it's the thought that sprang instantly to my mind as soon as I saw it.

A Rolls-Royce job might involve using glue-lined heat shrink to seal everything.

 

[oldbilbo]

A Rolls-Royce job might involve using glue-lined heat shrink to seal everything.

Maybe there's a use for this stuff to fit around some old wooden boats

But it's a fair point. I'll run a slim bead of spare sticky sealant stuff around the h'orifices when opportunity presents.... and spray some PTFE mist down the insides of the tubes. The glue-lined stuff is rather more expensive; at least with this product I can slit it with a craft knife and remove it easily, should it become tattered.

 

[sarabande]

there are a number of industrial products designed for long-term protection by heat shrink wrapping, e.g..

http://www.tufcoat.co.uk/


Worth an exploratory email ?


I have the temperature controlled Leinster gun, if you want to play with a sample

 

[LadyInBed]

but it's the thought that sprang instantly to my mind as soon as I saw it.

Pete

I also had the same thought.
I don't like covered guard wires either.

 

[Vara]

For a similar job I used Fortress guttering paint from B&Q , sticks like the proverbial with a pleasing semi matt finish. Didn't use a primer and after 2 years exposure still looks good.

A tenner a 750ml tin IIRC.

 

[Robert Wilson]

I see you left the old tape on (at least, I THINK I can see it under the shrinky stuff). I wonder why you didn't peel it off to check for any corrosion and to clean it/spray it etc?

Not wishing to be awkward, just interested.

I like the idea, all the same.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I'm wondering if I could use some on my seagull throttle cable - the outer sheathing split soon after I replaced it and i repaired it by wrapping with pvc tape. Shrink wrap would look much better.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I'm wondering if I could use some on my seagull throttle cable - the outer sheathing split soon after I replaced it and i repaired it by wrapping with pvc tape. Shrink wrap would look much better.

I've tried repairing a throttle cable with glue lined heatshrink. It's not very satisfactory, because the tensile forces in the sheath when the inner cable is "pushing" are surprisingly high, and the heat shrink is pretty stretchy. The best result I got was from using three or four layers of heatshrink, applied sequentially, and to be honest it still wasn't very good. It would probably be OK for the sort of cable where the inner is always in tension, working against a spring at the business end. but for a push-pull affair like the Seagull I wouldn't recommend it as more than a get-you-home-maybe.

 

[oldbilbo]

I see you left the old tape on (at least, I THINK I can see it under the shrinky stuff). I wonder why you didn't peel it off to check for any corrosion and to clean it/spray it etc?

Not wishing to be awkward, just interested.

I like the idea, all the same.

I did, in fact, peel the old insulating tape off using a tungsten-carbide scraper and fingernails. That was rather tedious. The residue of the 'sticky stuff' is what you see showing through, although I utilised some 'Sticky Stuff Remover'. This had limited effect, the morning was wearing on, I chose not to use a belt sander, and I'm unlikely to be troubled by the aesthetics of the eventual result. There are more significant matters needing attention....

As mentioned, this simple little maintenance task may just suggest to someone else a solution to a minor but nagging problem.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I've tried repairing a throttle cable with glue lined heatshrink. It's not very satisfactory, because the tensile forces in the sheath when the inner cable is "pushing" are surprisingly high, and the heat shrink is pretty stretchy. The best result I got was from using three or four layers of heatshrink, applied sequentially, and to be honest it still wasn't very good. It would probably be OK for the sort of cable where the inner is always in tension, working against a spring at the business end. but for a push-pull affair like the Seagull I wouldn't recommend it as more than a get-you-home-maybe.

Praps I'll try heat shrink on top of the insulating tape. The present arrangement works well enough but don't look smart enough to do justice to my pristine Seagull.

 

[LadyInBed]

For a similar job I used Fortress guttering paint from B&Q , sticks like the proverbial with a pleasing semi matt finish. Didn't use a primer and after 2 years exposure still looks good.

A tenner a 750ml tin IIRC.

Halfords do a rubberised spray paint, also useful for similar jobs.

 

[penfold]

I've tried repairing a throttle cable with glue lined heatshrink. It's not very satisfactory, because the tensile forces in the sheath when the inner cable is "pushing" are surprisingly high, and the heat shrink is pretty stretchy. The best result I got was from using three or four layers of heatshrink, applied sequentially, and to be honest it still wasn't very good. It would probably be OK for the sort of cable where the inner is always in tension, working against a spring at the business end. but for a push-pull affair like the Seagull I wouldn't recommend it as more than a get-you-home-maybe.

Ye olde vintage Seagulls have a sprung slide on the carb, so the throttle cable is always under tension; not sure about anything newer than about 1975 though!

 

[nigelmercier]

I'll run a slim bead of spare sticky sealant stuff around the h'orifices when opportunity presents...

Too late for this job, but a glue gun uses the same glue as the adhesive lined stuff. I run a small bead around each end.

 

[Robert Wilson]

I did, in fact, peel the old insulating tape off using a tungsten-carbide scraper and fingernails. That was rather tedious. The residue of the 'sticky stuff' is what you see showing through, although I utilised some 'Sticky Stuff Remover'. This had limited effect, the morning was wearing on, I chose not to use a belt sander, and I'm unlikely to be troubled by the aesthetics of the eventual result. There are more significant matters needing attention....

As mentioned, this simple little maintenance task may just suggest to someone else a solution to a minor but nagging problem.

Sadly, always the case!
Thanks for the repsonse