• Large assortment in stock
  • Quality products
  • Competitive prices
  • Fast delivery
  • Personal advice
  • More than 35 years of experience
  • Private label possible

Which wall thickness should I choose for my heat shrink tubing? Thin-wall, medium-wall of heavy-wall? | WKK

Which wall thickness should I choose for my heat shrink tubing? Thin-wall, medium-wall of heavy-wall?

Posted on 1 July 2022

Welke wanddikte moet mijn krimpkous zijn?

Heat shrink tubing can be distinguished by a number of properties, but one important property is universal and can be found for all heat shrink tubing types: wall thickness. The wall thickness of heat shrink tubing determines for an important part for which applications the heat shrink tubing can be used. Which wall thicknesses are available, and what are the differences? Read it in this blog!

Thin-wall, medium-wall and heavy-wall

Heat shrink tubing can be divided in three wall thicknesses: thin-wall, medium-wall and heavy-wall. The differences summed up:

Thin-wall heat shrink tubing
Has a wall thickness after shrinking ranging from 0,4 to 0,82 millimeters. Thin-wall heat shrink tubing is often used for low voltage applications. Due to the wall being thin, thin-wall heat shrink tubing is more flexible than medium- or heavy-wall heat shrink tubing.

Medium-wall heat shrink tubing
Medium-wall heat shrink tubing has a wall thickness ranging from 1,6 to 3 millimeters, after shrinking.

Heavy-wall heat shrink tubing
With a wall thickness ranging from 3,2 to 4,7 millimeters after shrinking, this is the type with the thickest wall. Due to the this thickness, heavy-wall heat shrink tubing offers excellent mechanical protection against, for example, sharp edges, cuts and offers strong impact resistance. The trade-off here, is the fact that heavy-wall heat shrink tubing is less flexible than thin-wall heat shrink tubing.

Would you like to see our full heat shrink tubing assortment?

View our full range of thin-wall, medium-wall and heavy-wall heat shrink tubing here.