Heat shrink tape should be a necessary purchase in every environment; home, business or workspace. It’s versatility, ability to help protect and prolong the life of your wires and cables means an issue now might not be an issue later. But how do you know when is the right time to invest in heat shrink.

The answer is that there is never a wrong time to purchase heat shrink tape. It takes a little foresight but if you’ve done the work like, mapping out where your wiring is going to be, identifying potential external impacts and determining how much heat shrink tape you’ll need, the rest will be easy.

Purchasing heat shrink tape ahead of installation of your wires and cables means you save that extra trip or extra tax on shipping, as it takes up little space. It also ensures that if you start to notice your wires and cables impacted by external factors like foot traffic or environmental hazards, loose connections or cuts in the cabling, you’ll be ready for action.

Buying heat shrink before installation

The first step to installing cables and/or wires is knowing where you’re going to be installing it, a roadmap if you will. Knowing the placement of your cables and wires will help you determine what kind of accessories they will need to ensure long-lasting usage and prevent damage.

If you know that your wiring will be placed in high foot-traffic areas like an industrial floor, then heat shrink will be a great purchase to act as an added layer of insulation against weight, abrasions or pressure.

You might also consider added accessories like cable ties or cable runways to help ensure the longevity of your cables and wires. The best thing you can do for your wires and cables is keep them out of the way when planning their placement, cable ties can help by allowing you to string your wires and cables overhead.

If it isn’t possible to string your wires overhead, cable runways are a great accessory that not only protect your wires from weight like foot-traffic or even vehicle weight, but they also protect people from tripping hazards.

If your wiring is going to be installed outdoors or near water then heat shrink is a necessary purchase as it will protect the life of your wires by helping to protect them from UV ray damage, wind, or water damage that could lead to electrocution or shocks.

Purchasing heat shrink tape after installation

So you’ve mapped out your wires, placed them, and have electricity running through your home or workspace. Is the work done? Absolutely not. After installation, you may find your wires and cables impacted by unexpected bending, abrasions and cuts. You may also notice your connections are loose. Rather than wait for more damage to incur and just replace your wires, start to implement precautions now with heat shrink tape.

Heat shrink tape should be used when you start to notice marks like scufs, bending, cuts or loose connections. First and foremost, it acts as a protective layer for your cables and wires prolonging their life. It can also help to prevent bending causing kinks in the cable, by adding an extra layer and minimizing bend ratio. Finally, heat shrink tape can also help to close and seal loose connections that occur over time.

Another issue that may arise after installation is that there are more wires than you originally thought. Heat shrink tape is a great tool in this situation to help bundle your wires and keep them organized.

Stocking up on heat shrink tape

Just like how there is never a bad time to purchase heat shrink tape, you can also never have too much. Heat shrink tape has a wide array of uses beyond just your wires and cables. Use heat shrink tape throughout your home in DIY projects like dog leashes or to spice up your key chain with color coding.

Heat shrink tape also doesn’t take up a lot of space in your home, office or workspace. It’s minimal packaging means you can stock up and never run out of heat shrink tape or space to store.

You never know when you might need heat shrink tape and one of the biggest benefits of ordering heat shrink tape in large orders is the cost-saving and convenience. By ordering heat shrink tape in bulk, you save tons on tax and shipping. Purchasing heat shrink tape as a one-off from any hardware store will be expensive in terms of both price and the effort of realizing you need, driving to the store, waiting inline and purchasing. Moreover, you’ll have extra for those just in case moments.

Have More Questions about Heat Shrink?

Hopefully, this article has shed light on the best time to purchase heat shrink tape for any application. Set up an account or log in to put in an order.

If you have additional questions, visit our learning center or FAQs. Or you can contact us here with questions or to receive a sample.