This post was originally written on April 1, 2013.
Vetco announces the release of Pre-Shrunk Heat Shrink Tubing (PreSHST)
Until now all Heat Shrink Tubing came fully expanded. Pre-Shrunk Heat Shrink Tubing (PreSHST) takes up far less space than conventional heat shrink tubing, and it eliminates the guesswork of selecting the right size tubing for the job.
Bellevue, Washington, April 1, 2013, Vetco Electronics is pleased to announce they are the exclusive distributor for Pre-Shrunk Heat Shrink Tubing (PreSHST). This new product takes the guesswork out of determining the proper diameter of heat shrink tubing to use and it reduces the physical size of tubing inventory to as much as 1/7 of the size needed for ordinary heat shrink tubing. The benefit to hobbyists is less waste and less wasted space in parts drawers. The expected savings to electronics distributors in reducing the inventory volume occupied up by heat shrink tubing could be considerable. Samples are available by request (on company letterhead).
Walter Shawlee of Sphere Research in Kelowna, BC believes this could change the face of electronics everywhere. “PreSHST takes up far less space than conventional heat shrink. This has freed up valuable space in our parts inventory and reduced shipping costs to our customers. As everybody knows the inside of a tube of HST is empty space but it requires large amounts of space to stock it. Now with PreSHST there is no empty space at all. Volumetrically speaking the difference is night and day. A simple calculation I did on a slide rule showed the space savings exceeded 700% on the larger diameter PreSHST. The best part is how easy it is to use. All you have to do is spray the inside of the PreSHST with freeze spray to expand it to full size. Then it works just like conventional heat shrink tubing.”
PreSHST comes in the following EIA standard colors:
Black (-0), Brown (-1), Red (-2), Orange (-3), Yellow (-4), Green (-5), Blue (-6), Violet (-7), Gray (-8), and White (-9).
Select sizes are also available in:
Cyan (-C), Magenta (-M), Pink (-P), Beige (-B), Aqua (-A), Puce (-U), Chrome (-H), Copper (-P), Gold (-G), Silver (-S), and Anodized Aluminum (-L)
Prices have not been determined at this time. Samples are available by request (on company letterhead).
“Because we are located within a stone’s throw of Microsoft, our customers are very sophisticated and have the money to pay for what they want. For example, our extensive stock of heat shrink tubing is used in home theater systems throughout the Seattle metropolitan area. On several occasions our installation technicians have requested that we develop a more efficient shrink tubing that would require less space in their trucks and take the guesswork out of deciding what size tubing to select for the cable bundles they were wiring. To meet that need we created PreSHST” says Warren McPherson, President of Vetco Electronics.
PreSHST comes in a multitude of standard colors and sizes. It takes up far less space than conventional heat shrink tubing. PreSHST is sold in pre-shrunk form so it is easy to determine in advance the right size for the job. Spraying the inside of PreSHST with freeze spray (such as MG Chemicals® Super Cold 134, Vetco Part Number: MG-403A-285G) expands it to full size where it can then be used like conventional heat shrink tubing.