Shrink tubing?

[kbarrett]

Where can I get reasonably priced large diameter shrink tubing for battery packs?

I can order 3M bus bar shrink tubes that fit for $30+ dollars a foot ... I was hoping someone would have a less spendy suggestion....

 

[flip_normal]

Here's an idea which may work.

A couple of days ago a friend/neighbour was complaining that his flat was cold. I suggested we cover his 4metersq front window with a heatshrink clear plastic film. Got the kit (12metersq of film and double sided tape) for £11.50 from the local hardware shop. After the film went up it was well flappy with some minor creases. After leaving for a hour for the tape to cure I went over it with a hair drier and it tightened up like a drum. OK this stuff is thin so a few layers will probably be needed but it could work. You'll be able to see the inside of the pack too. Just an idea. It's cheap anyways.

 

[Ypedal]

I think it would be better to get the thick stuff.. the window film won't harden like regular stuff once shrunk and would be too fragile.

Check with Ggoodrum , he may have the size you need, ebikes.ca also has it.

 

[Drunkskunk]

Ebikes.ca sells some, $10 for a meter.

If you have a fry's electronics localy, they sell it in smaller diameters, for $1 - 20 a meter.

 

[kbarrett]

Hokay ... actually, it looks like these folks sell what I need as well.

Thanx for the help.

 

[GGoodrum]

Hokay ... actually, it looks like these folks sell what I need as well.

Thanx for the help.

Yep, that's the same stuff I use, and it is great. I've been making 32 cell and 48 cell packs that use this shrink warap and it does a great job of providing an extral level of shock prevention.

It takes a lot of heat to get this stuff to shrink, though, so you have to be sure you don't apply too much heat to one area for too long, or you can pop the vent on a cell.

-- Gary

 

[ChopperMan]

Would you believe BatterySpace wanted $45 to ship 4 feet of their 238mm Heavy-Duty Thermal Shrink Wrap Tube ($3.99 per foot) to the UK!

Does anybody know a supplier in the UK, or someone in the US who charges a reasonable fee for shipping?

Thanks,

Ian

 

[recumbent]

Does anybody know a supplier in the UK, Thanks,

Look in the yellow pages in larger cities in England under electronic supplies and i'm sure you will find what your looking for. Especially handy if your a battery distributer. Good luck.

 

[Ypedal]

A while back someone mentioned using the stuff Boat-Builders use..

http://images.google.com/images?q=boat+shrink+wrap&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

 

[ChopperMan]

Does anybody know a supplier in the UK, Thanks,

Look in the yellow pages in larger cities in England under electronic supplies and i'm sure you will find what your looking for. Especially handy if your a battery distributer. Good luck.

Before I bothered anyone here, I did spend several hours calling around, visiting Maplin, the UK equivalent of Radio Shack, I guess, and surfing the net. But nothing was as big nor as inexpensive. Even farnell.co.uk doesn't offer anything bigger than 114mm ! 492,706 products, my ARSE!

Sorry, just a little frustrated.

 

[kbarrett]

Before I bothered anyone here, I did spend several hours calling around, visiting Maplin, the UK equivalent of Radio Shack, I guess, and surfing the net. But nothing was as big nor as inexpensive. Even farnell.co.uk doesn't offer anything bigger than 114mm ! 492,706 products, my ARSE!

Sorry, just a little frustrated.

Not a lot of call for it ... see if someone in the UK sells 3M bus bar shrink tubing ... kind of spendy, but prolly cheaper if you get it locally.

One other notion ... buy a large lot of powerizer's 9", and then sell some locally to make up the shipping hit ... or maybe a group buy?

Or maybe someone here could buy some for you and mail it?

 

[GGoodrum]

Does anybody know a supplier in the UK, Thanks,

Look in the yellow pages in larger cities in England under electronic supplies and i'm sure you will find what your looking for. Especially handy if your a battery distributer. Good luck.

Before I bothered anyone here, I did spend several hours calling around, visiting Maplin, the UK equivalent of Radio Shack, I guess, and surfing the net. But nothing was as big nor as inexpensive. Even farnell.co.uk doesn't offer anything bigger than 114mm ! 492,706 products, my ARSE!

Sorry, just a little frustrated.

Sorry, I missed this. PM me and I'll get you hooked up. I've got about 10-15 feet left and I'm going to order about 30 feet more.

Express Mail shipping should be about $20-$25 to the UK. They now also have Global Priority Mail, which should be a bit cheaper, but I haven't tried this. I ship RC stuff to the UK all te time, but I've only used Global Express Mail.

-- Gary

 

[fechter]

How about duct tape? :lol:

 

[Johnbear]

I hope this is the right place. When I use heat shrink tubing I am always concerned about overheating anything. I move the gun around alot, any tips tricks?

 

[Ypedal]

Depending on the thickness of shrink you are using, i wouuld tend to use a heat-gun vs a hair-dryer so you can get in there with alot of heat quickly .. get it to shrink then let it cool..

Kind of the same idea as a soldering iron, enough watts to get it done quickly to prevent the heat from wicking itself into the cells..

Now starting from the edge or the middle is the tricky part, maybe Gary could chime in here !! :wink:

 

[GGoodrum]

The thick, rubberized shrink wrap is the hardest to deal with, because it takes a lot of heat to get it to start shrinking. The problem if you spend too much time in one area is that you can damage a cell (assuming you are trying to cover a pack...). The trick is to take your time and move around a lot.

-- Gary

 

[rkosiorek]

i have used the stuff that is used for winterizing boats. it needs some practice to get it to shrink evenly. i got the best results byt cutting it slightly oversize. wrap the pack and use some of the splicing tape to make it into a tube.

it is not as thick as that black rubbery stuff i see in some of the photos. that stuff looks like it would provide some mechanical protection as well.

fortunately the boat wrap is pretty cheap. i got the wrap for free from a local boatyard. it was the scrap that was left over from doing some guys 36ft powerboat. i would have had to pay for a roll of the splice tape but i bartered for it by debugging some of the alarm system wiring on the same boat. i wonder how much he charged the guy for my labor.

rick