Heat Shrink Printing Guide: Printers and Tubing

Heat shrink printing has two sides that buyers sometimes confuse: the printer that prints on heat shrink tubing, and the tubing itself. This guide keeps them separate. The printer is equipment; the tubing is a consumable. Choosing one does not choose the other, and the two must be matched deliberately.

The printers

Two heat shrink tube printers are listed in this catalogue: TP2000 and CT203, on the heat shrink tube printer category page. TP2000 is the only one with a documented specification listing, on its TP2000 page: 35mm/s, 2–40mm effective print height, and heat shrink tube sizes Ф7–Ф30mm, with white, black and gold ribbons. CT203 is listed by model name only. TP2000's figures describe TP2000 only and are not applied to CT203.

The tubing

Heat shrink tubing is listed as a consumable on the cable identification consumables page, alongside PVC numbering tubes, wrap-around labels and other identification forms. Tubing is also part of the tape and ribbon category, where heat shrink tubing, heat shrink sleeves and heat shrink labels appear as material and label terms. A material term is not a printer page: this site does not present heat shrink tubing as a printer, and does not present a printer as a consumable.

How to match printer and tubing

First, confirm the tubing size you use and check it against the printer's listed size range — for TP2000, that range is stated as Ф7–Ф30mm. Second, confirm the ribbon colour you need from the listed colours. Third, confirm the consumable type: a printer that prints on heat shrink tubing is not the same purchase as a roll of heat shrink tubing, and the two are ordered and priced separately. Before placing an order, confirm the model, the specifications, the consumable match, the MOQ, the lead time, and the price for each item.