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Favorite heat gun & defector?

B

bnt83

Active Member
What's your favorite?

I was working on solder sleeves and mine went Tango Uniform last night. I know a few guys that have butane ones that works for tight access but not sure I want to go that route.
 
I am a tool nut and don't skimp on quality tools. However, this is one area where you don't need to spend a bunch of money. You just don't need it that much for an RV build and the cheapo's work just fine. So, unless your a production shop, or just can't help yourself, a $20 gun is just fine. Most come with an assortment of shields.
Just my personal opinion.
 
12vaitor said:
Steinel IntelliTemp? Silver Anniversary Electronic Heat Gun Kit. 3 programmable levels of Digital temp settings plus a good selection of tips for heat shrink, solder sleeves, and blue plastic film removal. I already had a Master, but it was too big for doing close work on the wiring harness.

http://www.all-spec.com/products/HL...Czz9ZP78xJYsr8zfqfu9SbuPjJQclNa9v8xoC8pnw_wcB
Click to expand...

That is actually the "tyco approved" gun for Raychem sleeves, at a price that wasn't horrifying.
 
bnt83 said:
That is actually the "tyco approved" gun for Raychem sleeves, at a price that wasn't horrifying.
Click to expand...

I'm horrified ;)
For a tool that sits in my box for years between uses....
Heat shrink just doesn't need to be that technical for what most of us need on our wiring harnesses. Sure, if you are Stien, building panels for a living....

Years ago, as an electronic tech, in a pinch, a bic lighter, with care, worked just fine..... I bet I am not the only one....
Not saying I would recommend that....

But hey, it's our folks money. I just as soon spend the extra $100 on something else for the airplane, and I love to spend money on it!
 
JonJay said:
I'm horrified ;)
For a tool that sits in my box for years between uses....
Heat shrink just doesn't need to be that technical for what most of us need on our wiring harnesses. Sure, if you are Stien, building panels for a living....

Years ago, as an electronic tech, in a pinch, a bic lighter, with care, worked just fine..... I bet I am not the only one....
Not saying I would recommend that....

But hey, it's our folks money. I just as soon spend the extra $100 on something else for the airplane, and I love to spend money on it!
Click to expand...

I'm with you. The $8.99 special from Harbor Freight works just fine. IT also comes with a variety of heat shields.

bob
 
I use a cheapo from the hardware store. I'm sure it's made in China, and it certainly didn't come with any form of heat deflector. That's where the homebuilder gene kicked in. A soup can, a pair of snips and a couple of minutes of my time produced a heat deflector that I hold in place with a pair of cheap hemostats.

I can slide the deflector behind a single wire that's pulled slack in a bundle, and advantage I hadn't anticipated when trying to go this "cheapskate" route.

I used to have one of the old red metal-cased Master heat guns, but it and all its accessories just "walked" out of my toolbox one day, never to be seen again. I still miss that heat gun, but will never spend the same money to replace it. As has been pointed out in this thread, the cheap heat guns will do the trick.

Oh, as for shrinking heatshrink tubing the "wrong" way... for years I've used the barrel of my soldering iron for that task when I couldn't use a heat gun. It works. It's NOT rocket science!
 
I have used my TopFlite gun for over 20 years now. It has served my model airplane needs and even more shrink wrap tasks.
 
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