Heat Gun Recommendations

Hand tools, soldering irons, scopes, multimeters. Talk about em HERE!

Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
Locked
User avatar
mdm
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2010 6:57 pm

Heat Gun Recommendations

Post by mdm »

Hi all,

I'm using heat shrink more and more in my projects these days so I decided it's time to invest in a heat gun. ( I've been using the heat from the soldering iron until now and it doesn't heat evenly and always requires cleaning the tip afterwards. ) I wanted to know if you have recommendations for brands or features. I know that if I'm just using this for heat shrink tubing I probably don't need a fancy one, but I figured I might as well get a good one that will last me and might have enough power to do some IC rework, or for recycling parts from scrap boards.

Is variable temperature really worth it or should I just go for watts?
Is there a fundamental difference in the way heat is generated for different guns?

For instance a gun like this:
Image
Vs. a more traditional gun like this:
Image

Thanks Adafruiters,
- Matt

User avatar
adafruit_support_bill
 
Posts: 88092
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am

Re: Heat Gun Recommendations

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

I've got a gun-style one that looks like a clone of that Milwaukee. As well as a smaller tube-shaped unit. The big one is overkill for most heat-shrink uses and takes up valuable bench-space. I get much more use from the small one.

User avatar
pburgess
 
Posts: 4161
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 2:29 am

Re: Heat Gun Recommendations

Post by pburgess »

I have a big ol' Makita heat gun that's handy for a lot of shop type uses (stripping paint, bending PVC, etc.)...but it would be major overkill if you're *only* doing heat-shrink. For that, I have a Marvy Embossing Heat Tool (ostensibly for scrapbooking) that I picked up at a local thrift store for a couple bucks. The effeminate styling is a bit over the top (some versions are purple with glitter), but it does work great with heat-shrink tubing!

Agent24
 
Posts: 307
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 6:48 am

Re: Heat Gun Recommendations

Post by Agent24 »

You might want to get a proper SMD hot air tool with temperature control, than a big heat gun. Less chance of cooking your ICs I think.

A cheap one, you can get on eBay: http://www.eevblog.com/2011/04/25/eevbl ... rk-review/

User avatar
neutron spin
 
Posts: 163
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 6:11 pm

Re: Heat Gun Recommendations

Post by neutron spin »

Sparkfun sells the neatest little heat gun!...It is small and has insulated end to keep you from getting burned. It is the perfect size for most electronic heat shrink uses. Check em' :wink: out...I think they still sell it....Adafruit could sell gazillions of them...hint...hint!...

adafruit
 
Posts: 12151
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Re: Heat Gun Recommendations

Post by adafruit »

we're evaluating some heat guns but there isn't one we're thrilled with yet.

cheers,
adafruit

Locked
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.

Return to “Tools Tools Tools”