Heat Shrink Tubing Gun

[Brett]

I have all the supplies for wiring now but it only took a few seconds to figure out that using a butane lighter to heat up the SCL 3:1 adhesive lined shrink tubing was not the best way to go. This tubing is more durable than the average heat shrink tubing and its more in line of what the manufactures use on factory cars, plus not only trying to get the tubing to shrink evenly, getting the adhesive to flow without burning the tubing was an issue.

So I set out on a quest to find a heat gun that was design for this specific task. That proved to be a little more difficult than I had thought.

Sure there are a lot of heat guns out there that will do the job but they are rather large in size and difficult to get into tight places and hard to focus the heat on a specific spot so that area around the splice doesn't get subjected to the heat also, that was a concern of mine.

I didn't need something that put out heat that would strip paint, thaw pipes, soften glue, heat up PVC pipe so you could bend it, All I wanted was something that would put out enough heat for heat shrink tubing and a big plus was to be able to get replacement parts and have optional accessories available.

The Steinel HG 350 ESD was the only thing I could find that covered all these things.

I've tried it out on a few splices and I'm more than happy with the results.

It comes in a kit with all the accessories included plus it comes with a case. My case was not like the one in the picture. It was a plastic case but I'm not complaining. If you would like to see the case that came with the kit let me know and I'll post it.
On their web site there is a part number for the kit

https://www.steinel.net/RelId/607627...fault/Kits.htm

This is the products web site
All the specifics are there plus a pdf of the owners manual that shows the different tips and what they are used for

https://www.steinel.net/HG350ESD

Cost of just the gun I found for under $100 USD and the kit was around $130 USD, depending on where you get it from

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[Dirk]

That does look compact, If you are doing joints in a very tight space on the car I can also recommend the gas solder kits that can double up as a hot air blower and they also come with the deflector which is great for heat distribution around the heat shrink.

Dirk

[Mikemrb]

I’ve been using my mini heat gun I use for printed circuit board repairs, it’s very compact with digital heat/ air flow control and only about £30 for the led version and even cheaper for the analogue

[islandman]

I’ve been using my mini heat gun I use for printed circuit board repairs, it’s very compact with digital heat/ air flow control and only about £30 for the led version and even cheaper for the analogue

Any link to the specifications so I can see how the heat output compares with Brett's, as I too tried the SCL 3:1heat shrink and my normal heat gun struggled to get it to shrink

[Mikemrb]

Any link to the specifications so I can see how the heat output compares with Brett's, as I too tried the SCL 3:1heat shrink and my normal heat gun struggled to get it to shrink

Here you go David the temp range is 100 to 450 c
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/858D-220V....m46890.l49292

[islandman]

Here you go David the temp range is 100 to 450 c
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/858D-220V....m46890.l49292

So 450c makes that 842f, so similar range to the one Brett found. Given the pricing it may be worth a punt

[Mikemrb]

So 450c makes that 842f, so similar range to the one Brett found. Given the pricing it may be worth a punt

I've been impressed with mine I brought it to solder smc's on circuit boards but use it for so many other jobs as the heat output it controllable , the small nozzles are particularly useful replacement heat elements are also available apparently

[Brett]

I've had some time to play with this gun now and things that I liked about this heat gun are

It has a stand for holding the gun in place for jobs that can be done on a work bench.

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Another feature I like is the 10mm Reflector Nozzle. It keeps other areas of the job from getting blasted with the heat and it heats all around the splice without having to rotated the gun around the work area.

P1160002.jpg

The light is also handy to have. While not really necessary it does light up the work area to make things easier to see

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And last, it only takes seconds for it to get hot enough to heat the tubing to the temperature that is needed for it to shrink and to get the adhesive to flow.

The only thing right now to complain about is that it wont wire the car by itself.
You can't have everything, but it does the job it was design to do very well. (for now)

[islandman]

Good to hear its fit for purpose and will let you progress on the wiring. I've opted for a cheap 858D copy I found on Aliexpress for three reasons. 1) Its cheap, 2) Its free shipping and 3) it allows me to try to do some work on circuit board fixes (which I tried in the past and failed miserably).

I'll see how I get on when it turn up, if its rubbish I'll probably follow your route Brett if I can find a supplier closer that doesn't make the pricing too stupid with the shipping costs.