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If you don't have a heatgun, READ THIS!!!

IsaacT

IsaacT

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So, if you need to use heatshrink tubing for a build, and you should, but you don't have a heatgun, I think I have found a solution for you....just depends on how nice you are methinks. Also, bic lighters DO NOT work, they'll f*** up a diode faster than you can say lase.:can:

So after killing my first PHR diode :( with a bic lighter(you didn't think I would advise without experience would you? :na:) I realized I needed a heatgun. But I don't have barrels o' cash hangin around, so I got to thinking about alterntives.:thinking: And thats when I remembered that we use heatguns at Office Depot to shrinkwrap product.:drool: So I connected all my wires(with heatshrink tubing in place) and took my project up to Office Depot and used the heat gun there to shrink the heatshrink tubing.

Now, I do work there, so I didn't even have to ask, but I am sure if you don't work at a place that has a heat gun for shrinkwrapping products, you could go up to a place that does and maybe if you ask reeeeeal nice and explain your dilemna(and maybe buy something cheap so it makes you a customer) they might let you use theirs....just an alternative for those of us who have no heatgun, no money, and would rather not have problems.

Peace,
Isaac
 





wannaburnstuff said:
So, if you need to use heatshrink tubing for a build, and you should, but you don't have a heatgun, I think I have found a solution for you....just depends on how nice you are methinks. Also, bic lighters DO NOT work, they'll f*** up a diode faster than you can say lase.:can:

So after killing my first PHR diode :( with a bic lighter(you didn't think I would advise without experience would you? :na:) I realized I needed a heatgun. But I don't have barrels o' cash hangin around, so I got to thinking about alterntives.:thinking: And thats when I remembered that we use heatguns at Office Depot to shrinkwrap product.:drool: So I connected all my wires(with heatshrink tubing in place) and took my project up to Office Depot and used the heat gun there to shrink the heatshrink tubing.

Now, I do work there, so I didn't even have to ask, but I am sure if you don't work at a place that has a heat gun for shrinkwrapping products, you could go up to a place that does and maybe if you ask reeeeeal nice and explain your dilemna(and maybe buy something cheap so it makes you a customer) they might let you use theirs....just an alternative for those of us who have no heatgun, no money, and would rather not have problems.

Peace,
Isaac
Click to expand...

Most people just use their soldering iron, personally I just use matches (little easier to control than a lighter). They really don't need all that much heat to shrink, I wonder if a hairdryer would get hot enough to do it?
 
I have been using BIC lighters for years, never had a trouble. Like Kookapeli says sometimes also use the soldering iron for tiny things. Recently buyed a rechargeable graduable butane torch for this and other things. I have used even an unfocused 300mw red laser beam, but not practical because the goggles don't let you see very well, and only works with dark shrinktubes.
 
I have a small pen blowtorch, it works fine as long as I am careful with the distance.
 
This is hands down my favorite lighter I have ever had and works great for shrink tubing. I have ordered 20 of them and 1 in 5 is a dud but still a great deal. Just order two to be sure. I give them away friends and family.

When using a jet lighter on shrink tubing you don't want to put the tubing in the flame just wave it over the tubing about an inch away from the visible flame. All you want is the heat not the flame.:yh:

DealExtreme: $2.69 Compact 1300-C Butane Jet Lighter

And don't get this one for any reason.

DealExtreme: $2.78 Jet 1300-C Butane Lighter

The construction is cheap and all five that I have ordered are either DOA or soon after. And they are dangerous. Check this post.:eek:

http://laserpointerforums.com/f57/dealextreme-jet-1300-c-butane-lighter-54929.html
 
I have tried using my soldering iron, and it works to an extent, but it takes like 2 minutes of hovering it around the tubing to get it shrunk completely, maybe my iron is just not hot enough....as for the butane lighter that is a really good idea....I used to have one that was a dragon lighter, you popped the dragons head up and the butane torch underneath would light two flames coming out of the dragon's nostrils.
 
You need to use the cooler part of the iron to make contact with the tubing.
 
Wait this is LPF and I'm the first one to mention this?

5W 808nm pump diode! Very nice control of the heat. Practice first because you WILL scorch a lot of polyolefin. I know I did. Also don't forget your goggles.
 
Bionic-Badger said:
The 5W pump diode sounds like a solution waiting for a problem.
Click to expand...

It could be but I trust most people here are responsible. I would say I was being sarcastic but I'm not. Fiber coupled LDs are awesome and can be found for cheap these days. (which in its own can be a bad thing!)

I still have my Weller Pyropen and Raychem soldersleeve production heaters for when I built stuff for Rockwell and Boeing in the 80s. Both still work too!
 
I use my soldering iron too, but you shouldn't touch the heatshrink tube, it makes a mess and sticks to your iron. I hover 1~2mm underneath it, works pretty fast. I do have a heat gun though, but it's too much trouble unpacking it for a typically small piece of tube.
 
Cheap hairdryers don't seem to mind when you give them a higher voltage transformer... just saying.

An AC motor and a coil is all it is after all!

Those heat coils can only take so much current though...
 
I use an old hair dryer my wife was going to throw out. I added a focusing nozzle to it and on high heat it works a treat.
 
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