Heat shrink tubing without heat gun possible?
C. David Shaffer
leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
How about a hair dryer (I doubt it)? Also, can people recommend
particular brands of HST? I appreciate any and all replies.
The "From:" address above is probably not right...sorry.
-David Shaffer
-Department of Physics
-The University of Pittsburgh
-Pittsburgh, PA 15260
-sha...@phyast.pitt.edu
--
-David Shaffer
-Department of Physics
-The University of Pittsburgh
-Pittsburgh, PA 15260
-sha...@phyast.pitt.edu
P.Bennett
>I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
>leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
>to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
>How about a hair dryer (I doubt it)? Also, can people recommend
>particular brands of HST? I appreciate any and all replies.
>
>-Department of Physics
>-The University of Pittsburgh
>-Pittsburgh, PA 15260
>-sha...@phyast.pitt.edu
I often use a soldering iron (even when my heat gun is close by!)
You could conduct a small experiment to determine the required temperature, and
the effect of using different heating methods... :-)
Peter Bennett VE7CEI | Vessels shall be deemed to be in sight
Internet: ben...@triumf.ca | of one another only when one can be
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>I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
>leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
>to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
Yes, but a candle works better. Not sure why: my SWAG is that there's more
mass in the combustion by-products of the candle, so you get more heat
transfer. Perhaps a physicist could come up with a good explanation ;-)
Like soldering, this requires a little practice, and you should expect to
melt a few in the learning process.
>How about a hair dryer (I doubt it)?
You're right: you don't want to use anything that'll do heat shrink on your
hair ;-)
>Also, can people recommend particular brands of HST?
If there's a difference, I haven't seen it. I usually buy whatever I find
in the surplus stores, and haven't come across any "bad stuff" yet.
Ran
Garrett Herschleb
>I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
>leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
>to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
>particular brands of HST? I appreciate any and all replies.
>
I've successfully used a candle for low volume applications. It takes
a bit of trial and error to learn exactly where to hold the tubing
so it doesn't burn, but works for the most part. A penny saved is
a penny earned! Good luck!
Neil Levine
work it around the tubing until it has shrunk. Physical contact with the
tubing is not necessary, just bring it close. It definitely is not as good
as a heat gun but works well enough if the volume is low. Of course, it takes
some practice to hone the techinique. Good luck.
Will Rose
: I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
: leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
: to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
: How about a hair dryer (I doubt it)? Also, can people recommend
: particular brands of HST? I appreciate any and all replies.
Hair dryer probably not, and a lighter flame contains carbon which
might not be a good idea. But a soldering iron works fairly well
on small sleeves.
Mark Zenier
: I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
: leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
: to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
: How about a hair dryer (I doubt it)?
I just go to the kitchen and use the toaster. An electric stove burner
on High can work, too.
Mark Zenier mze...@eskimo.com mze...@netcom.com
Clyde Smith-Stubbs
>I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
>leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
>to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
You can use a soldering iron or one of those little butane torch
thingies but a proper heat gun need not be too expensive - do NOT
buy one from an electronics supplier for shrinking HST - get one
from your local hardware store. They sell them for paint stripping
and the like. A hair dryer will not work.
--
Clyde Smith-Stubbs | HI-TECH Software, | Voice: +61 7 3300 5011
cl...@hitech.com.au | P.O. Box 103, Alderley, | Fax: +61 7 3300 5246
http://www.hitech.com.au | QLD, 4051, AUSTRALIA. | BBS: +61 7 3300 5235
HI-TECH C: Compiling the real world...
dave anderson
: I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
: leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
: to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
: particular brands of HST? I appreciate any and all replies.
A lighter will work, but if you get it too close you will scourch the
tubing (not a problem, unless you use colored tubing) I doubt the hair
dryer will work,but it *might*
--
Dave
/ The Think Tank \
[ (516)427-3775 ]
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[***********************]
Carla Fong
production environments, it was pretty common to shrink it with the flame
of a match. Made an interesting odor throughout the plant.
Of course back then, the only shrink tubing you could get was black, so
the carbon blacking from the match flame didn't show up at all.. Still
works in a pinch, and a box of matches costs about 50 cents
--
car...@teleport.COM God has angels to help with her work,
The devil has politicians
mar...@wirrah.tusc.com.au
>
>in relation to shaffer@durer (C. David Shaffer) question about HST:
>>I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
>>leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
>>to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
>
>thingies but a proper heat gun need not be too expensive - do NOT
>buy one from an electronics supplier for shrinking HST - get one
>from your local hardware store. They sell them for paint stripping
>and the like. A hair dryer will not work.
>
that's odd, I must have imagined doing it for a number of years now ;-)
I will be the first to admit that a hair dryer is not ideal (and any real heat
gun would be better) but I have successfully used a (physically) small ~ 1200
watt hair dryer on heatshrink up to about 8mm diameter with reasonable
success. Naturally it works best on 'fresh' heatshrink that hasn't been
pre-shrunk during it's shelf life (ie. still soft and flexible).
If the HST doesn't quite shrink evenly all over I generally use the soldering
iron at close proximity to give it a little hand which finishes it nicely.
Martin.
(who would rather not buy a heat gun unless really necessary-
especially for the quantity of HST'ing he does).
Don McKenzie
: Clyde Smith-Stubbs <cl...@hitech.com.au> suggested a hair dryer wouldn't work:
David, I've used a lighter and hair dryer for years, sure they aren't
ideal, but for one offs, they both do the job.
Cheers Don...
Low Cost DIY PCB's for PICs & COM1/LPT1 PC I/O Interface Kits ;!
Don McKenzie. 29 Ellesmere Cres., Tullamarine. 3043 Australia ;@
Tel +61 3 9338 6286 Mobile +61 19 939 799 don...@tbsa.com.au ;#
Check My Promo Disk at http://rasi.lr.ttu.ee/~sis/mirror/don/ ;$
Type: 'finger don...@tbsa.com.au|more' for more information. ;%
Ron Huizen
>In article <SHAFFER.95Nov2115843@durer>, shaffer@durer (C. David Shaffer) writes...
>>I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
>>leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
>>to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
>>How about a hair dryer (I doubt it)? Also, can people recommend
>>particular brands of HST? I appreciate any and all replies.
>>
>>-David Shaffer
>>-Department of Physics
>>-The University of Pittsburgh
>>-Pittsburgh, PA 15260
>>-sha...@phyast.pitt.edu
If you're trying to avoid the expensive (>$100) heat guns, you can
always use a paint stripper like the Black&Decker heat stripper. They
should be $30 - $50 or so and get plenty hot - you just don't get
fancy nozzles, etc.
-----
Ron Huizen
Applied Microelectronics Inc.
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canada hui...@appliedmicro.ns.ca
Michael Covington
(1) A desoldering iron of the kind that has a heated tip and a rubber bulb.
You can use it to puff hot air on the tubing. Unfortunately, this is not
a very good kind of desoldering tool!
(2) A butane microtorch (also usable, with a different tip, as a highly
portable soldering iron).
--
Michael A. Covington http://www.ai.uga.edu/faculty/covington/
Artificial Intelligence Center <><
The University of Georgia Unless specifically indicated, I am
Athens, GA 30602-7415 U.S.A. not speaking for the University.
Kim R. Volz
: shaffer@durer (C. David Shaffer) wrote:
: >I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
: >leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
: >to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
: >How about a hair dryer (I doubt it)? Also, can people recommend
: >particular brands of HST? I appreciate any and all replies.
:
: I've successfully used a candle for low volume applications. It takes
: a bit of trial and error to learn exactly where to hold the tubing
: so it doesn't burn, but works for the most part. A penny saved is
: a penny earned! Good luck!
A heat gun used for radio control aircraft (shrinking of covering)
costs ~$20.00. Is this expensive?
Will Rose
: A heat gun used for radio control aircraft (shrinking of covering)
: costs ~$20.00. Is this expensive?
Good thinking - I've always wanted to build another model plane
or two, as well!
Geoffrey Levand
>C. David Shaffer (shaffer@durer) wrote:
>: I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
>: leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
>: to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
>: How about a hair dryer (I doubt it)? Also, can people recommend
>: particular brands of HST? I appreciate any and all replies.
>A lighter will work, but if you get it too close you will scourch the
>tubing (not a problem, unless you use colored tubing) I doubt the hair
>dryer will work,but it *might*
Not being a smoker, I sometimes find myself in a pinch. The flame
from a gas stove will definitely work but I only suggest it as a last
resort because you have to bring your project over to the stove and
also, some people take offense to your disturbing their pots of
boiling stuff. I recall one time holding the HST near an infrared
heat lamp bulb (available cheap from K-Mart and the like), but I don't
remember the wattage. Can anyone comment?
Happy shrinking,
G. Levand
Harold C. Forbes
>dav...@newshost.li.net (dave anderson) wrote:
>
>>C. David Shaffer (shaffer@durer) wrote:
>>: to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
>from a gas stove will definitely work but I only suggest it as a last
I found that the heat distribution from flames in general was not
good. I kept burning the tubing. I used to use a soldering iron held
about 1/4 inch below the tubing. You have to rotate the tubing to
shrink it all the way around.
A heat gun certainly looks like a hair dryer. I'd be intereseted to
know if it works.
h
--
FORBES, HAROLD C. N5JCM har...@cc.gatech.edu
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/grads/f/Harold.Forbes/Harold.Forbes.html
uucp: ...!{allegra,amd,hplabs,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!cc!harold
Barry Lennox
>
>In <SHAFFER.95Nov2115843@durer>, shaffer@durer (C. David Shaffer)
writes:
>>I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
>>leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
>
In days of old (well actually in the late 60's), before HST, we used PVC
tubing, soaked in Xylene. It would dilate about 50 % Slip it over
whatever and let it air-dry when it would slowly shrink back to it's
original diameter. You would not want to be in a hurry however. I also
understand that Xylene is nowadays considered to be user-hostile, toxic
and bad for the enviroment. Maybe somebody out there knows of a safer
alternative dilating fluid ?
Barry Lennox
Edwin Mengel
> dav...@newshost.li.net (dave anderson) wrote:
>
> >C. David Shaffer (shaffer@durer) wrote:
> >: I've finally grown tired of wrapping electrical tape around all my
> >: leads. I would like to start using heat shrink tubing but would like
> >: to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
> >: How about a hair dryer (I doubt it)? Also, can people recommend
> >: particular brands of HST? I appreciate any and all replies.
>
I have used a pencil soldering iron successfully, using the fat part of
the heaing element rather than the tip. You can still overheat it, but if
you exercise care, it works.
--
Ed Mengel
hun...@elec.canterbury.ac.nz
>In article <47vst0$2...@gol2.gol.com>, Geoffrey Levand <gle...@gol.com> wrote:
>>dav...@newshost.li.net (dave anderson) wrote:
>>
>>>C. David Shaffer (shaffer@durer) wrote:
>>>: to avoid buying an expensive heat gun. Can a lighter do the trick?
>>from a gas stove will definitely work but I only suggest it as a last
>I found that the heat distribution from flames in general was not
>good. I kept burning the tubing. I used to use a soldering iron held
>about 1/4 inch below the tubing. You have to rotate the tubing to
>shrink it all the way around.
>A heat gun certainly looks like a hair dryer. I'd be intereseted to
>know if it works.
> h
I have always used a disposable gas lighter on heat shrink. You can
avoid any scorching of the heat shrink by keeping it in the base of
the flame. I found this method particularly suitable when I was doing
installation/service work on alarm systems, and had to repair or join
cables inside a roof space or up a 30 foot ladder.
Steve Hunt