Since getting into DCC/sound etc. I have found myself using heat shrink tubing quite a bit. I used to use my soldering iron held close and that got the job done (slowly). I have switched to a cordless soldering iron with a very small tip and is not suitable for this job. I received my Micro-Mark catalog in the mail yesterday and I spotted a small heat gun which looked like something to squander my money on.
It’ll probably work but you could always still use your plug-in soldering iron to shrink the tube. Problem with general heat guns is you have to be careful not to hit anything nearby
For $20, it’s not too bad. You could check into many other , even larger heatguns, Most will have heat and blower speed control settings as well as many other attachments to make the tool much more versitile. Mine has a smaller nozzle and the tip is “u” shaped to blow the heat completely around the shrink tubing for excellent control. Of coarse some of these guns will run much more than $20. Just a thought, not sure if you’d ever need a heat gun for other projects.
I bought one from allelectronics.com a couple of years ago. it looks similar to the one you’re looking at. I don’t remember the price. It no longer works and i’ve been using matches to shrink the tubing since it broke. I don’t smoke so it is annoying to have to use matches and put up with the smell. It works very good and fast and I may buy another one.
It’ll probably work but you could always still use your plug-in soldering iron to shrink the tube. Problem with general heat guns is you have to be careful not to hit anything nearby
[/quote
I hear what you’re sayiing. Wouldn’t want to melt my shiny new SD70ACe shell. (or any other loco shell) I have the giant economy size heat gun and a slightly smaller one,but you could melt the bumper on your car with either one of them. For $20 I may give the small one a try. I’ve blown $20 on worse things.
I would not use a heat gun like the one sold by Micro-Mark because it is going to heat everything else in the immediate vicinity of the shrink tubing, and could potentially damage something before the tubing is shrunk.
IMHO, one with a U shaped attachment to concentrate the heat around the tubing would be a much better choice.
Personally, I use a heat-controlled soldering iron with a very narrow tip.
You can also use one of these. They work fine… yes they have a larger area but heat shrink tubing is made to shrink at a much lower temp than electronic components or solder.
I have been using a Ungar dual heat gun for many years. There are reducer attachments and an attachment that looks like a U to partially contain heat. You can make your own out of thin sheet metal.
Proper heat shrinking is a learned process.
i used one when I wired US Navy helicopters and we were sometimes in tight quarters.
Being careful and knowing you are doing is a big help.
Do a Google search for Ungar heat gun attachments.
I wouldn’t start a DCC installation without having my heat gun handy. I bought an inexpensive one at Ace Hardware for $25 or so, but it has a dual heat switch and the low setting is hot enough for the smaller tube sizes. If you’re worried about heating other parts in the area of a splice that you want to protect with heat shrink, use a small piece of shim brass or a piece of cardstock wrapped with aluminum foil as a heat shield. The small tubing shrinks pretty quickly, and I’ve never damaged anything else while using my heat gun. It’s much neater and more precise than soldering irons, matches, or lighters.
It’ll probably work but you could always still use your plug-in soldering iron to shrink the tube. Problem with general heat guns is you have to be careful not to hit anything nearby
[/quote
I hear what you’re sayiing. Wouldn’t want to melt my shiny new SD70ACe shell. (or any other loco shell) I have the giant economy size heat gun and a slightly smaller one,but you could melt the bumper on your car with either one of them. For $20 I may give the small one a try. I’ve blown $20 on worse things.
I used to have a butane fueled soldering iron/torch/flame-less blower, that I used for heat shrink and I loved it. Since my previous employer dropped it and cracked the fuel chamber I have been using my soldering station, so like Randy I can touch the barrel of the iron to the heat shrink without scorching it but I still miss my butane blower.
To expand on my quicky post, before the soldering station, with a regular iron, even the 15 watt one I used for decoders, it was a real pain to get a neat shrink on the tube - tough the shrink tube, and you got a sticky mess on the soldering iron. It took a lot of time to hold it just right, close enough to shrink neatly, but not touching. I was all set to get a heat gun - after all, who doesn’t want more tools? Then I got the soldering station, and realized that since it held temperature instead of continuously heating, I could turn it down so it wouldn;t melt the heat shrink and just runt he side of the tip over the tubing to shrink it on all sides. No junky sticky shrink plastic stuck to the side of the soldering iron, either.While a heat gun might be nice, and for $20 it’s not bad if it doesn’t work exatly as planned - there’s probably some other use as well, I’m also dealing with limited work space and absolutely no way at this time to get more. Of course maybe if I ditched the rather large desktop DVM that’s far more accurate and does far more than is EVER needed for model railroad stuff… maybe one of these days, for now though the soldering iron trick works well - and I’d definitely invest in a temperature controlled station before I’d get the heat gun, it’s well worth it. 3 years and lots of track joints plus decoder installs plus electronic assembly and the tip is like new. I’d be on the third or fourth tip for a conventional iron by now. Mine was $50 - there’s no need to spend 3x that to get a Weller, or one with fancy readouts.
I use liquid tape for sealing solder connections. Use a toothpick to apply it and usually dries in 5 minutes. Sometimes a second coat helps to make sure all exposed wires are covered. Since conserving space under the shell is important, this takes up a as liitle space as possible.
The one I picked up second hand shows the deflector accessory you need for heat shrink tubing on the end of the nozzle. Unfortunately, the retail price of the gun is $81.00, but it is a commercial grade tool. The deflector does make it shrink any size tubing quicly. It’s just a piece of sheet metal and you may be able to make one yourself.