Recommendation: good heat gun

[crazybrit]

Recommendation: good adjustable temperature heat gun

I have a old heat gun. Temp control is getting erratic plus it's just beaten up.

The Dewalt d26960 LCD looks interesting but I read some reviews that the LCD temp display was wildly inaccurate. The d26960K version with the case (I do like hard cases for my tools) and attachments at $112 seems expensive.

Curious for anyone's product recommendations. I'm looking for something with good variable temperature adjustment.

I have an initial use for the new heat gun detailed below.

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I need to cure some high temp paint on a 2-stroke race motorcycle exhaust (original coating was a high temp clear).

The on-vehicle instructions for the VH1 SP115 clear are two 30 minute cycles at idle. It's a track bike so the fan isn't that great, it will overheat and it will damage the engine if allowed to idle for that long.

So that leaves me with the off vehicle curing method which is heat to 250°F for 30 minutes, cool, heat to 400°F for 30 minutes, cool, heat to 650°F for 30 minutes

It's too large for my home oven, plus it can't reach 650. Powdercoaters only do one of the above temps as standard, other would be a custom run ($$$) and they can't do 650.

Talked to someone who did it by blocking one end, hooking up a heat gun and using a IR thermometer.

So pondering doing this but looking for a new heat gun.

 

[neophyte]

Steinel heat guns are generally considered good, and they do heat guns with digital adjustment, but I haven’t tried using a digital probe to test how accurate the settings were.
http://www.steinel.net/Professional-Heat-Guns

Master Appliance makes a heat gun with a built in sensor to measure surface temperature on the surface the heat gun is being used on.
I don’t know whether it would work for your application though.
https://www.masterappliance.com/proheat-1600-1615-stc-heat-gun/

Otherwise there’s also Leister, who make high end expensive heat guns gor industrial use, some of which have digital heat controls, but I don’t know how well they would work for your application, and the Leister guns are pricier than the Steinel and Master Appliance guns.
https://www.leister.com/en/plastic-welding/hand-tools

 

[crazybrit]

Thanks.

 

[ALinCarolina]

I have a Steinel and a Bosch. They work great but I don't have any others to compare to. The Steinel does seem to offer a lot of different settings for temp and fan speed.

 

[ChefRex]

Master is my go to for heating, my gun is 25 YO?, beat up but still going strong.

 

[RKA]

I don’t think the accuracy of the heat gun matters in this case. If it’s that large, you’re not going to be able to maintain temp by waving the gun around the part. As soon as you move it, the area you move away from starts dropping temps fast. So if you’re pushing hot air into the exhaust and capping off the other side to retain the heat (You’ll still need air to flow through to get an even temp), the temp coming out of the gun is going to be different from the surface temp. You’ll need to do a trial run to figure out what temp at the gun allows you to maintain the surface temps you are looking for. I would look for a gun that has 900+ temps, variable temp and high flow (the style that look like a hair dryer generally offer more flow). Get an infrared temp gun to check various areas as you go to see how different it is from one side to the other.

I have a little Steinel that goes to 900+ I think, but I doubt it would flow enough air to keep your entire exhaust at a reasonably consistent temp.

Good luck, sounds like an interesting challenge.

 

[crazybrit]

I don’t think the accuracy of the heat gun matters in this case. If it’s that large, you’re not going to be able to maintain temp by waving the gun around the part. As soon as you move it, the area you move away from starts dropping temps fast. So if you’re pushing hot air into the exhaust and capping off the other side to retain the heat (You’ll still need air to flow through to get an even temp), the temp coming out of the gun is going to be different from the surface temp. You’ll need to do a trial run to figure out what temp at the gun allows you to maintain the surface temps you are looking for. I would look for a gun that has 900+ temps, variable temp and high flow (the style that look like a hair dryer generally offer more flow). Get an infrared temp gun to check various areas as you go to see how different it is from one side to the other.

I have a little Steinel that goes to 900+ I think, but I doubt it would flow enough air to keep your entire exhaust at a reasonably consistent temp.

Good luck, sounds like an interesting challenge.

Thanks for the comment.

Here are the exhausts. Mild steel, thin, maybe 20ga.

As you say, not going to get anywhere moving gun around outside.

Plan is to hang exhaust to avoid damaging uncured coating. Then connect heat gun to one end. Not sure if other end open, closed or restricted is the way to go. I suspect a restriction.

I'll do a test before I coat to see if its practical. Monitor with IR thermometer. My concern is I'll have a far higher temp near the end where the heat gun attaches but someone told me they got good results this way but they offered only scant details.

Sent from my MI PAD 4 using Tapatalk

 

[RTM]

Might build a surround of firebricks to help hold the heat in, like a small oven exactly the size you need.

Regular brick or cinderblock may explode at those temps, make sure to get firebrick.

 

[CGarage]

Steinel heat guns are generally considered good, and they do heat guns with digital adjustment, but I haven’t tried using a digital probe to test how accurate the settings were.
http://www.steinel.net/Professional-Heat-Guns

Master Appliance makes a heat gun with a built in sensor to measure surface temperature on the surface the heat gun is being used on.
I don’t know whether it would work for your application though.
https://www.masterappliance.com/proheat-1600-1615-stc-heat-gun/

Otherwise there’s also Leister, who make high end expensive heat guns gor industrial use, some of which have digital heat controls, but I don’t know how well they would work for your application, and the Leister guns are pricier than the Steinel and Master Appliance guns.
https://www.leister.com/en/plastic-welding/hand-tools

This.

I have Leister and Steinel for precision work.
I also have a Bosch (I think Master Appliance makes it) which is great for volume / CFM but temperature control is not sophisticated or selectable.

 

[Formula]

Don't laugh but I've been using a harbor junk heat gun now for about 5 years with no issues. I work in a dealer and mainly use it for heat shrink. For less than $10 it's served me well. I'd buy another if this one ever breaks.

 

[HenryAZ]

I have the Milwaukee 8977-20 heat gun that I am quite pleased with.. I got it for heat shrink tubing, and that is still its primary use. The temp selector dial goes from 500* to 1024*, and there's a two "speed" switch. In the first position, it delivers half the heat setting, click further and you get the full heat. It came with several extensions, including a fan-like thing and a curvy thing to direct heat underneath the wire. I don't use any of them, just the basic nozzle on the gun, for my uses. It has worked well for me, and I've had it for about 8 years.

 

[Davefr]

I have Milwaukee and Master Appliance but this one is still my favorite. 2 speeds/12 temperatures with a cool down mode is a lot to like. It's been used for many, many hours and will not die.

My only complaint is the stiff cord.

 

[PCMusicGuy]

I had the cheap harbor freight gun and would never recommend it. While it was cheap and did put out heat, after many years of being stored indoors, the outside rubberized coating on it got sticky and no amount of cleaning would fix it. In the garbage it went.

 

[kenc184]

I have a porter cable, two air "speeds", and variable temp control. Seems pretty good to me.

PORTER-CABLE Heat Gun, 1500-Watt (PC1500HG)

 

[Rinspeed]

All I buy for the shop is Milwaukee because they hold up very well, they get used quite a lot.

 

[matt_i]

I have always had an earlier version of this "D series" I didn't know it came in 4 temp ranges until now. I would guess I have the 1200F version based on the 1400F requiring more than 15A.

https://www.masterappliance.com/master-industrial-heat-guns-kits

 

[crazybrit]

I have always had an earlier version of this "D series" I didn't know it came in 4 temp ranges until now. I would guess I have the 1200F version based on the 1400F requiring more than 15A.

https://www.masterappliance.com/master-industrial-heat-guns-kits

The VT-751D looks interesting. I like being able to put it down on a counter.

The Amazon reviews are mixed though, a couple complaining it has weak air flow. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S6T9YJS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Odd, as the spec sheet (https://www.masterappliance.com/master-industrial-heat-guns-kits) says it puts out 27CFM.

Someone local is selling a Steinel HL 1920E for $50. It's spec'd only at 13cfm.

 

[JSHOUSE1]

I use a harbor freight special as well. Works good for the price.

 

[lastgoodusername]

Re: Recommendation: good adjustable temperature heat gun

Steinel heat guns are a very good choice.

 

[Jswain]

Could you bolt it up or hang it close enough to your lawnmower exhaust and let it idle through there for 30 minutes?

 

[CGarage]

If you want high CFM, Bosch 1942 is great. But lacks finesse of the Steinel and Leister which have sophisticated temp controls.