Heat Shrink

[gaz_the_chav]

Right before anyone says I know that XcOM has explained about heat shrink already in his amazing guide but.....

Does it matter what type of heat source you use?

I am thinking of using a blow torch would that be ok if I spread the heat evenly and did not hold it in one place too long?

Aswell do you only have to buy the tubing and thats it (as long as you get the right size)?

Thanks alot

-gaz

[Airbozo]

Uhm,,

Not really.

Yes

Yes

Your welcome.

Just to expand...

The heat source does not matter so long as it is not too hot or too cold. I have used a blowtorch before, but due to the extreme heat you MUST be careful not to burn anything around the heatshrink cable (like other plastic parts or other cables) just be carefull and keep the torch moving back and forth as you turn the cable to get all sides. I would almost prefer using a bic lighter rather than a blow torch.

[ajmilton]

or a hair dryer. :p
open flame of any sort is kind of bad for heat shrinking, too hard to regulate

[gaz_the_chav]

Ah I never thought of using a hair dryer will that work ok yeh??

thanks guys

-gaz

[ajmilton]

it might be slower but its much safer for your components

hell, you could turn on a soldering iron and wave the tip back and forth near the heat shrink

i really don't think open flame is a good idea

soldering iron woudl be faster than the hair dryer and pretty safe too. i've used that for most of the heat shrinking since it's generally going over a joint i just soldered.

[Nagoshi]

My father used a lighter to heat the Heat Shrink after rewiring the 6 wires, no problems, as long as you don't let it burn your stuff

[DaveW]

I used a heat gun intended to strip paint from walls at a low setting. Something to watch: if you're heatshrinking copper cable, heat can travel down the wire, and shrink the plastic coating at both ends.

-Dave

[b4i7]

dave...it sounds like youre talkin out of a bad experience...

[gaz_the_chav]

Lol thanks guys and Dave I will keep that in consideration. I think I might just use a soldering ion as sugested by ajmilton - seems like the results could be alot more easier to control, plus I'm willing to take the time to get it right!

Cheers

-gaz

[DaveW]

dave...it sounds like youre talkin out of a bad experience...

Yeah. It was kinda funny though-it was a short piece of wire, and i was holding it at the other end, so i didn't realize till the coating of the part i was holding melted away and i found myself holding a boiling hot piece of copper wire.

By the way, i got all of my wires for The Integration Project: Stage 1 from old PSU's. They have lots of good wires in them in a variety of colours, and usually, they're the the perfect length for whatever you want to do.

-Dave