Hot air gun or hot air soldering station for heat shrink tubing

[ehsmeng]

Hi,

Silly question perhaps, but is a hot air soldering station a good choice for heat shrink tubing?
If not, what would you recommend?

Thanks!
Marcus

[Psi]

I often use my hot air rework station for heatshrink tube, around 170C seems to work well.

But if i'm in a hurry (most of the time) i just grab my butane blowtorch.
Ya just have to be careful to keep adequate distance between the HS and flame or wires will burn  .

[tautech]

I often use my hot air rework station for heatshrink tube, around 170C seems to work well.

+1
The rework station is especially good for fine work in tight spaces.
And wont discolor/burn the sleeving like a ciggy lighter will.

Hot air gun is good for big jobs.

[nanofrog]

is a hot air soldering station a good choice for heat shrink tubing?

Absolutely. 

It's also more useful on your bench than a hot air gun IMHO (these can still be useful, just not as often), as they're good for SMD work as well as HS tubing. Some hot air guns do offer temp control as well as a decent selection of nozzles, but tend to be pricey, such as those from Steinel (bit unwieldy in the hand for the level of fine control needed for SMD work).

[ehsmeng]

Thank you all! It made the choice easy.

I saw someone use a very compact hot airgun on some vide, but I failed to find one anywhere. But that would be like a one trick pony.

[saturation]

Hot air soldering station offers more control [ temp and airflow settings] and is best working on a bench while a hot air gun is best at being portable, such as doing field repairs.

Hot air guns can be very cheap, they are basically just hair dryers on steroids, and there are hot air guns that are more like portable hot air workstations, like Steinel guns.

http://www.steinel.net/Professional-Heat-Guns/HG2310BB


In the US, a basic gun is about $15, delivered.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1500-watt-dual-temperature-heat-gun-572-1112-96289.html

In a pinch you can use a hair dryer, but at $15, low cost heat guns often cost less than hair dryers these days.  When buying cheap guns insure that the worse case nozzle temperature is what you need for its purpose, e.g. it may shrink tubing but it won't strip paint.

[LukeW]

I use my Atten 858 hot air station for heatshrink all the time, just turn it down to 100C or so.

It's a great tool for the job, no chance of burning/melting/overheating/charring stuff which you can have when a lighter or large heat gun is used.

[george graves]

Someone said these worked well as they don't get as hot as a heat gun.

http://www.joann.com/american-crafts-zap-embossing-heat-gun/10066181.html#start=1

[rauloliv]

Hot air gun works fine, only use the station for this if its realy a tight space.
I wouldn't buy a station just for this kind of works.

Regards