Hot Hot?

Before going any further, did you look to see what the heat shrink manufacturer recommends? Either in print or via their website?

Actually still waiting for a reply on that.

It's going to vary by manufacturer and the type of tubing, so you will have to wait. Did you try the website of your supplier?

If you're not going to automate right away, then trust the techs. Most of the time this is a learned sort of thing that one picks up quickly through observation.

Your task involves temperature, proximity to the source, and time. So, it will only require a little training to perfect the skills necessary.

Obviously there is a trade off for time and temperature. The more paranoid you are, the longer it will take. Don't do your training on products you intend to sell. Practice on some scrap pieces first. It is really quite easy.

Lastly, make sure that hot surfaces are not within easy access or have your techs where protective gloves while doing that part of the job.

The products I use are in the 250-350 degree range. I was looking for a heat gun designed to operate at less than 500, but no luck. Looks like I better start to work on another training program!

Thanks for all the feedback

My experience with heat shrink is there are three main types requiring three different heat sources for ease of application

1) Cigarette lighter

2) Standard two setting hot air gun (although you can buy multi-heat setting heat guns)

3) Gas blow torch

I was looking for a heat gun designed to operate at less than 500

Again you can buy multi-setting heat guns (try your local mega or commercial engineering supply store).

Alternatively do what most of us do and.....move the heat gun further away! Most heat shrink has a wide temperature range it can handle so with a little bit of training a standard two-setting heat gun can be used on virtually any heat shrink (even thick wall, but yes it will take time and very low temperature heatshrink with a little care).

This might help to give you an idea what you need to know...

http://cableorganizer.com/heat-shrink/

A hot hand Hair Dryer will work which is about the minimum to shrink. Though use a variac and experiment with the AC voltage to see what works best and then calculate the Watts. A Tech wanted to shrink a nylon waxed cord around a bundle of Kynar 30 guage wire wrap wire and she did NOT believe what I told her that the Kynar (insulation) would melt. Guess what? She looked under the wrapped wire and I saw silver wire all shorted due to not following my instructions.