Heat gun trick for shrinking tubing might be overrated

I was at a shop in Denver last Thursday and heard a guy swearing by using a lighter for heat shrink instead of a heat gun, saying it's faster and just as clean. I tried it on a set of wires and ended up with black soot all over the connector and a weak seal. Maybe I did it wrong, but I think the heat gun is still the way to go for any job where reliability matters. Has anyone else found a good reason to stick with a lighter over a proper tool?

2 comments

2 Comments

zarak183d ago

Ugh yeah the lighter trick is way too risky for anything you actually need to hold up lmao. I read a post on a tech forum where a guy tested both methods and the lighter seals always failed after a few heat cycles while the heat gun ones were solid for years. Stick with the real tool, it's cheap enough and way less frustrating than cleaning soot off stuff lol.

simonreed3d ago

Oh man I learned that one the hard way trying to shrink some tubing on a car speaker wire with a bic lighter. Not only did the tube crack a week later but I melted the plastic connector underneath and had to redo the whole thing. A cheap heat gun from harbor freight has paid for itself a hundred times over just in saved frustration and not having to scrape black soot off everything.