hot air gun for light/occasional use

Buy the cheapest possible, it will outlive you! A hair dryer will often suffice.

If it's paper stickers, label remover may well be better and easier. If plastic, it may be a bit fierce and a hair dryer could be better.

No just get a politician to breath on the job... Brian

Not that cheap, but I use a Dreme VersaTip (the gas powered one) for that kind of thing. Very versatile.

Shed Own Brand should be fine. One thing to remember is to make sure to keep the hot air stream well away from the lead as its easily melted.

michael adams

...

They're pretty simple devices. I would go for one with an adjustable heat output, though. Enough heat for paint stripping is far too much for heat shrink, etc.

Some hairdryers tolerate partial blockage of the air intake on low, some don't. Don't do that of course. There's not much to be gained by 5x the airspeed & 5x the power, a small hairdryer should do.

Are there any that don't have adjustable heat output?

I've got one of these:

But it's only a few years old, too early to tell about long-term reliability. I can't remember now what the name brand one it replaced was, but that had lasted for many years.

There certainly were. Like single speed drills. I've got one - like I said they're pretty reliable. And fine for paint stripping.

My newer one is just two settings. So that looks fine if the lowest one is good for heat shrink, etc.

I no longer use the gun for heat shrink - I use the hot air solder re-work station. Nice small jet of air at any temperature you want.

Must admit I normally use my mini butane torch (like a cook's one) for heat sink rather than getting out the big hot air gun. Not as nice as a rework station, but convenient.

Aldi & Lidl often have them on special offer but you may have to wait, thou gh I think Aldi may have had one recently on offer, might be a few still av ailable at the odd store. I bought a Lidl one last year it has two settings the lower one being ideal for heat shrinking.

Richard

Aldi & Lidl often have them on special offer but you may have to wait, thou gh I think Aldi may have had one recently on offer, might be a few still av ailable at the odd store. I bought a Lidl one last year it has two settings the lower one being ideal for heat shrinking.

Richard

I bought one at Aldi .. 3 heat settings ... great value bit of kit