ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Heat gun

What size heat gun is good for underground splice kits and heating up pvc? Will 1500 watts do? I'm use to using a torch and that's too risky on the insulation of the wire being spiced. And also, is there any particular brand that works better etc... Thanks

I have one from Harbor Fright that seems to work cooking PVC pipe and shrink tube. I think it is 1400-1500w.

I always seem, to scorch PVC if I try to heat it with a torch.

Just an FYI, using a blow torch voiles the listing of PVC piping

How does U/L think about the tail pipe of your truck (my go to pipe heater if I don't have the gun)
I assume we all know the "cold coupler" trick.

The one from Ace hardware works great. We had one for years, used it on PVC and shrink tubing. One day while working in a ditch it just died. Messed with it for a while then pitched it and got another one. Looked at the instructions with the new one and read about the thermal cutoff. Dug the old one out of the trash and it worked again. Now we got two.

Thermal cutoffs can be very good things.

I bought a non-working table saw super-cheap from Sears figuring that I could fiddle with it and get it running again.
Turns out that the cutoff had tripped and nobody thought to push the little red button back in...absolutely nothing was wrong.

Got a $700 tool for a little more than $100.

I have a 1200W Wagner heat gun that I got from Sears for $25. It hits 1100°F and the temp is adjustable.

Depending on the amount of work planned, maybe you should consider alternatives.

If you have power available ... by all accounts, you' can't beat a heating blanket. I haven't yet had the luxury, but others tell me they're awesome - but you MUST plug the pipe ends.

If there's no power ... well, I've had awesome results with an ordinary charcoal BBQ. The best aspects are an even heat over a large area, and the fact that you only need light it once. I've used this for up to 3" Schedule 80.

I use the 3M splice kits with the insulating resin inside the outer body of the entire splice for underground cables, no heat required.
It's like a two part epoxy, you just joint your cable, cover the splice with the outer cover, this clips together, and you fill each end of the splice cover with the epoxy solution, wait for it to harden (about 30 minutes), job done.