Heat gun vs lighter for shrinking tubing, finally on team heat gun

Been fixing shutter ribbons for years now, always used a lighter to shrink the insulation on new wires. It worked fine, but last Tuesday I had a roll of film get jammed because a soldered joint was too bulky and the ribbon caught on it. A guy in the shop, Ron, said he never touched a lighter after one accidental flare melted a Pentax mirror box. He lent me his cheap 200 watt heat gun from Harbor Freight. Honestly, the difference is night and day. The gun shrinks the tube evenly, no scorch marks, and you can control the airflow so you don't blast heat into nearby plastic gears. I rebuilt a Yashica Electro 35 GT and the wiring fit like it was factory. I used to think heat guns were overkill, but now I'm convinced. Anyone else switch over and never look back? Or am I the only one who ruined a few parts learning this?

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jennyp1910d ago

Wait, you mean there's a way to shrink tubing that doesn't involve holding a tiny blue flame near a camera full of plastic parts? I switched about a year ago after I melted the shutter speed dial on a Konica I was fixing. The lighter worked fine for the wire, but the plastic dial was not fine, and neither was my pride. My cheap heat gun is way more forgiving, plus I can actually see what I'm doing instead of holding my breath and hoping the flame doesn't wander. I still keep a lighter for the really tight spots, but only for things that aren't attached to cameras anymore. My learning curve was basically a pile of melted parts, so you're in good company.