I asked those exact same questions when I started. :)
You don't ∗need∗ a heat-shrink gun. You can use the radiated heat from your
soldering iron. That's what I did. Did it turn out well...? It worked,
but a heat sink gun will do a better job, I believe. I feel like the wraps
I did are somewhat loose-- they wouldn't fall off on their own accord, but
if you tug them they'll slip without much effort. And with a heat gun, you
don't have to sit there for 20 to 30 minutes, attempting to get the durn gun
close enough to work, without touching, while keeping very steady. Don't
drink any abnormal amounts of coffee beforehand. ;)
Now the funny thing is that the last several kits I've done don't have any
heat shrink tube. The power supply did, and I think 2 more modules
thereafter, but not since, which seems odd because (power supply aside) the
wiring isn't radically different. I think if I were feeling fetishistic
about my assembly jobs I'd go out and get myself a gun and my own tubes, and
stick some on everywhere... But that hasn't seemed necessary.
If you have the cash to blow, or find a cheap but nice gun, I'd say go for
it. You won't have to inhale molten shrink tube. ;)
Good luck!
--PBr
> -----Original Message-----
> From:andy@... [SMTP:andy@...]
> Sent:Wednesday, July 05, 2000 2:48 PM
> To:motm@egroups.com
> Subject:[motm] Assembly question
>
> Some of my modules have arrived and I am starting assembly. Starting
> with the Power supply module first, there comes a step where it calls
> for heat shrink wrap tubing. In the Power Supply instructions, Paul
> suggests using an Alpha Fitgun3. I cannot find much on the web
> about that product, but I do find lots of info on other brands of
> heat guns.
>
> Do I need a heat gun to shrink the tubing? Can I use something else,
> like passing the soldering iron nearby? Is there a cheap way of
> doing the heat shrinking? Is there a lot of heat shrinking done in
> the other kits that would justify buying a quality heat gun?
>