I am in need of one of these units and wanted to see how simple/difficult it is to make one. All it is doing is heating a piece of wire and melting it into the plastic to hold joints in place. I don't need to do 1,000 of these at a time. Was thinking that I could use a 9 volt battery with a momentary switch to heat the wire and melt it into the plastic. Am I thinking wrong or is there a power supply needed as I see some of them with.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Hot-St...152641144011?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

video

 

First, a 9-volt battery is the wrong choice for the high amount of current needed to heat the wire. If you want to use a battery I would recommend several D-size alkaline batteries in parallel.

An inexpensive soldering gun might be a better option since you could go through a lot of batteries before you develop the skills to get the process to work well.

Here is one example of a soldering gun:
https://www.harborfreight.com/180-watt-industrial-soldering-gun-61170.html

A soldering gun may actually get the wire too hot so some experimenting may still be needed.

 

I'm guessing closer to 1/2 V @ 25 A. Something like soldering gun.

 

First, a 9-volt battery is the wrong choice for the high amount of current needed to heat the wire. If you want to use a battery I would recommend several D-size alkaline batteries in parallel.

An inexpensive soldering gun might be a better option since you could go through a lot of batteries before you develop the skills to get the process to work well.

Here is one example of a soldering gun:
https://www.harborfreight.com/180-watt-industrial-soldering-gun-61170.html

A soldering gun may actually get the wire too hot so some experimenting may still be needed.

Is there a rheostat or the like I can put in line to adjust the power going to the gun?

P.S. here is where I got the idea for the 9 volt

 

Is there a rheostat or the like I can put in line to adjust the power going to the gun?

The best thing to use is a Variac. Unfortunately, that would cost a _lot_ more than the cheap soldering gun. A lamp dimmer would probably work good enough.

P.S. here is where I got the idea for the 9 volt

It looks cute but it won't work for more than a few minutes on that battery. Don't believe everything you see on YouTube.

 

Don't believe everything you see on YouTube.

+1e6 on that...

 

If it on the internet it must be true!

I have a lamp I can steal one from

Awesome. Thanks for the information. I will get that gun and try it out and let you know how it works