I want to install a switch into this hot air gun, which one should I choose?

Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
557
Hi, I bought this hot air gun a few months ago and I really love the quality of everything, elegant texture, nice buttons and settings, works fantastic... everything was way better than expected, except one little detail: whenever you turn it off with its ON/OFF button, it goes full crazy max fan speed, making a lot of noise, for 30 seconds straight, to cool down the nozzle.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ginour-Temperature-Stainless-Accessories-Stripping/dp/B08DHYQS28

1647431879704.png

1647431912411.png

It's automatic and there's nothing you can do about it, and I find it very, very, very annoying because the extra 30s you have to bear that sound, the fact that is automatic and you can't disable it, and the loud sound it makes. Sometimes I am working at quiet hours, or when someone is sleeping, or at night, silently tinkering minding my own reparations, and then I need the heat gun and I just avoid it, trying to find an alternative in my workbench.

I find this feature interesting, but only as a manual thing, not a mandatory feature that once you've turned it on, "well, too late, expect the Apollo 11 launch". So, the point is, I want to add a switch, install one inside the frame so it looks something like this:

1647432199923.png

I'd like it as small as possible (basically to be able to fit it inside, as a large one won't fit at all), but of course it must withstand the maximum 2000W. I would put it somewhere in the handle, where there's no heat at all.

These ones would be fine but they are massive and won't fit:
1647432429423.png

These are perfect for its size, but the rating is for 750W:

1647432624519.png

EDIT: I hoped I had not have to point the obvious, but here we go, I am well aware that the gun does this to cool down the nozzle, indeed that's in the very first paragraph. I just want to let it rest without such an annoying noise.
 
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Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
557
Do you understand it does that at shutdown so it won't burn you or your work bench?
I am really aware of its function, I just find it completely unnecessary and annoying, I am working all day with soldering irons and I don't need a bucket of ice to cool it down so I don't get burn. When I stop using the gun I know it's hot, and I let it rest, just like the dozen guns I have: glue, heat, solder, one for smartphones...
 
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Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
557
...or itself.
without forced air, it may melt and cause malfunction and provide other risks
What do you mean itself?

The gun stands 2000W, 600ºC (which I never use). If I disconnect it the temperature will simply go down slower, it wont' go up because there's no more energy.
 

Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
557
Read shortbus post again; then, is it that hard to unplug the gun ?
That's exactly what I am doing right now but it's so annoying, think that I use it for 30s, then turn it off, then need it again 40s later, then turn it on, etc... So a switch in the handle would be the perfect solution. Also, while trying to unplug it, notice the gun is still ON and working.
 
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panic mode

Joined Oct 10, 2011
2,715
that gun is made of plastic. plastic cannot stand much heat. when gun is in use forced air circulation ensures that temperature does not reach some critical limit.

cutting power while gun is still hot means loss of forced air. depending on type of plastic different type of degradation can take place (melting, cracking...). that can lead to short circuits within the product or exposure of the parts of the circuit.
 

Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
557
that gun is made of plastic. plastic cannot stand much heat. when gun is in use forced air circulation ensures that temperature does not reach some critical limit.

cutting power while gun is still hot means loss of forced air. depending on type of plastic different type of degradation can take place (melting, cracking...). that can lead to short circuits within the product or exposure of the parts of the circuit.
Jesus, I know, I know, I already thought about that...

Sometimes this forum helps and users come to hit the problem directly, and other times I just feel there's a complot where only people come to try to think the impossible or find the tiniest excuse to prove that what you are trying to do is so wrong.

I can unplug the gun perfectly safe, my God. Nothing is gonna burn out or explode, my previous gun worked the same, looked half well made and half safe as this one and did not have this feature. Most heat guns of these type don't have my fancy buttons or screen, just an ON/OFF switch, with 2 different ON positions for low heat or max heat. No cool down feature, that's just my fancy gun, a simple OFF sudden power cut, no melting. Also 99.99% of guns are made of plastic because of the heat, if it was metal it would conduct the heat very easily causing a lot of problems to the user. And finally no, if you cut the power in these guns the plastic is not gonna melt "because the heat is not pushed out with a fan", the metal inside the gun gets cooled down very quickly on its own, and as I told you, most guns cut the power with the switch they have, because very few have my button design. Soldering irons don't have fans to cool them down, and the surface is so much less to push away the heat. So are glue guns.

On top of this, I normally work with 200-300ºC setting. If one day I use the 600ºC max power, I will let the fan to cool it down just for the sake of it. But for my day to day use it is so annoying to listen to that each time you turn it off. And I repeat, most heat guns don't have this feature, even $200 I've seen simply turn off and that's it.

I hate I have to make these thesis defense messages explaining every detail, so unnecessary.
 
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Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
@rambomhtri consider the situation. There is a real potential safety concern. It might not always be the case that safety is the reason people question your proposals but in this case saying "I have been unplugging it to avoid the noise and haven't had any problems" would probably have served your purpose without potentially creating ill will.

Concerning your switch, if you never turn it off without first turning it off from the built-in controls (quickly after of course) you will never switch the heating element, only the fan. I would expect that would be the best practice. It is the arcing from the heavy load that will kill a switch.

Slide switches aren't a good choice because you need a positive action that quickly breaks the connection, a slide switch on a heavy load is fraught because you can switch it such that you can draw an arc. So, you need a rocker switch, most likely.

How much space do you actually have to work with? Remember that you have to connect to it with relatively heavy gauge conductors and route the wiring so that clearance is not available for the switch.
 

Delta Prime

Joined Nov 15, 2019
1,311
I hate I have to make these thesis defense messages explaining every detail
AAC is an modern day library,
contemporary repository of electrical and electronic knowledge.
Just like the library of Alexandria in ancient Egypt. AAC is the Isle for anything and everything electronics.
I get schooled here everyday at AAC.
We do not just answer your questions but anyone else who has questions about electronics can simply read your post. Explaining every detail is essential and most necessary. To clarify facts.Example,you said."also 99.99% of guns are made of plastic" . What happened to the other 00.01% what are those made out of? (Rhetorical question). In short you're really helping other people while helping yourself. I get called out to elaborate on statements I make. Because it benefits the thread starter and anyone else who has that particular problem who's reading the thread.And by the way , I can appreciate your fancy buttons cuz they are unique, one of a kind.
Edit: the statements I made about AAC is of my own personal opinion.
.
 
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panic mode

Joined Oct 10, 2011
2,715
Jesus, I know, I know, I already thought about that...

Sometimes this forum helps and users come to hit the problem directly, and other times I just feel there's a complot where only people come to try to think the impossible or find the tiniest excuse to prove that what you are trying to do is so wrong.
May i remind you that YOU asked for explanation. Stop complaining when you get one.

What do you mean itself?
 

Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
557
AAC is an modern day library,
contemporary repository of electrical and electronic knowledge.
Just like the library of Alexandria in ancient Egypt. AAC is the Isle for anything and everything electronics.
I get schooled here everyday at AAC.
We do not just answer your questions but anyone else who has questions about electronics can simply read your post. Explaining every detail is essential and most necessary. To clarify facts.Example,you said."also 99.99% of guns are made of plastic" . What happened to the other 00.01% what are those made out of? (Rhetorical question). In short you're really helping other people while helping yourself. I get called out to elaborate on statements I make. Because it benefits the thread starter and anyone else who has that particular problem who's reading the thread.And by the way , I can appreciate your fancy buttons cuz they are unique, one of a kind.
Edit: the statements I made about AAC is of my own personal opinion.
.
Going a bit off topic here and generally speaking, not a direct allusion to anyone here in the first paragraphs.

I would not say schooled, but helped. The help 1on1 you get online (forums) is very limited and delivered in a way that's very different from a real life in person teacher. So schooled for me is quite a heavy term. Anyways I help and get helped many times each week in all the forums I participate.

I appreciate it a lot when I read a reply that hits the core of the problem and gets point by point. Talking about "yeah but what if...", and "but think about if..." WITHOUT even addressing any question of the post is such an anti-science thing to do, such a politician attitude. You know, remember how politicians are so famous in every country for getting asked questions and answering completely unrelated things, even with a smile in their face?
Well I am tired of that attitude. It's just that today this very same topic came up in real life and it is just so... depressing?. I mean people are used to it and act like that. It came up in my friend's group as the classic "well, men tend to answer directly with a yes or no, to the point, precise, while women speak for 3 minutes without addressing at all what they were asked". (That phrase surely has some truth in it but it's way too simple, it's more than a men vs women, a mental attitude towards problems or questions).

When I said "I am tired of sometimes defend my thesis here and explain every detail", that does not mean in any way, shape or form that I must NOT give a detailed information of my problem. I always try to give as much relevant information as possible, and happily deliver more if asked. That sentence means this, an example will explain it perfectly:

Original post: Hi, I just got my car repaired and want to paint it green in my garage (I got it ready for paint jobs) but I don't know if I should use Urethane or Acrylic Enamel, which one you recommend and why?
User 1: Why do you want to paint your car? I wouldn't bother, but it's a free world.
User 2: Why green? Do you understand that green is amongst the colors that are hard to see in the road and you are just pushing your chance to get into an accident?
User 3: Just look at the original paint and buy the same one, it will save you time.
User 4: Why don't you just let a professional shop do the job?
Original: Jesus... 1. because my wife didn't like the blue tone it had and wanted it green and I have some experience painting these kind of things and I feel perfectly confident I can do it, 2. because number 1, and do you realize people drive green cars everywhere?, 3. Well you argue with my wife then, 4. Because I have exp... can anyone actually come and answer the simple question?

That is what I meant when I said "Oh, do I have to explain and defend every reason and thought like a thesis, that are waaaay over the point of the thread, that made me make the thread in the first place?"

I agree that one should elaborate their statements, by all means. A reply that said "use enamel" would be pretty useless if there's no explanation or knowledge behind that opinion.
 

Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
557
@rambomhtri consider the situation. There is a real potential safety concern. It might not always be the case that safety is the reason people question your proposals but in this case saying "I have been unplugging it to avoid the noise and haven't had any problems" would probably have served your purpose without potentially creating ill will.

Concerning your switch, if you never turn it off without first turning it off from the built-in controls (quickly after of course) you will never switch the heating element, only the fan. I would expect that would be the best practice. It is the arcing from the heavy load that will kill a switch.

Slide switches aren't a good choice because you need a positive action that quickly breaks the connection, a slide switch on a heavy load is fraught because you can switch it such that you can draw an arc. So, you need a rocker switch, most likely.

How much space do you actually have to work with? Remember that you have to connect to it with relatively heavy gauge conductors and route the wiring so that clearance is not available for the switch.
I don't understand the bold paragraph. What do you mean that if I put a switch in the phase/hot cable and cut it, I won't turn off the heating element but only the fan?

Yeah, I put the slide as an example, knowing that it was too weak to stand the power (or at least not a guaranteed safe one) and also that the mechanism would be "bad" compared to the first one (rocker).

About the space, let me post some pics. I would need one that is half the size of your regular squared power strip switch. I have to disassemble the gun for the inside pics, but I am looking for something like this:
1647454284634.png

I guess I will have to cut a rectangle in each side of the structure, and I believe there was plenty of space to do so. If I want a switch with a light when it's on, would it be possible?
 
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Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
557
May i remind you that YOU asked for explanation. Stop complaining when you get one.
It is a question I answered myself in that very same message... I've repeated several times that MANY, if not most, heat guns instead of buttons and smart functions have these 3 position switch OFF/ON(low)/ON(high):

1647453071156.png



where you cut the power suddenly and there is no cooling down max speed fan going on. So everything you said about the plastic melting and dozens of problems without air flow is simply false. A friend of mine uses one that is $200 (DeWalt I believe) and works exactly like that, OFF and end, so it's not even a "thing" of cheap guns.
 

crutschow

Joined Mar 14, 2008
34,285
So everything you said about the plastic melting and dozens of problems without air flow is simply false.
I see no good basis for that conclusion.
Has it occurred to you that the ones that don't leave the fan on, may not have any internal components sensitive to the high heat, while yours does?
It seems unlikely they would have added such an extra-cost function without a good reason.

But if you must turn it off, how about a wall-plug switch (example below)?
That way you won't inadvertently turn on the gun without the fan, which would likely have rapid and serious consequences.

1647454416364.png
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,712
I have a couple of heat guns. This is what I do when I am finished using them.
I set it to the low setting and wait 10 seconds before turning it off.
Then I leave it out for awhile to let it cool down before putting it back in the box and storing it away.

If you want to leave your heat gun always plugged in, plug it into a switched power bar. Don't alter the heat gun.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
I don't understand the bold paragraph. What do you mean that if I put a switch in the phase/hot cable and cut it, I won't turn off the heating element but only the fan?

Yeah, I put the slide as an example, knowing that it was too weak to stand the power (or at least not a guaranteed safe one) and also that the mechanism would be "bad" compared to the first one (rocker).

About the space, let me post some pics. I would need one that is half the size of your regular squared power strip switch. I have to disassemble the gun for the inside pics, but I am looking for something like this:

I guess I will have to cut a rectangle in each side of the structure, and I believe there was plenty of space to do so. If I want a switch with a light when it's on, would it be possible?
No, what I mean is that if you first turn it off with the controls provided by the manufacturer, then quickly hit the power so it doesn't scream at you, it will avoid switching the heating element since it will already be off.

As far as the light, yes but it would depend on the switch. If the switch's light was internally powered and switched, that is, when it was on it lit up and off it didn't it would be certain but if you need to include it in your wiring (albeit with smaller conductors) you may find space is and issue.

This one might work, but no light in it.
 
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