Soldering iron or soldering iron? We make it ourselves. How to make a hot-air soldering gun with your own hands Homemade hot-air soldering gun

A hot air gun for soldering is sometimes simply an indispensable assistant in the household. Using this hairdryer, you can do a number of different jobs with your own hands in any field of activity. The hairdryer makes it possible to solder linoleum, films, microcircuits and is an indispensable equipment for other types of work.

Today, a huge number of models are offered that meet all the highest requirements and standards. These professional hair dryers can do a lot. But their price is quite high, and therefore a home-made hot air gun for soldering looks much more preferable for most people.

Hot air gun design

The hot air gun belongs to the devices for soldering low-melting materials using a hot stream of air. In addition to its main function of soldering materials, this device can be used for heat treatment of materials for another purpose, for example, to remove paint or heat a product, for example, a pipe during bending.

The design of the hot air gun has a body with high heat resistance, devices for forcing air flow and a heating element. The air in the hairdryer heats up to 600-750 degrees. To ensure this heating, the power of the heating part must be over 1.7 kW. An important element of industrial hot air guns is the ability to regulate the temperature, most often in steps, 350 and 550 C. The temperature that reaches the surface of the materials being soldered can also be adjusted by the distance from the hair dryer nozzle to the material. The majority of hair dryers are adjusted in such a way that when the device is 6-7 cm away from the material, the temperature of the air flow and decreases by 2 times.

Today, these hair dryers are widely used to remove old paint, which is especially important for wooden surfaces. In this case, a maximum air flow temperature of at least 550 C is required. With this heating, the paint becomes elastic and moves away from the wood. Today, artificial aging of wood coatings is in demand. A hot air gun does an excellent job of this task at a temperature of 550 degrees and a distance of the device nozzle of 1 cm from the material. Heated air (at the lower adjustment level) is used to dry coatings.

Features of making a hot air gun with your own hands

The main requirement for a homemade hot air gun can be outlined this way: the hair dryer must create a hot air flow with a temperature of at least 850C with a heating element power of at least 2.6 kW. In addition, all elements of this hair dryer must be inexpensive and accessible. Simple household hair dryers do not meet this requirement either in terms of power or temperature.

Most often the design There are two types to choose from:

• Manual hot air gun.
• Stationary hot air gun.

A stationary hair dryer is easier to make because there are no restrictions on the size of the device and you don’t have to think about the temperature on the handle. But in this version, the hair dryer (in this case, a kind of soldering iron) is fixed motionless, and the part needs to be moved. This circumstance makes soldering much more difficult. The most promising, although more complex, is a mobile manual design; it should be small and allow it to be held with bare hands.

One of the main issues is the heating element. In household devices (soldering iron, hair dryers), heaters are not suitable in terms of power. The required heating element must be made with your own hands from nichrome wire with a cross section of 0.4-0.8 mm. Nichrome with a larger cross-section can create more power, but achieving the required temperature will be much more difficult. For a compact arrangement of the heating element, you will need to make a spiral from the wire diameter 4-8 millimeters.

The spiral must be placed on some kind of base in the form of a cylinder (in the shape of a hollow cone or tube) made of a material that has high thermal resistance. In this case, it is difficult to do without quartz or porcelain elements. This base can be found in non-working household hair dryers, but it is recommended to use a quartz insulator for halogen tubular lamp spotlights with a power of 2.3-2.6 kW. If you find such a non-working lamp, then this element of a homemade hot air gun will cost you free.

A standard small-sized fan will be required as a blower element. When assembling a hair dryer yourself, this part will cost you the most. The blower can be removed from any powerful home hair dryer. For household fans, we can recommend the BAKU 8032 model with a capacity of 30 liters per minute. This fan operates from a 220 Volt power supply and has power about 420 watts.

The cheapest and simplest option that can satisfy all requirements is a small compressor for aquarium fish. It must be installed with a receiver, that is, with an air storage tank. Any small plastic bottle is suitable for this, since no heating occurs in the area where it is installed, and the hot air flow is directed in the other direction. And the air blower itself is not subject to thermal effects.

There are several options for making the hair dryer body:

• Use a material with increased thermal insulation, for example, ceramics or porcelain, but this will cause a significant increase in cost and complexity of the design.
• Use reliable thermal insulation of the heating element and hot flow distribution channel. In this case, the housing material is not subject to temperature effects, with the exception of the area adjacent to the hair dryer nozzle.

As the main part of the body (including the handle), you can choose the body from any unnecessary large-sized household hair dryer (the older the year of manufacture, the better). Case spout, that is, the place of the nozzle, must be made of thermal insulation material, which itself can withstand temperatures of about 800C and at the same time insulates other parts of the body from the effects of this temperature. The hot air gun nozzle itself must be made of metal to take into account possible contact with melts during soldering.

Thermal insulation can be perfectly provided by quartz elements (tubes, plates), mica, fiberglass or glass, porcelain, ceramics and so on. During the manufacture of a hair dryer, a special heat resistant glue.

The design of a hairdryer for do-it-yourself soldering must include:

• starting switch;
• mechanism for adjusting the air flow speed and temperature (power) of the heating element.

Why should smooth regulators be installed - rheostats? The power control system can be used from unnecessary household electrical appliances if these elements are still in good condition. A key or push-button mechanism can be installed as a starting switch.

The main purpose of a hot air gun is to solder materials. Materials such as rubber, linoleum, PVC film are soldered by filling the weld with a filler alloy; this can be achieved with a hot air stream. The melting of the bundle occurs by heating it to 350C. This method is the main one when soldering linoleum when laying it on the floor. A hot air gun greatly simplifies the task of bending plastic pipes, sheets and profiles. Warming up when bending plastic is provided in the temperature range of 350-450C at a reduced air flow rate. Heating the plastic must happen gradually and slowly.

Assembling a hot air gun with your own hands begins with creating a heating coil. The spiral is wound onto a steel wire with a cross-section of 4-7 mm under tension. It is advisable to wind the spiral with wire made of fechral or nichrome with a cross section of 0.5-0.6 mm. The size of the spiral is calculated taking into account the condition that its electrical resistance will be approximately 75-95 Ohms.

The spiral is wound onto a tubular base from a halogen lamp for a spotlight or a soldering iron (for example, an EPSN100 soldering iron). The spiral turns are laid evenly over the entire area of ​​the base with a small gap (contact of the turns with each other is unacceptable). A layer of asbestos is fixed on top of the laid spiral or a layer of fiberglass is wound with tension. This layer is best secured with a heat-resistant adhesive. Afterwards, a thermal insulating tube (quartz glass, ceramics, porcelain, etc.) is placed over the layer of glue. The ends of the spiral need to be brought out. In this case, it is best to treat the ends of the heating element and the outlet areas with heat-resistant glue.

The assembled heating element is installed in the internal hot air gun housing channel. But first you need to pave the installation site with quartz plates, mica or asbestos for additional thermal insulation. The outputs of the spiral, using a screw fastening, are connected to the electrical power wire. This electrical wire must have heat-resistant insulation - fiber insulation or fluoroplastic. The wire must be routed through the starting switch and rheostat to regulate the voltage supplied to the spiral.

An air blower is fixed in the back of the housing precisely coaxial with the opening of the heating element. If the compressor or blower element cannot fit into the housing, it can be fixed outside the end of the housing. In this case, you need to attach a guide tube for air flow to it. This tube must pass to the heating element from inside the housing and be installed clearly coaxially with its channel.

Wires for electrical power come out from the supercharger, which are connected to the wire for the heater so that the switch can simultaneously control the power of two elements. The air flow control rheostat must be inserted into the electrical wire circuit for the supercharger - its operation does not depend from turning on the heater.

The power supply cable is routed out at the bottom of the housing handle, and the switch key or button and rheostat levers are mounted in a convenient location on the outside of the housing. Afterwards, the housing halves are connected and fastened together. The end part is made of thermal insulating material in the shape of a cone or cylinder. A metal nozzle is attached. It is best to provide replaceable nozzles with different outlet diameters in the design.

Operating principle of a hot air gun

A DIY soldering hair dryer works this way. When you press the shutter button, the heater and fan turn on. The heated air moves in a narrow stream to the required point. When the set temperature is reached, the air flow melts the flux and solder, and also heats the parts being connected. Thus, soldering of parts occurs.

Soldering microcircuits

If you want to use a hair dryer as a soldering iron for small parts, for example, microcircuits, then the air flow temperature must be increase to 750-800С. The heated air must melt the solder and at the same time heat the metal of the part being soldered almost red-hot. The air flow must have a narrowly directed shape. For this hot air gun, the power of the heating part must be increased to 2.3-2.6 kW.

The requirement for thermal stability of the material of the device body increases significantly, and the handle must have a temperature that is comfortable for human hands so that soldering does not turn into flour. In some hair dryer designs, a rubber coating on the handle is installed for ease of use and as additional thermal protection.

Hot air gun assembly tool

When making a hairdryer with your own hands, you will The following tool is needed:

A hot air gun can help in many jobs that associated with soldering microcircuits and small details. Using it you can solder linoleum, polymer films and do many other useful things. A hot air gun can be assembled with your own hands at low cost.

Products under this name are produced in different modifications and are characterized by specific application. Some hair dryers are designed for drying hair, others are used in construction or renovation. Yes, and they are of interest to radio amateurs.

For example, when soldering microcircuits, given the number of their pins, working with such a device is much more convenient than the most advanced soldering iron. In principle, you can buy such a hair dryer for soldering microcircuits. The cost ranges from 2,000 to 10,500 rubles.

For those who are used to doing everything with their own hands, this article will tell you how and what to use to assemble a hairdryer for soldering at home, without wasting money and time on shopping trips.

Someone will think that it is inappropriate to engage in such construction if it is easier to acquire miniature soldering skills. Still, a self-made hairdryer is a fairly universal device. In everyday life, they can be used to burn materials, removing old paintwork from them, and to heat something before further processing. In skillful hands, it will become an indispensable assistant.

Soldering gun device

It is almost identical to the design of analogues intended for other purposes. The fundamental difference is in the power of the heating element and especially some of its components.

Body and handle

It is necessary to expect that the temperature inside the product rises to +780 ±50 ºС. Therefore, the materials must be heat resistant. In principle, you can use a used hair dryer that is faulty, but you will have to improve something.

Pen

It must be isolated as much as possible. There are recommendations that you can use a canvas mitten or a thick mitten when soldering microcircuits. Although this prospect is unlikely to suit anyone. How to proceed?

• You can order (carve yourself) a solid ebonite handle. The work is not too difficult, especially when using machine tools.
• For thermal insulation, it is advisable to use heat-resistant fabric. If you wrap it around the handle, you can work quite well.

But using tubes made of different metals is not recommended for two reasons. Firstly, any “iron” is characterized by high thermal conductivity. This handle will get hot very quickly. Secondly, we must not forget that the device is being assembled electrically. Therefore, the fewer metal parts, the safer the operation of the hair dryer.

Frame

How to prevent it from overheating will become clearer below.

Nozzle (nozzle)

Considering the high temperature and the fact that the hair dryer will have to be held in different positions during operation, the best solution is a steel tube. Copper is not only more expensive, but also heavier. It is unlikely that you will be able to hold such a hair dryer motionless for any long period. Aluminum doesn’t count – it won’t last long and will start to deform. To reduce the heating time of the “working” section of the board, one end can be slightly flattened. In principle, if you understand the essence of the entire technological operation of soldering microcircuits, it is not difficult to determine the optimal shape of the nozzle. Especially for yourself.

A heating element

Which wire should I use – fechral or ? The first option is eliminated due to the rigidity of the material. It is unrealistic to wind a spiral out of it, and with a small radius, with your own hands.

Air blower

For a homemade hair dryer, you can adapt a miniature fan that is mounted on the back of the case. Some people use a small aquarium compressor.

Everything else - a switch, a stand for a hair dryer - is not directly related to the topic. Everyone will decide for themselves whether they need these “services” and how best to organize them.

Determining the characteristics of a hair dryer

There is no point in assembling a device with your own hands without knowing what power it should be designed for. If the board is not heated enough, it will be impossible to install (replace) the microcircuit. The result of overheating is the melting of the housings of all radio components located in the working area. Therefore, it is advisable to focus on industrial production models.

Initial data

• Voltage (V) – 220.
• Power (W) – about 0.5.

The author will not provide mathematical calculations. It is enough to point out that with such a hair dryer power (and it is quite enough to regulate the temperature within 100 - 500 ºС), the resistance of the coil should be at the level of 100 Ohms. All that remains is to find nichrome wire. Its cross-section in this case is unimportant. The main thing is to measure the part that, when measured, “shows” R of the order of 100 Ohms. It is from this piece that the spiral should be wound. For those who do not like this option, they can make other calculations by analogy, reducing/increasing the power and accordingly changing the length of the wire.

Reader, do not be confused by the fact that the author uses such terms as “about”, “approximately”, “within” and so on. You won’t be able to do everything with your own hands with maximum precision. Therefore, a homemade hair dryer will have to be powered through a device (or from a power supply) with adjustable output voltage. If anyone is lucky enough to find a LATR (laboratory transformer), even better. Before using a hair dryer, you should practice a little on used circuit boards (you can always find them on the farm). This is the only way, through experimentation, that you can determine the optimal operating mode of a hairdryer assembled with your own hands. And any miscalculations made are precisely leveled out by the voltage regulator.

Assembly Features

• The heating element is located in the rear sector of the case (closer to the handle). This will reduce to a minimum the length of the part of the power cord that will be located inside the hair dryer. The longitudinal axis of the tube must coincide with the center of the outlet.
• The connection of conductors to the spiral will have to be done using the twisting method. Do-it-yourself nichrome cannot be soldered. If anyone knows the secret, please share. The author will be extremely grateful.
• A spiral is a wire that is wound around a hollow tube. What can I use? The best solution is a porcelain product. Some craftsmen use high-power tubular resistors for these purposes, from which you just need to bite off the leads. The resulting heater, in turn, is covered with the same fabric (heat-resistant). If a used household hair dryer is used as a basis, then it contains mica gaskets. They should be left, and perhaps additional ones should be added. It is easy to make according to existing samples.

A completely logical question - why not use a household hair dryer for soldering, especially since almost every family has one? And many inexperienced radio amateurs who do not quite understand the design features of various models ask themselves this question. The answer can be given immediately, and unequivocally - no, it’s impossible.

And that's why. A household hair dryer, even with high power, is not able to heat the solder to such an extent that it melts (about +250 ºС). The device will have to be upgraded.

Possible options:

First

To increase the temperature of the air flow, you can reduce the fan motor speed. But the spiral is designed for a certain operating mode. The result of such a modification (modification) of the hair dryer is easily predicted - the wire will overheat and the circuit will break.

Second

Reduce the nozzle cross-section. The bodies of all household hair dryers are made of plastic. An increase in temperature inside the device can lead to softening (melting) of the polymers. Consequently, soldering the microcircuits will turn out to be very short-term, and then the hairdryer will go to the garbage chute and to the store for a new one.

Any other options (for example, shortening the spiral) also “do not work.” Tested many times. Many have tried in different ways, but the result is always the same – negative.

If it is clear what needs to be done and how, then making a hair dryer for soldering microcircuits with your own hands is a completely doable task. And if you carry out a complete inspection of the garage (shed, storage room, mezzanine), then you will definitely find everything you need.

Good luck with your design!

The modern tool market represents a wide segment of hot air gun models that are distinguished by a high level of efficiency. These professional devices have many functions. But their cost is quite high, so many people assemble a hair dryer for soldering microcircuits with their own hands.

Device design

A hot air gun belongs to the category of devices designed for soldering materials subject to easy melting. In addition to its main function, the unit can be used for thermal surface treatment to remove paint or heat a product for bending, for example, a pipe.

The design of the device includes:

• a housing whose distinctive characteristic is a high level of heat resistance;
• device for pumping air flow;
• heating element.

The temperature of a hair dryer for soldering microcircuits can rise to 750 ºС. To ensure this indicator, the power of the heating component must be above 1.7 kW. An important function of factory units is the ability to regulate temperature, which increases in steps.

The temperature required for soldering materials is controlled by the distance from the nozzle to the material. Most of the modifications are designed in such a way that when the unit moves 7 cm away from the surface of the material, the temperature of the air flow is halved.

How to assemble a hairdryer for soldering microcircuits with your own hands? The diagram below will help you assemble the device.

For what purposes is it used?

Today, such devices are used by craftsmen not only for the purpose of soldering, but also for removing paint, which is especially necessary when working with a wood surface. When heated, the coating becomes elastic and peels off from the wood. A hot air gun copes well with this function at a temperature of 550 ºС with a nozzle distance of 1 cm from the material. Heated air is also used for drying surfaces.

Materials needed to assemble the device

To assemble a hair dryer for soldering microcircuits with your own hands, you should prepare:

• wire;
• soldering iron;
• halogen light bulb;
• asbestos;
• heat-resistant adhesive mixture;
• thermal insulation tube;
• screws;
• electrical wire;
• start button;
• rheostat;
• compressor.

Features of self-manufacturing of the unit

Self-assembled hair dryers for soldering microcircuits create a hot air flow with a temperature of at least 850 ºС. The power indicator of the heating component should be 2.6 kW. All elements should be easy to obtain and inexpensive.

The design of the unit can be manual or stationary.

A homemade hairdryer for soldering microcircuits with your own hands of a stationary modification is much easier to assemble, since its dimensions are not limited, and you do not have to worry about the temperature in the handle area. But in this case, the hair dryer, which is a type of soldering iron, will be stationary. The part itself will have to be moved. A hand-held device gives you more options when working. It should be small and allow you to hold it with your bare hands.

Making a pen

The handle must be subjected to maximum insulation. You can often hear that you can use a tarpaulin glove when soldering. This method is uncomfortable. The handle can be carved from ebonite with your own hands. This work does not require any special skills.

For thermal insulation, it is advisable to use heat-resistant fabric. If you wrap it around the handle, it will allow you to work calmly.

The use of tubes made of different metals is not recommended. There is an explanation for this. Firstly, such a pen will heat up quickly. Secondly, it should be taken into account that a hair dryer is an electrical appliance that conducts current. The fewer metal parts, the safer the use of the unit becomes.

Heating element assembly

The main problem when assembling a device such as a hair dryer for soldering microcircuits with your own hands is the creation of an element for heating. Heaters from household devices such as a hair dryer or soldering iron are unsuitable in this case. The required part should be made independently based on nichrome wire, the cross-section of which is 0.4-0.8 mm. Nichrome with a large cross-section provides high power, but it will be difficult to achieve the desired temperature. For a compact position of the heating element, you will need to make a spiral with a diameter of 4-8 mm.

The spiral must be wound onto some kind of cylindrical base made of a material with high thermal resistance. In this case, quartz or porcelain is used in the form of an empty cone or tube. This base can be removed from an old hair dryer. A quartz product from a tube-based lamp with a power rating of 2.3-2.6 kW becomes more preferable.

A small standard fan is suitable as an element responsible for forcing air flow. When assembling a hair dryer at home, this part will become the most expensive. The blower can be removed from an old high power hair dryer. For household fans, the BAKU 8032 brand with a power of 30 l/m is suitable.

The assembled hairdryer for soldering microcircuits with your own hands, the photo of which is presented in this article, operates from a 220 V power supply and has a power of approximately 420 Watts.

The cheapest and most standardized option is to use a small compressor for aquarium fish. It is installed together with the receiver (air storage tank). For this purpose, any small plastic bottle is used, since there will be no heating in the installation area, and hot air will escape in the opposite direction.

When manufacturing the device body, several options are used:

• A material with a high level of thermal insulation is used (ceramics or porcelain). But these materials are not cheap and will complicate the design.
• Highly reliable thermal insulation is used to distribute hot air. In this case, the material is not affected by temperature, with the exception of the area adjacent to the nozzle.

The body base, which also includes the handle, can serve as the base of any medium-sized household hair dryer. The body nose, that is, the nozzle, is made of thermal insulation material that can withstand heating temperatures of 800 ºС. At the same time, it acts as an insulator for other parts of the housing from high temperatures. The nozzle must be made of metal, taking into account possible contact with melts during the soldering process.

Thermal insulation can be provided by quartz elements (tube, plate, mica, fiberglass, glass, porcelain, ceramics, etc.). When manufacturing the unit, heat-resistant glue will be needed.

A power control system can be assembled from old electrical appliances, provided they are in working order. A key or push-button modification is used as a switch.

What tools will you need?

You should prepare:

• jigsaw;
• vice;
• scissors;
• pliers;
• hacksaw for cutting metal surfaces;
• drill;
• brush;
• screwdriver;
• calipers;
• soldering iron;
• taps;
• ohmmeter;
• tester.

Main assembly steps

A homemade hair dryer for soldering microcircuits is assembled in several stages. The work begins with the coil winding of the heating part. The spiral is located on a steel wire with a cross-sectional index of 4-7 mm with tension. It is recommended to wind the spiral with nichrome wire with a cross-section of 0.5-0.6 mm. The size of the spiral is selected taking into account the fact that the resistance value will be approximately 75-95 Ohms.

The spiral is wound around the tubular core of a halogen lamp from a spotlight or soldering iron. The spiral turns should be laid equally over the entire base area with a small gap. They should not contact each other. An asbestos or fiberglass layer is fixed on top of the laid spiral. The latter material is fixed with heat-resistant glue. After this, a thermal insulating tube made of ceramics, quartz, porcelain, etc. should be placed on the glue layer. The ends of the spiral are brought out. In this case, the ends and output areas are also treated with glue.

The finished heating element is mounted in the internal channel of the hot air gun body. The installation site is covered with plates of quartz, mica or asbestos for additional thermal insulation. The spiral leads are connected to the electrical wire by means of a twisted fastener. The electrical wire must have heat-resistant insulation. The wire is routed through a start switch and a rheostat to regulate the voltage supplied to the coil.

Mount flush with the hole in the heating element on the back of the housing. If the compressor or air injection element does not fit in the housing, it can be mounted in the outer part of the end of the housing. In this case, a tube is connected to it, which directs the air flow. It leads to the heating element located inside the housing.

Wires for power supply should be taken out from the blower, connected by a wire for heating, so that the switch can control the power of both elements. A rheostat for regulating air flow is inserted into the circuit of the electric wire for injection.

The electrical wire is brought out at the bottom of the housing handle, and the key or switch button and rheostat levers are fixed in any convenient place on the outside of the base of the product.

Next, the halves of the base are connected and secured to each other. A tip made of thermal insulating material of a cone-shaped or cylindrical shape is installed. Then a metal nozzle is attached. The design should provide for replaceable nozzles with different hot air outlet diameters.

Basic principles of operation of the unit

A homemade hair dryer for soldering microcircuits works according to the following principle:

• when you press the start button, the fan and heater start working; a narrow stream of hot air is directed to the desired point;
• flux for soldering microcircuits with a hairdryer and the solder begins to melt;
• the parts to be connected are heated.

This is how parts are soldered.

Soldering microcircuits

If it is necessary to use a hair dryer as a device for soldering microcircuits, then the temperature of the air flow rises to 700-800 ºС.

Directed by a narrow stream. The power of the heating element should be increased to 2.3-2.6 kW.

The handle should have a temperature that is comfortable for the skin of your hands. To prevent soldering from causing inconvenience, the handle can be equipped with an additional protective layer of rubber.

Conclusion

A device such as a hot air gun can be used for many types of work related to soldering microcircuits and small parts. Using the unit, you can solder materials such as linoleum, PVC film, dismantle radio components, dry joints with glue, melt the ends of synthetic ropes, melt hot-melt adhesive, etc. Soldering SMD microcircuits with a hairdryer is of high quality.

The device can be assembled independently. At the same time, monetary costs will be minimal. A hair dryer for soldering microcircuits with your own hands is assembled on the basis of a regular hair dryer. The heating element undergoes greater modification. The idea of ​​how the unit works remains the same as that of a conventional hair dryer. The air is pumped by a fan, passes through the heating element, and acquires a temperature sufficient to melt the flux for soldering or desoldering.

A modern electronics engineer or radio amateur, in addition to a regular soldering iron, simply must have a soldering hair dryer in his arsenal. In addition to simple semiconductors, now it is necessary to solder microcircuits, and this implies the presence of such equipment. But the problem is that factory-made devices are expensive, and a person who engages in this type of activity as a hobby has absolutely no need for such expenses. That is why it is worth making a hot air gun for soldering microcircuits with your own hands, practically from scrap materials.

Despite the variety of models of soldering hair dryers, they all have a common structure and operating principle. Any hair dryer, including a household hair dryer, works in a similar way. The only difference is that the latter has a lower air flow temperature.

Otherwise, all devices have almost the same design, which includes:

• Frame.
• A heating element.
• A fan that forces air flow.

As you can see, the design of a soldering gun is extremely simple, which allows you to make it yourself at home, reducing costs to a minimum. After all, if professionals who use such equipment constantly can easily afford to buy a factory model, or even a soldering station, then for an amateur who occasionally deals with radio electronics, it would be better to save a little. A DIY soldering hair dryer will be the best alternative.

When creating such a design, it is worth considering that the temperature of the exhaust air can reach 850 degrees Celsius, which is significantly higher than that of a hair dryer. Therefore, it is necessary to understand that the body and handle of the device must be heat-resistant and have low thermal conductivity to avoid injury to the hand during use. You can also make a stationary modification, but this option is less convenient, because in this case you will have to bring the board itself directly to the device, which is not always practical.

The biggest problem when creating a homemade soldering gun with your own hands is the heating element, since it will not be possible to remove it from any similar thing. Therefore, you will have to make this element yourself. To do this, you need to take nichrome wire with a cross-section from 0.4 to 0.8 mm and wind it into a spiral with a ring diameter of 4 to 8 mm. The resulting spiral should be wound on a heat-resistant material. A quartz or porcelain tube is best suited for this, for example, a resistor housing, a part of a halogen spotlight or an old hair dryer.

As an air blower when making a hair dryer for soldering microcircuits, you can use any household fan, a powerful fan from a broken hair dryer, or a compressor for aquariums.

Don't forget about safety. Since the soldering hair dryer runs on electricity, you will therefore have to think about a safe power source. Of course, the created soldering iron can also be powered from a 220 V outlet, but craftsmen recommend using 24-36 V sources, which is safer, especially if a leak occurs on the case as a result of operation. The best option would be a 24 V power supply.

A hair dryer for soldering microcircuits should not only be convenient and safe, but also inexpensive. Therefore, it is preferable to use available means. Moreover, there are no special requirements for the design of the structure, and this allows you to give free rein to your imagination. The main thing is that the resulting product meets technical rather than aesthetic requirements.

The basic requirements for such devices include very few points:

First of all, the required length of nichrome wire is measured, which should be wound in the form of a spiral on a ceramic tube with a diameter of about 5 mm. It should be noted that if the wire is pre-winded on a flat plate, the resulting shape will significantly increase heat transfer, and this will be highly desirable.

The air duct can be made from any heat-resistant material; a piece of blowing tube is good for this purpose. For the heater housing, you can even use a housing from a AA battery or similar battery. The main thing here is that there is no electrolyte left in its walls. In turn, so that the heater spiral does not come into contact with the walls of the housing, either mica from an old soldering iron or fiberglass is placed inside. Simply put, any non-flammable material that is also current-insulating.

It is recommended to equip the nozzle from which the hot air flow will come out with an outlet hole measuring 4-5 mm in order to achieve the required flow quality. The bushing from the ceiling lamp socket is perfect for these purposes.

All parts must be carefully and securely connected to each other, after which the main part of the soldering gun design is ready. All that remains is to attach the handle and, in fact, the fan.

You can use a handle from an old soldering iron as a handle. If this is not available, then any material with low thermal conductivity is quite suitable. For example, ebonite, which is easy to process and has all the required qualities.

As for the air blower, almost any aquarium fan or compressor will do. However, in this design it is still preferable to use a small fan from a computer, installed and secured in a plastic case - the result is a fairly reliable and at the same time attractive design.

When the blower is ready, it must be connected to the air duct. This is done using a flange, which can be made of tin. The temperature at the attachment point will not be very high, so this material is quite suitable for these needs.

The homemade hot air gun is ready, but it still needs to be connected to a power source. And here everything depends on the type and complexity of such a source. It’s good if this is a model that allows you to regulate the supplied voltage, because in this case the product can have smooth power adjustment, which is especially convenient during work.

There are times when a finer diameter nozzle is needed. This can be achieved in different ways, but the most interesting is to use a glass tube purchased from a medical equipment store. This tube is made of tempered glass, which allows it to be used at high temperatures.

You can make a homemade soldering gun from a regular soldering iron. Although this device has some disadvantages, it is convenient, cheap and quick to manufacture, which is an undeniable advantage.

Such a soldering mechanism does not require any special costs or modifications, but the main disadvantage, which may seem significant in some cases, is that temperatures above 300 degrees cannot be achieved with its help. However, this is quite enough for working with SMD structures.

In order to make a hot air gun for soldering with your own hands from a soldering iron, you will need very little effort. First you need to select an air blower. In this case, an aquarium compressor is ideal.

The metal structure itself is removed, wrapped in foil and copper wire, thus increasing its heat capacity. After this, it is again tightly inserted into the wooden handle, in which a hole is pre-drilled for the power wire.

The sting is removed and a metal tube of suitable diameter is inserted instead, which will act as a nozzle.

All that remains is to hermetically seal the hole with the power cord and insert the hose from the compressor into the upper part of the handle, also sealing it tightly in the hole.

Now the simplest soldering gun is ready for use. After turning on the power, the corresponding part heats up. The air coming from the compressor is heated and comes out of the nozzle tube, which allows the resulting design to be used for soldering work.

Simple mini soldering setup

You can come up with countless models of a soldering gun - it all depends on the imagination of the master. For example, there is another version of the device, which is a miniature and convenient device. You can make it from a simple medicine bottle. Moreover, its capabilities are comparable to a factory-made soldering station.

All you need to make it is:

• Medicine jar.
• Capacitor housing.
• A good power supply that can regulate the supplied voltage.

The medicine jar is cut so that a small fan fits there, which should be installed at the bottom of the jar. A spiral is inserted into the aluminum case from the capacitor. Here they make a nozzle, and the entire resulting structure is tightly inserted into the neck of the jar. Then you need to remove the necessary wires and tape the bottom of the jar to the rest of the structure with electrical tape.

Thus, it turns out to be a simple and very easy-to-use hot air gun for soldering. At the same time, the power supply on the controller allows you to change the required temperature depending on the need for the work being carried out.

The idea to make a hot air gun was born when I needed to remove mounting fasteners from the surface. The time to make a hairdryer for soldering microcircuits with your own hands took about two hours, including photography.

Step 1: Materials Needed

You will need:

• soldering iron
• silicone tube for aquarium
• aquarium pump
• metal dish scourer
• set of pens
• screwdriver
• scissors
• engraver

Silicone tubing is often used for fuel delivery in aircraft modeling and is inexpensive and easy to purchase at a hobby store or online.

Step 2: Disassemble the soldering iron

When you take your soldering iron apart, you will have the following components: a handle, a resistive heater, and a heater guard. The tip is not shown in the photo; the nut that holds it in place is shown in the lower right corner.

Step 3: Making a heat exchanger

To effectively heat the air flow, you need to increase the heat exchange area. I wanted to make a heat exchanger out of copper because it would be more efficient, but the only commercially available ones are stainless steel steel wool. You just need to push a few metal strips inside the heating element. There is no need to pack the strips too tightly; air should pass through them relatively unhindered; be sure to blow to check.

Note: Stainless steel may catch fire, use copper strips if possible.

Step 4: Supply air through the tube

Simply push the end of the silicone tube into the end of the heating element. It's not visible in the photo, but I sealed the connection between the tube and the heater using a piece of the same tube and superglue. This had to be done because air and smoke were coming out through the gap (although I understood that there was smoke there).

Step 5: Insert the tube into the soldering iron handle

Use an engraver to make a hole near the top of the handle.

The photo shows how I inserted the tube into the hole I made. The air pressure can be reduced by simply squeezing the tube a little.

Step 6: Connect the pump and silicone tube

The photo shows how the connection between the silicone tube and the tube from the aquarium pump is made. I simply removed the cap from the ballpoint pen, put the wide end of it on the aquarium tube, and put the silicone tube on the narrow end, securing it with superglue. The used pen cap has a wide enough hole for the refill. If your cap's hole is too narrow, you can widen it with an engraver.

The photo shows the result after assembly, now your hot air soldering iron is only missing a nozzle. We make it from another pen cap using a cutting disc for an engraver.

Step 7: Making the Nozzle

The photo shows a pen cap cut into two parts. The idea is to make the larger hole of the cap slightly larger than the hole of the nut securing the tip. Thus, the nozzle will be placed on the tip of the soldering iron and secured with a nut screwed onto its narrow end.

Step 8: Assembling the Soldering Iron

The photo shows the result of an assembled homemade soldering gun. The nozzle from the cut-off cap fit just fine (I recommend taking the cap from a pen, since mechanical pencil caps have too small a hole for the refill).

Step 9: Results

The diagrams show diodes removed from a damaged network card. The air soldering iron worked great. This soldering iron can also be used as a regular one. Turn it on, let it warm up, turn on the pump and bring it to the part you want to remove. With a little help from wire cutters, this part will practically fall off on its own.