• Heat Gun Drakon Rgb Mod Hotel

I am not an electrician but I like to tinker. I am just getting started with DIY type electronics kits and I have decent soldering skills. I cant say I am an expert at reading prints, but I can usually build a simple schmatic.I wish to disassemble a heat gun for parts and add in a potentiometer to vary the heat, another potentiometer to control the airflow, and a digital temperature probe with temp display.I am attempting to build a heat generating device with precise control of the temperature and airflow. I dont really want to spend $150 on a fancy LED digital display heat gun with variable heat dial, so this is my next option and potentially a heck of a lot more fun.Initially I just want to get the variable heat and airflow control(potentiometers) hooked up, and if it will be easy enough I can later install the temp display. I could always just use a cheap 'laser' temp probe to check the temp and ensure it is fairly stable.The heat gun I am looking at is a piece of junk and it only has 2 temp settings. How easy is it to install a potentiometer for varying the heat and one for the airflow?

I assume I can just install the one for heat control inline after the circuit that sets the maximum heat level and dial in the temp I want. As for the airflow control I assume I could do the same thing, but instead put it before the power lead feeding the fan. I am not an electrical engineer so I want to make sure this will work first before I fry my cheapo $20 heat gun.Would it be bettter to just gut the entire thing and work with the naked parts and install my own circuit to control and display the temp or could I keep the basic unit intact and mod from there?

Any ideas, or a basic schematic that would satisfy this requirement would be greatly appreciated. Hi,what you want to do sounds a bit weird. Boncuck,Thanks for the input and comments. I see what you mean about the airflow situation. What about setting my airflow first until I have the gentle stream I desire (or a stronger blast if needed), then manually setting the heater to the desired temp using a temp probe in the exiting airstream(as you mentioned)?

Would it maintain that temp, or would I need to install some kind of controller to monitor and maintain whatever temp I set?This is not going to be used to shrink or mold plastic, but I want to be able to have relatively precise (+/- 10deg or tighter) temperature control. If it gets too complicated or expensive I could always break down and buy the bosch heat gun I found here but I would hate to gut something so nice and new.I think I just want to gut a Wal Mart heat gun and scavange the parts and reassemble it into what I need.Would I be better off just buying a small 1200w heating element and incorporate the phase control circuit you mentioned and making my own PCB? I have no idea what to use in my design if I do that, so I thought I could cheat and use an existing heat gun. How could I limit the temp output in the event I dont want the full 1200w power the heating element is capable of producing?

Heat Gun Drakon Rgb Mod Hotel

RokGoblin, I think you didn't get the Boncuck's point: At low motor RPM (low airflow), is fine to select a low temperature setting for the heating element.But there is always a chance to select the powerful setting and cause a catastrophic failure. The only way to do it right is using a PIC, that would be always controlling the heat and the airflow, maintaining them into the limits, and also meeting the user requeriments. It gets too complex when cheaper and better-built alternatives are present.I'm also a 'modder' (ugly name I think) and I share your point about the DIY fun. As Boncuck said, use a light dimmer to control the heating element, and attach a simple digital termometer on the barrel of the gun to get the desired temp. If you need less airflow, put the gun far from the target.