krokodyl

Hello everyone, rescently I started building out of foam, and found that I needed a high temp glue gun. So, I bought a adtech hi temp gun for about $15. It worked for the small jobs, and I had no problems. Until I started to put glue on most of the wing... When about half of the glue stick is put through the gun, it stops working. I can push on the glue stick really hard, and the glue wont come out. So, I went to canadian tire, and bought another one for $15, but this time it's from master craft. They usually make pretty good stuff. Well, I have the same problem, although with this one after about 3/4 of the glue stick goes through, the glue still comes out, but I have to press the trigger really hard, and it doesn't seem to be the same temperature. Both of them for sure have a good temperature at the beginning, and the glue gun is still hot after it stops working. After I let them heat up again, the same thing happens. One is 40 watt, the other 60.

Any Ideas what the problem could be? Or is this normal? I also tried 2 diferent glue sticks, one from adtech the other from mastercraft. I tried to let it heat up for 5 or 10 or 15 minutes, with the same outcome. I guess there is not much to fix inside, so I can buy another one, or have them both heated at once, which should be enough. I just want to make sure that this is not normal, or that there is no obvious reason for this.

Thanks for any help, Hubert

jester_s1

Every hot glue gun I've ever used has done that. They aren't meant for continuous use. They don't actually have a thermostat. Rather, they draw a set amount of current and depend on the glue and room temp to keep them from overheating. Adding some extra thermal mass to the tip would help, but I doubt you'll get the kind of performance you want from a hobby grade glue gun.

krokodyl

Alright, thanks. I don't need anything special, just wanted to make sure that I didn't have two faulty glue guns.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Krokodyl, mostly using balsa/ply traditional building methods these days I do confess to having dabbled with some alternatives such as foamcore, corroplast, cardboard and so on some years ago but never messed with hot glue guns much.

However my wife in the past did operate a retail craft store and run crafting classes. I have vivid memories of her firing up a minimum of at least four of those cheapie glue guns just when she was working alone and when she was running classes wow did the electric bill go up. And it was just for the reasons you described.

A better choice turned out to be guns like these:

I https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail...e-Gun-450-Watt

But guns that perform like that start out at around a hundred and fifty bucks.

John

Flypaper 2

I do pretty well all my foam building with hotglue, other than the sheeting.
The biggest problem is, the large gluesticks cannot be heated fast enough because of the large volume of glue. Ran into this at first, many yrs ago.
I've been using the smaller 1/4 in stick guns since then. With the smaller volume if the smaller guns, the heating element can keep up with it, as long as you throw sticks in the back end.
Best gun I found is the Martha Stewart guns for sale at Wallmart. It's the only one that I found that doesn't drip while it's sitting, at least very little. I always take one to the field where the other guys as well as me, use it to keep our planes flying.

boater

My Feedback: (2)

What I have found whit hot glue guns:: The first time you use them for an extended time, the heat travels back into the gun and gluestick and melts it pretty far back. Then after cooling, the front of the gluestick hardens and bonds to the inside of the tube it is in, a little ways back from the tip. The next time you plug it in, the tip heats up again, but it takes a while before the heat gets back to the bonded area of the tube behind the tip. The glue at the tip is melted, but the bonding won't let your finger pressure push the stick until the heat gets farther back. Let it warm up for 15 minutes, then twist the stick to brake the bond, it will probably work fine thereafter, or until you unplug it, it cools again and the stick bonds again pretty far back.

Ste13

I think you should try to use better glue gun than you have now. Maybe it will be more convenient with a thermostat. Have you examined what glue guns are selling now? For example, read - besttoolexpert(dot)com /hot-glue-gun-buyers-guide. I like BSTPower Glue gun with 2 temperatures.