Hot air guns and blowers provide hot air for a wide variety of jobs for little money. We have checked, for whom the purchase of such a device is worthwhile.
For 29,99 Skil offers the hot air gun 8003 an. It is equipped with a three-position switch, which is also the only control element. The stage 1 is a cold stage. As with other heat guns, the temperature here is not really cold, but with 60° C (Manufacturer's specification 50° C) relatively harmless. This stage is suitable for blowing away dust and quickly drying workpieces, putty and glue. You can also use this level to cool down hot workpieces or the hot device.
In the second stage, the Skil hair dryer blows hot air at around 300°C. This is 100°C less than the manufacturer claims. Nevertheless, it is the right temperature range, to mold many plastics. For sensitive plastics such as polyethylene or polypropylene, which should be bent at about 200° to 250° C, you can adjust the temperature by increasing the distance to the nozzle.
In the third stage, the hot air blower blows with you 500 liters of air per minute stronger and hotter, almost 500° C. Here, too, the temperature specified by the manufacturer is used (570° C) not reached. In addition, the temperature distribution is very uneven. We measured temperatures between 300° and 500° C at various points in the nozzle opening. Despite the heating power of 1800 Watt needed the device to heat up from the cold setting
more than a minute, until 500° C were reached at all. However, this setting is actually already too high for melting and welding many plastics. However, it is ok for removing old paint and scorching wood also works well with this setting.
When lighting the grill, on the other hand, it takes a little longer, until the first sparks appear. However, later the flying sparks are all the stronger, because at the highest temperature the Skil blows 8003 only with high air speed. Separate control of air volume and temperature is not possible. But once the embers are kindled, you can also continue blowing with the cold stage.
The Skil hot air gun is equipped with an overheating protection, which switches off the heating element when the temperature is too high and switches it on again automatically after it has cooled down. Other devices often only have simple protection, which, if the worst comes to the worst, will render the device unusable. However, it is annoying, that Skil offers the hot air gun in Germany without accessories and that the nozzles mentioned in the operating instructions are not available individually in stores. The nozzles of other brand devices usually do not fit. This further limits the field of application of the device. Still likes the Skil 8003 enough for beginners, who don't intend to do much more than remove paint and can also take their time at the barbecue. more demanding users, who are looking for a universal hot air gun, However, we recommend digging deeper into your pocket and buying an electronically controlled device.