Craftsman is soon introducing a new cordless heat gun, further expanding their growing V20 cordless power tool system.
The new Craftsman cordless heat gun, CMCE530B, can deliver a max temperature of 950°F and they say it can reach “operational temperature” in just 7 seconds.
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Craftsman’s website says that you can expect for up to 15 minutes of runtime per battery charge, although the battery capacity is not specified.
It’s compact, so that you can fit into tight spaces, and the slide-style battery pack (sold separately) provides a stable base for “hands-free operation.” There looks to be a lock-out switch built into the trigger, although I can’t see where a potential lock-on switch might be.
The heat gun ships with a deflector and spreader nozzles. A deflector nozzle us usually useful for diverting even heat around your work material, such as heat shrink tubing or plastic tubing that needs to be softened, and a spreader nozzle does exactly what the name implies. Spreader nozzles are useful for applications such as drying, shaping, and stripping paint.
Price: $99 for the bare tool
Buy Now via Lowes – coming soon
Thank you to mizzourob for the heads-up!
See More Craftsman Cordless News
Discussion
Raise your hand if you’re happy to see Craftsman come out with a new cordless heat gun.
*Raises hand.*
See Also
Dewalt also came out with a cordless heat gun, DCE530, earlier this year. The Dewalt heat gun has some more features compared to the Craftsman. Still, I’m glad to read that the Craftsman heat gun comes with the same nozzles, or at least similar ones.
Adam
Feel a little sad Milwaukee couldn’t have included at least a nozzle of some sort, preferably the one for tube shrinking.
I’ve used my head gun to warm some rubber up that I could not remove the barb insert from, as well as take off a lot of labels & few tube shrinks.
Nathan
so does the craftsman have the 2 setting like the dewalt. I’m guessing not?
Stuart
Not that I can see in the product images or descriptions.
Nathan
OH and I’m intrigued by the craftsman versions of dewalt (SBD tools) in the 20V line but since the batteries are rather incompatible I’m not really interested.
if the extra volume makes the tools of both colors cheaper then I admit I’m more interested.
Matt
It’s on my ‘to buy’ list…
Corey Moore
The DeWalt kicks butt, so if this is of the same vein being under SBD, then I’d expect good things. Initial impression frowns at losing the low-high compared to my Dewalt, but as I think about it, I’ve pretty much solely used the high setting on mine, and a $30 discount to lose a setting I don’t use actually seems great. Run time doesn’t sound impressive, though. The DeWalt hasn’t died on me yet, and I’ve averaged 5-6 pipe adjustments (2-3 small bends or offsets per 1.5/2″ schd40 pvc) before I’ll notice the fan audibly change and preemptively swap in another 5/6ah. Haven’t timed it, but sure seems like it totals more than 15 minutes per battery over my last couple months.
JoeM
I still want the DeWALT, but can’t seem to find it in Canada. Admittedly, haven’t looked very hard. I would welcome the DeWALT one for heat shrink applications. I’ve been using a Dremel Versatip 2000 Butane, and it’s harder to control the shrinking than I like. I would like to use the DeWALT for heat-shrink, and return to using the Versatip for soldering and woodburning applications.
Any Canadians in here know where the DeWALT Heat Gun is sold?
Corey Moore
Does acmetools.com not service Canada?
JoeM
Nope. At least not in any way I can find.
Toolfreak
I don’t really like the lock-out switch, especially as part of the trigger which is where your finger is all the time to operate the tool.
Would have been better to just have a locking trigger that clicks to lock for actual “hands free operation”, though it might only lock on the highest temp if you can vary the temperature based on the trigger position.
I wonder if eventually they’ll make a cordless hair dryer. Should be easier than a heat gun.
Stuart
The lock-out is to prevent unintended operation, such as when the heat gun is tossed in a tool bag with a battery still attached. Having a physical 2-step trigger is far easier than incorporating a lock-out or separate on/off switch anywhere else on the tool.