Wait, it isn't April 1st yet. Why is Alphacool releasing something that'd be better called an Alphahot product?

/Edit:

I have to correct my post. This is actually surprisingly cheap for alphacool :D *lol* ..... the "old one" is down to 19,99€ the new one is supposed to be 29,98€. Link to the product-page included, which was missing in the article.

Core Heat Gun 2000 Watt von Alphacool | Alphacool

I genuinely thought at first that I missed the link and am looking at Home Depot site. But hey, guess a neat tool for WC enthusiasts and the price is decent.

wow, you need 2KW to bend plastic tubes, well blow me down with a 2000watt heatgun.

btarunrthe perfect choice for beginners

Well, having used similar heat guns (for other purposes), I can tell you with absolute certainty that heat guns that can reach 600°C/1100°F are absolutely NOT suitable for beginners in any way, shape or form...


If you aren't aware of what those temps can do to plastic, hard or otherwise, then you betta make sure you're wearing welding gloves or similar protective gear, and have a tube of burn gel, some bandages, and a fire extinguisher handy, not to mention a work area that is free of flammable items, especially chemicals :D

You're welcome !

Found it on page 3 of Alibaba - it's just a generic, off-the-shelf gun for $5.54

www.alibaba.com/product-detail/220V-1600W-Handheld-Hot-Air-Heating_1600517028645.html

And no, Alphacool aren't ripping you off - that's the manufacturers large-volume price most of these basic heat guns go for, not the end-user price. All the sub-$10 heatguns on Alibaba are selling for $18-30 at retail, and once you factor in support, branding, packaging, distribution, inventory management costs and then include the 20% tax in the EU, €30 is probably pretty typical.

But I'm also saying that any adjustable heatgun will do the same job. There's nothing special about this one so if you already have one, or if you want to save a few eurobucks and buy a €15 one from Amazon, it'll likely be damn-near identical.

As soon as I saw that, I immediately jumped into Aliexpress and typed "heat gun 2000W" to see if I could find a similar one. Took about one minute to find it, the exact same shell design, but instead dark blue and with digital temperature control, for about 33€. So I'm guessing this is likely an older/cheaper analog version of that one.

FoulOnWhitewow, you need 2KW to bend plastic tubes, well blow me down with a 2000watt heatgun.

You think that's bad, but your typical domestic 3-4KW oven needs 40 minutes just to warm up a pie.
(that's why I microwave stuff as much as I can and finish it off under a grill. Saves me loads of time, saves me loads of energy!)

30€ for a piece of chinese crap. Great. I don't know why someone should want to have 600°C hot air if the tubes will met much earlier. At Amazon one pays much less for the same cheap quality.

This has got to be a joke

oxidizedThis has got to be a joke

Why?

You need a heatgun to bend hardline tubing.
Alphacool make hardline tubing.
This isn't too far off a reasonable price for a basic heatgun that will do the job.

If you want to gamble with a €9 heatgun from AliExpress, wait 25 days for it to arrive, and then jump through the online hoops to pay the import duty and its corresponding admin fee, you might get one slightly cheaper than Amazon. Amazon have instant gratification from about €18 but you know it's going to be from a 'brand' called TAKGIJKXO, YEEEJEWIN, KAIWEETES, or some other random collection of uppercase letters. The brand won't exist next month, neither will the marketplace seller, and you know as well as I do that it's just some guy who dropshipped something sight-unseen from AliExpress to Amazon fulfilment with zero warranty, zero quality-control, and zero support. 50/50 you get something you're happy with or waste time and have to send it back for a refund and ride the stupid carousel again...

The assumption here is that Alphacool have ordered a few thousand basic Alibaba heatguns with their branding, will have them shipped to themselves, and then do their own QC inspection on batches, distribute them through their existing channels, and then stand by their purchases as a company that will answer questions and replace faulty units.

It's not the fact that these are $6 Alibaba heatguns direct from Ningbo, China, it's the fact that Alphacool will vouch for them having presumably tested a few Alibaba samples for bending their hardline tubing and offer a meaningful warranty and customer support. If that means nothing to you you can buy similar stuff on Amazon for a few $/€ less.

Just to be more exact. Alphacool sells a normal heatgun (2000W) with up to 500°C for 18€. This new heatgun costs 30€ with the same power. So i state that they charge 12€ more for nothing as the higher temp doesn't affect hardline tubing at all. 12€ more means a price upgrade of 2/3 = 66%.

gurusmiJust to be more exact. Alphacool sells a normal heatgun (2000W) with up to 500°C for 18€. This new heatgun costs 30€ with the same power. So i state that they charge 12€ more for nothing as the higher temp doesn't affect hardline tubing at all. 12€ more means a price upgrade of 2/3 = 66%.

I think their older model only has 3 heat settings (the switch looks like off/I/II/III), and last I've seen it's out of stock. This newer one is more adjustable.

jonny2772As soon as I saw that, I immediately jumped into Aliexpress and typed "heat gun 2000W" to see if I could find a similar one. Took about one minute to find it, the exact same shell design, but instead dark blue and with digital temperature control, for about 33€. So I'm guessing this is likely an older/cheaper analog version of that one.

It's amazing how many products are simply basic versions that are tweaked a little and slapped with a brand name. I've seen dirt cheap powerbanks in Costco selling for close to $100. Making massive profits off consumers who simply are not aware.

NC37It's amazing how many products are simply basic versions that are tweaked a little and slapped with a brand name. I've seen dirt cheap powerbanks in Costco selling for close to $100. Making massive profits off consumers who simply are not aware.

It has been this way for 70+ years, the difference today is that all the previously expensive and complex logistics of searching for products, manufacturers, distribution networks, and handling the cross-border bureaucracy is now automated and online, accessible to anyone with a browser and online payment method.

If you want to get the best prices you will still need to break past the individual consumer barrier and order thousands of units and wait several weeks for container shipping. The dropshipping derivatives like Temu/AliExpress/Wish are starting to break down that barrier, but come with the risk that you're of little value to the manufacturer as an individual and have no bargaining power so you can totally screwed over, get sent junk that's nothing like what was implied, all with minimal negative impact to the unscrupulous manufacturer. That's improving with ecommerce escrow for some products on AliExpress for example, but that process is still opt-in for manufacturers, not mandatory.

Chrispy_The assumption here is that Alphacool have ordered a few thousand basic Alibaba heatguns with their branding, will have them shipped to themselves, and then do their own QC inspection on batches, distribute them through their existing channels, and then stand by their purchases as a company that will answer questions and replace faulty units.

I wouldn't bet on a separate QC from Alphacool that quickly. On more expensive parts yes, but more often than not, the work for these cheaper products is completely offloaded to the supplier. They handle everything: production, QC, brand and box printing, and shipping. The brand never really puts their hands on these products themselves, even in the case of a RMA, all they do is act as a middle man, and ship the faulty product to the supplier straight away.

You do have the safety of a known brand standing by the product, yes. But for any countries with half decent customer protection laws, that's not even an issue. Every time I had to deal with warranty, I never took it to the brand directly even once, all of them were handled by the store I bought it from.

In case someone is interested in a serious review of heat guns.