Tried putting a cheap heat gun on a stubborn connector and melted the housing clean off

Was working on a Cessna 172 pitot-static line quick disconnect that wouldn't budge after 5 years of corrosion, figured a little heat would help, but my $20 Harbor Freight gun got way too hot way too fast and now I'm ordering a $90 replacement part - anybody got a better trick for separating seized avionics fittings without wrecking them?

2 comments

2 Comments

davis.gavin1mo agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you melted a Cessna part with a Harbor Freight heat gun... that's wild.

aaron_wilson171mo ago

Wait, you melted a Cessna part with a Harbor Freight heat gun" - man, I bet half the guys working on planes have done something similar with cheaper tools. Harbor Freight stuff is fine for like, prying off hubcaps or whatever but on avionics? That's asking for trouble. Honestly though, is it really that big of a deal? I mean, if the connector was already seized up and you were gonna have to replace it anyway, maybe the heat gun just sped up the inevitable. Sometimes you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette, right?