What Equipment Is Required To Shrink Wrap a Scaffolding?

Scaffold Wrapping Equipment

The equipment required for scaffold wrapping represents the ‘investment’ you need to make if you want to install shrink wrap sheeting. The good news is that setting up a scaffold shrink wrapping service does not require a large investment because the main equipment required is just one (or more) shrink wrapping heat guns.

This article looks at some different types of heat guns used for the shrink wrap encapsulation process. (If you would like to find out more about the materials that are required to fully encapsulate a scaffolding click here.)

The Shrink Wrapping Heat Gun

The cost of a heat guns for scaffold wrapping can range from £300-£1500. Because the heat tool that will be in almost constant use during the shrink wrap encapsulation process, (for creating welded joints between sheets and shrinking the scaffold covering ‘drum tight’), it is important to understand the differences between tools on offer so that you select the heat gun that is right for you and gives you the best chance of creating a good quality finished job.

Because the heat gun is so essential to carrying out the scaffold covering process you should consider how reliable the heat tool is likely to be and the availability of spare parts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What heat gun do you recommend?

It depends! For a company just starting out with scaffold shrink wrapping the Shrinkit or Raptor 90 gun are probably best value shrink wrapping guns on the market. If you are going to be using the tool all day, every day, and you have the budget available, The Ripack is a great choice. Our installation teams use all three of these tools on a daily basis. To see the ‘real world difference’ between each tool, watch our ‘shrinkoff’.

How many shrink wrap guns will I need?

You are going to need at least one heat gun but this may cause a bottleneck after the shrink wrap sheeting has been hung and clipped as only one operative can then weld the joints between the sheets, weld the shrink wrap around the scaffolding and finally shrink the whole thing ‘drum tight’. If a typical shrink wrap team consists of three operatives then we would typically have at least two heat guns in operation.

What safety precautions do I need to take

Shrink wrapping heat guns are powerful tools and should only be used in accordance with the manufacturers guidelines. The safe use of heat guns for scaffold encapsulation is also included as part of our scaffold shrink wrap training courses.

Do you rent guns for shrink wrapping scaffolds?

We don’t have any tools available for rent. However, HSS Hire (http://www.hss.com/hire) do have limited stocks of pallet shrink wrap guns for hire in the UK.

Express

Express

http://www.guilbert-express.net/news/raptor-roofing-torch-173.html

Raptor 90

Price guide: £££

The Raptor 90 is a relative newcomer to the world of shrink wrapping heat guns. Manufactured by Express in France, although it is small and lightweight, the Raptor is incredibly powerful but has interchangeable burners so that it is easy to switch between a lower output burner for welding and a higher output burner for shrinking. Tried & tested by members of the Rhino Shrink Wrap installation team it has proven to be a popular choice.

Pros: Innovative design with interchangeable burners for different activities. Lightweight for all day use.

Cons: Power comes at a the price of increased gas consumption. Long term reliability to be proven.

Shrinkit

Shrinkit 

www.shrinkit.co.uk

Price guide: ££

The Shrinkit Shrink Wrapping Heat Gun is designed and manufactured in the UK for the last 30 years. Not the most powerful gun on the market but powerful enough, even for welding and shrinking films of 300 microns and above that are used for scaffold covering. A good ‘work horse’ that we feel confident sending to remote locations where breakdowns could be a problem.

Pros: Excellent customer service. This is the only product that Shrinkit manufacture and they have a fantastic in depth knowledge of shrink wrapping guns. This is a rugged tool, proven in the field over many years with a wide range of reasonably priced spare parts that are available at short notice. Great value total heat gun refurbishment service.

Cons: Not the most powerful gun available (but powerful enough and uses much less gas per hour than most other heat guns.) Does not come with a hard plastic case for transport.

Ripack

Ripack

http://www.ripack.com/en-15-shrink-guns-ripack-series-3000.html

Ripack 2200 / Ripack 3000

Price Guide: ££££

The ‘Rolls Royce’ of shrink wrap heat guns! Manufactured in France. Series 3000 is the most recent model range but you may still find series 2000 and series 2200 guns still being sold by some manufacturers. The Rhino Shrink Wrap Installation team have used many Ripacks over the years and they are a powerful tool but fairly expensive to buy and maintain. If you are planning to shrink wrap temporary roofs or use shrink wrap sheeting for industrial covers then the range of extensions supplied by Ripack may make this tool a good choice.

Pros: Reliable, well made tool. Range of extensions available.

Cons: Expensive to buy and maintain.

Shrink Wrap Scaffold Sheeting – Frequently Asked Questions