What Type of Pinspotter Is Right for Me? Get the Details!

What Type of Pinspotter Is Right for Me? Get the Details!

If you’re a metalworking professional, or working in the HVAC industry, you may be thinking about investing a new pinspotter. But it is often hard to understand the different types of common pinspotters, and the advantages of using each type.

In this article, we’ll break down the details about pinspotters, and help you understand which type of pinspotter is right for your particular needs. Let’s get started!

What Is a Pinspotter, What Does it Do, and What Is it For?

Pinspotters are somewhat similar to spot welders. They are resistance welders, used to join pieces of sheet metal. Most commonly, they are used to join sheet metal ductwork to duct liners and insulation, as they are easy-to-use in just about any setting, and offer powerful, secure welds, even when used by inexperienced welders.

Pinspotters are different than spot welders because they are made to work specifically with ductwork pins. Pinspotters use a high-voltage electrical current to quickly apply stainless steel pins onto sheet metal ductwork, allowing for the attachment of insulation and other components.

While some contractors use adhesive or other alternative joining methods for attaching pins, pinspotters provide a greater hold and build quality, as the metal is permanently joined.

What Types of Pinspotters Are Available?

Now that you understand the basics of pinspotters, it’s time to discuss the different types of pinspotters that are available. Here’s what you need to know.

• Hand-held pinspotters – Hand-held pinspotters are the smallest and most convenient type of pinspotter to use, but also the least powerful. They are a small, self-contained unit, similar to a glue gun. A powerful internal element allows for the attachment of pins to ductwork, but these types of pinspotter are only useful for small-gauge pins, due to their relatively weak power output.
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• Compact pinspotters – Compact pinspotters use a floor-based power unit and controller, along with a hand-held unit, to deliver increased power and weld larger pins. They are ideal for most job sites, as they provide great power, but still are easy to transport.
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• Floor model pinspotters – Floor model pinspotters are very useful for larger HVAC projects or ductwork manufacturing shops. They use a floor-mounted design which makes it easy to get consistent results, and attach dozens of pins to ductwork in just a few minutes. However, they are much less mobile than compact and hand-held pinspotters, and are quite a bit more expensive.
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• Multi-head pinspotters – Multi-head pinspotters are usually only used by larger sheet metal shops that specialize in building HVAC ducting. They are very large and typically are not mobile, and use multiple “heads” – usually 5 or 6 – to attach multiple pins to a piece of sheet metal at once. This helps dramatically speed up the process of applying pins to sheet metal.

What’s the Best Type of Pinspotter for Me?

If you are an HVAC professional, and you tend to add pins to your ductwork on your job site, a hand-held or a compact pinspotter is likely the best choice for you, especially if you typically only work on smaller projects, such as residential homes.

If you need to build ductwork for larger commercial or residential projects, a floor-mounted pinspotter is usually a good investment. While it is a bit unwieldy compared to a compact or hand-held pinspotter, it is much more efficient, and typically offers a more consistent weld quality.

As a rule, multi-head pinspotters are not really going to be suitable for anyone except manufacturers and machine shops that are often responsible for delivering large quantities of sheet-metal ductwork. For most contractors and sheet metal professionals, these expensive and bulky machines are unnecessary.

Find the Right Pinspotter for You!

Hopefully, this article has been helpful, and aided you in understanding what different pinspotters are available – and which ones are right for you! Take another look, and start shopping for the right pinspotter today.