Ok, this is going to be one of those reviews that will probably not to appeal to regular ole Joe Geek. Unless Joe Geek also happens to have a crafty side. Today I’m going to tell you about a glue gun. Wait, don’t go away yet! It’s cordless! Yeah, I knew that get you interested… The Freestyle cordless glue gun from ColdHeat is just what you need for those marathon refrigerator magnet making parties.
Package Contents
Glue gun
Battery pack
Battery charger dock
AC adapter
Glue sticks
Instruction / idea guide
This product has 2 main things going for it that your typical glue gun does not. The first feature is the fact that it’s cordless. This feature is accomplished by a snap on battery pack.
The battery is charged through a small docking cradle that is in turned plugged into AC. The cradle has an LED on one side that blinks Green while the battery pack is charging, and then glows steady once the pack is fully charged and ready for use. Recharging a fully discharged battery can take approximately 3-4hrs.
Once the battery is fully charged and snapped in place, you’re ready to glue something! A power slider switch is located on one side of the barrel. In the middle position, the gun is turned off. The outside positions have no effect on the temperature, they just effect the intensity of the small LED work light located directly below the nozzle.
In my testing, I really didn’t find the light to be all that useful. It’s not big enough, nor bright enough to help except in very dim light. Most people won’t be using a glue gun in the dark, so…..
7-10 (I forgot to count them) glue sticks are included with the Freestyle to get you started. You can use any mini sized glue sticks on the market, which you should be able to find at most craft stores, or Walmart.
You will notice two LEDs below the glue stick feeder orifice (yes, I made that up). The top (Yellow) LED lights up when the gun is in powersave mode. This occurs if the gun is left unused for more than 8 minutes. The other LED is the low battery indicator. The LED will glow Red when the battery is nearly discharged, and will blink when it is fully discharged.
To use the gun, you just push a glue stick into the glue stick feeder orifice and squeeze the trigger. As you squeeze, the stick will travel down the barrel till it reaches the heating element, where the glue will melt and flow out of the nozzle. I had to feed at least 2 sticks into the chamber before melted glue started flowing. The gun only takes about 45-60 seconds to reach a temperature hot enough to melt the glue sticks. But once it did, I was then faced with the task of finding something to glue… After staring at objects in my computer room for several minutes, I came to the conclusion that hot gluing sequins to my iMac might NOT be such a nifty idea.
Then a light bulb went off and I headed outside. I had been meaning to put house numbers back on the house after it had been repainted, but being the mistress of procrastination, I haven’t done it. In the mean time, I had misplaced a few of the tiny nails required to nail them up. This was a perfect job for a cordless glue gun! I switched it on and tapped my foot for about 60 seconds while I was waiting for it to heat up. When it was ready, I squirted glue blobs on each metal numeral and stuck them to a wooden post. Easy!
Then I proceeded to repair the flapping sole of an old pair of sneakers and a ceramic flower that had broken off of a vase. I also hot glued the little cap thingies that go over the bolts that hold your toilet to the floor. Yes, I was finding it hard to come up with things to glue. ;o)
The other feature of the Freestyle is that it is pretty difficult to burn yourself with this glue gun. You can even touch the tip when it’s powered on and hot glue is flowing out. The finger above was not from my stunt double, it’s actually my finger. The tip does get warm. Very warm. But it won’t burn you as long as you don’t touch the very tip of the tip (the silver part).
The ColdHeat Freestyle is an easy to use, inexpensive glue gun that frees you from the shackles of a power cord, while protecting you from burning your fingers. What more could anyone ask for?
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Both chargers charge as noted, but when I connect the gun to either one of them, it immediately shows that the battery is fully discharged, and NO hot glue. Help.
The batteries die prematurely in these crappy ColdHeat Freestyle battery packs. You can replace the cells in the pack if you can solder, otherwise the whole glue gun is a throwaway.
I wrote a summary of what is required some years ago, its toward the end of the page.
Thanks! That is what I needed to know (and what I feared).
Where can I get an extra battery for my ClodHeat freestyle gun?
Cold heat cordless glue is not any bargain. My units battery was corroded and the screws were triangular head. Made my own screwdriver. Yuck! working. I took the battery apart with much difficulty because it was held together with
What voltage is the core that goes into the charger base
Someone else in the comments said it was 12V
I bought this gin and from the first day it will not work, I would like my money back..
I’m sorry, but we don’t sell or provide support for products that we review. You’ll have to contact wherever you purchased it from.
Liked this nice little glue gun,until after about the fourth time using it the charger has quit charging the batteries. Light does not blink like stated in directions, and stays green all the time. Batteries do not take a charge.
Liked this nice little glue gun,until after about the fourth time using it the charger has quit charging the batteries. Light does not blink like stated in directions, and stays green all the time. Batteries do not take a charge.
Hi,
I would like to know the cost of the glue gun and also the cost to ship to Jamaica.
Thank you
Eric
Eric:
The price these days appears to be between $25 and $30. We don’t sell the product though, we just reviewed it. Do a search on google for Coldheat Freestyle glue gun and you’ll find online stores that sell this product.
I used my ColdHeat cordless glue gun for about 3 hours over several periods and then it just stopped putting out glue. The trigger can be depressed only half way, the glue stick in the chaimber bows upwards and no glue comes out! It was out of warranty (90 days) and I could not find a way to contact the manufacturer. So I carfeully tried to take it apart but they used those anoying triangular screw heads that no one has a took for. No I am faced with purchasing another hopefully better hot glue gun.
Lorna…….. guess what? Lowe`’s sells them, the triangular screw shaped accessories.
Is there anyway I can purchase an extra battery? I have this glue gun and would like an extra battery so I can use my gun while one is charging. Thanks.
I LOVED it for a while, loved the fact that I always had a stand-by battery.
Then – one battery just died (!) and when I went on line to look for a new one – guess what: the comapny is out of business!
Have two of these babies. I loved them until the batteries just stopped charging. Now I have two glue guns that are non operational. If you can still find these out on the market and are in need of a glue gun, this one is nice but don’t expect to be able to use it for more than 6 months.
I need to get a new battery. Mine blinks the green light but for less than an hour then it stays gree, but when I put it back on the glue gun nothing happens.
My gun has worked perfect until all of the sudden it want work
the battery shows full charge but when snapped on to gun the gun does not reconize the battery and will no longer heat up
the gun is less than one year old and was purchased on clearence at walmart, they will not do anything about it
who do I contact…manufacturer…who are they and where
if you have any information please let me know
I have lost the paperwork in my craft room somewhere
My glue gun battery stopped charging and I am looking for a new battery can you help me find one?
Same here, battery stopped charging, i think I used my glue gun 4 times.. Interesting though is that the charger says 12 volt out, but the batteries inside are 4 x AA (1,5v?)v.. So could I buy new regular rechargeable batteries and solder them instead of the old ones?
You just buy new rechargeable batteries and re solder them and it works even longer than before, since I used newer batteries with bigger capacity than original
Same old story. It was great while it still worked. Went to use it today for a project. Battery’s dead. What kind of cheap battery did this company use? No wonder they’re out of business.
I had to use my cheap piece of $#!t backup gluegun that- get this- doesn’t have a trigger.
Bleh.
Also wondering if I can jury rig some kinda replacement battery pack.
I bought 2 of these guns so I would always have a backup! Backup S###! Both of them never worked from day one .Now the company is out of business , now what do i do with them!!!!
I bought new regular rechargeable batteries and switched the crappy ones inside, now the gluegun is working nicely!
Where can i get new batteries?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270841816643
Where did rechargeable ones go?
I’m looking for a wireless glue gun . But I see you guys need new batteries you know you can get them rebuilt I got the batteries for my wireless drills rebuilt.
whats the voltge f the adapter for cold heat cordless glue gun..
I had the same problem with the battery packs dying after a few months. They used really cheap batteries in them.
I decided to replace them with 4 regular Energizer 2450maH rechargeables, on the packet they say they hold their charge for 6 months. Cost about $12 on ebay inc. shipping. Heres an example: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Energizer-Rechargeable-Batteries-AAA-800mAh-Recharge-Extreme-NiMH-HR03-/290904731666?pt=AU_Electronics_Batteries_Chargers&hash=item43bb45f012
I opened the battery assembly, by using a suitable sized flathead screwdriver jammed into the triangular screw heads into one side of the triangle. Its dodgy but it works if the flathead just fits into two points of the triangle. Then I arranged the Energizers in the same orientation as they are in the original battery pack, and taped them together.
First I scratched the terminals on both ends of each battery to get a clean surface. Using a good quality electronics soldering iron at 350DegC, I soldered a dob of solder to the scratched areas (all 8). Then I soldered on some wire in the places where the original metal tag strips are (3 in total).
Finally with needlenose pliers I tore off the two remaining tags from the existing battery pack (the ones that form the terminals). They are spot welded but if you get small pliers under the tab near the welds, you can tear them off. I then took them along with the plastic thing they are attached to, and moved the whole thing onto my new pack, taping it onto the pack and soldering the two torn ends onto the new Energizer pack.
It pressed in with a firm click into the plastic shell and after reassembly the thing is back operating again. It heats up fast, and it will last much longer than the crappy pack that was in there. Im gonna do the other soon. Best of luck fixing your own.
NOTE: Use as little heat as possible. You arent strictly supposed to solder to rechargeables but if you do it quickly its no problem, despite what you read. If you have soldering skills you will find it pretty easy to do.
SORRY please ignore the Ebay link in the previous post, that was for AAA, not AA cells. These are the right ones:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Energizer-Rechargeable-AA-Batteries-4-pack-AA-RECHARGE-2300-mAh-AusPost-NEW-/251267742551?pt=AU_Electronics_Batteries_Chargers&hash=item3a80b97b57
By the way, avoid the cheap Chinese cells like the plague. They leak, their capacity is usually less than half of what they state. Just look at the garbage batteries that came with the Freestyle in the first place.
Get some Energizers or some other reputable brand (except duracells which are rubbish). You will be grateful you did, they will last forever.
I bought one of these (mine came with two battery packs) from Costco UK about 6 years ago – but never got round to using it! Needless to say, the batteries were long dead. I bought a set of triangle drivers (I did try a flat bit, but it was seriously going against my grain, so I stopped!) and some 2500mAh
“tabbed” cells – and remanufactured the packs in much the same way already described. I also replaced the triangle socket screws with some regular, stainless steel, self-tapers. The job’s a good one!
Hi Paul, Good comment.
I need to get a new AC to DC power adapter for mine because I’ve lost the original one. Can you please tell me what the output voltage and current (or wattage) ratings are on your adapter? Also, what’s the polarity of the output plug? I’m thinking it should be about 6v or 9v because the battery pack is 4.8v. – with a positive (+) center pole. Is that about correct???
Thank you
i have three batteries and charger all i need is the gun.
do you sell the gun seperately
We don’t sell anything. This isn’t a sales site. We are a review and news site.
SERIOUSLY THIS GLUE GUN IS A PIECE OF GARBAGE. IT IS HIGHWAY ROBBERY.
IT IS A JOKE…………… MONEY THROWN AWAY!. GET THE POINT? IT IS USELESS EVEN WHEN TRYING TO USE IT A FIRST TIME!
I bought one of these a few years ago and shortly after purchasing, the batteries would not charge so the whole glue gun is worthless.
I need a new plug for my gun. How can I get one
Have used my gun for going on 10 years – always performed however i recently moved and had stored the gun for approximately 2 years in the basement.
When Christmas came and I had some {glueing} to do, she lights and blinks however the charge will not heat the gun.
H E L P please
I wish I could help you, but that review was from 2006 and I haven’t used that glue gun in over a decade.
If you have a soldering iron you can replace the batteries. I have described this in an earlier reply above, but like the other reply mentioned it was a decade ago.
Otherwise you might be better buying something like this
https://www.amazon.com/GoGonova-Cordless-Preheating-Rechargeable-Power-Off/dp/B0C2YC57FJ?th=1
Or try a hardware store, they have ones that use the same batteries as power drills.