How to Install an On/Off Switch to Your Glue Gun in 10 Minutes!

It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

For some reason it’s really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. I know because I’ve searched and searched. My small detailed glue gun has one but I needed a larger gun. After researching I found the gun I wanted but alas… no switch. That means I’d have to unplug it every time. Very inconvenient. So I purchased a small inexpensive “feed cord switch” which took about 10 minutes to install onto the cord near the handle of my new glue gun. It was so easy, even a teen could do it and all you need is a couple of small tools you should already have on hand. Now I can keep my glue gun plugged in. This also works for many other things like lamps.  Don’t forget to grab your free printable below full of some very useful glue gun tips and hacks.

Speaking of glue guns and hot glue, we’ve got a couple craft ideas that takes  hot glue as the main material! Check out our Creepy Gothic Jewelry and our DIY Fall Decorations Hot Glue Glitter Leaves.

Glue Gun On Off Switch Supplies

  • Feed Cord Switch
  • X-acto Knife
  • Screwdriver
  • Glue Gun This is one I researched and recently purchased. It has great reviews, adjustable temp and exchangeable tips, though you do have to buy the extra tips.  It had everything I wanted except the on off switch.
  • Glue sticks. I buy these in bulk and this is the best deal I’ve found for the regular size sticks. I prefer them extra long so I don’t have to change them as often.

It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

My Mini Gun with On/Off Switch

It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

I’ve owned two of these and you’ll see them in many of my photos. They are great mini guns with a nice detail tip. They hold the mini glue sticks, which I buy in extra long lengths so I don’t have to change them as often. This gun does have an on off switch. However, with as much hot gluing as I do I needed a bigger gun which is why I added the one above to my supplies.

Mini Glue Gun with On/Off Switch  This one also comes with 25 free extra long glue sticks!

Printable Tips & Hacks

It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

Instructions

***MAKE SURE THE GUN IS UNPLUGGED BEFORE YOU START***

We purchased our switch at Lowe’s. They can be purchased at any hardware store or online. We link to a few above.

It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

Using an X-acto type knife, carefully slice open the outer casing. Inside it holds two smaller casings.  Remove the outer casing completely just within where it will set inside the switch. Just be careful to not cut the inner wires. Its not difficult at all. It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

Our switch had a loose nut on the bottom so we temporarily taped it on using some scotch tape. It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

This shows how much we cut off the outer portion and how it will sit inside the switch. It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

Taking wire cutters or even scissors cut one of the inner wires. It doesn’t matter which one you clip. It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

There are two channels you will feed your wires down into inside one half of the switch. We used a tiny screwdriver to help us push the wire that we did not cut into place. The other cut wires just lay on the other side. It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

This is how it should look. It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

Put the top piece on and screw your switch together. That’s it!It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

10 minutes later! Much better and much handier. It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!It's really hard to find a glue gun with an on off switch. But its easy to install a $2 switch to the cord in 10 minutes allowing you to keep it plugged in!

 

10 Comments

  1. Athena

    Hi Nancy, my glue gun comes with the on off switch (on the handle), but somehow the switch doesn’t trigger anymore. Would you have any idea how to fix that? Could you teach me please? I’ve googled around, and nobody actually teach how to fix a on off switch. Thank you in advance!

    Reply
  2. Athena

    Hi Nancy, my glue gun comes with the on off switch (on the handle), but somehow the switch doesn’t trigger anymore. Would you have any idea how to fix that? Could you teach me please? I’ve googled around, and nobody actually teach how to fix a on off switch.

    Reply
  3. Linda

    I plug my glue gun into an extension cord that has a foot pedal (on/off switch) that is used for Christmas tree lights. When I am temporarily done using the glue gun I just use the foot pedal to turn off the gun until I am ready to use it again.

    Reply

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