Cold Heat Soldering Iron (as seen on TV)

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 21 Nov 2004 6:15 pm

Wow, such a deal, you can heat the terminal, melt the solder, pull the tip off the solder and touch it right to yer finger and not get burned. Look closely at the tip though and see the sparks fly at the tip when he touches the "ON" button. I certainly would NOT want to use this thing around any of my CMOS, or FET circuits.

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 21 Nov 2004 6:42 pm

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm curious. It should be low voltage on the tip. The tip is really two separate metal contacts and when you touch it on metal or solder, a short circuit occurs and that's where the heat gets generated. The tip isn't really heated.

Anyone messed with it much?

Brad Sarno

Jerry Gleason · Post by **Jerry Gleason** » 21 Nov 2004 9:10 pm

I have one of those. It's pretty neat, but it won't replace your regular soldering iron. It creates a lot of heat in a very short time in a very small area right under the gap of the tip. It doesn't work for applications where you must heat a larger area.

As Ray pointed out, there is a small amount of arcing that takes place at the contact point, so I'd be leary of using it on delicate components. It works ok for stuff like soldering leads to plugs, and it's definitely handy for field work where you can't plug into AC.

The tip is fragile, I broke the end off mine the first time I tried to use it. There is a natural tendency to press harder on it to make better contact, which is the wrong thing to do. But hey, for twenty bucks, it's a pretty cool tool.

jerry wallace · Post by **jerry wallace** » 21 Nov 2004 11:17 pm

Its a great concept but in my opinion , it should be called the "Cold solder joint" iron rather than cold heat..

It just does not have enough power to do most solder jobs properly..I have one and I have tried it on pickup wires and leads..
As I see it, its got just enough power to get you a bad/cold solder joint.

A regular 20 to 40 watt iron makes a much better , more reliable solder joint.

It does have a split tip that looks a lot like a deer hoof..When both haves of the split touch metal, it completes the
current path and heat is produced.. This can be a bit tricky also when working with small wire.

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Jerry Wallace/TrueTone pickups-2001 Zum: D-10,8+6, "98 Zum: D-10,8+8,Nashville 1000,Session 500 ,Session 400 head only amp,Tubefex,ProfexII, Artesia, New Mexico
http://www.jerrywallacemusic.com

[This message was edited by jerry wallace on 22 November 2004 at 01:02 AM.]

John Daugherty · Post by **John Daugherty** » 22 Nov 2004 4:39 am

I have used a butane soldering iron for many years. Weller makes it, Radio Shack sold it for about $35. I haven't checked at Radio Shacked recently but they are available from other parts suppliers.
I use it for outside work where power is not available. It works great. It is refillable with common butane lighter fuel. It is a compact "pencil-type".........JD

Alan Kirk · Post by **Alan Kirk** » 22 Nov 2004 7:11 am

The Radio Shack butane iron is a little underpowered for some jobs, in my experience.

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John Daugherty · Post by **John Daugherty** » 22 Nov 2004 7:23 am

The butane iron "Weller Port-a-sol" will solder anything in an amplifier except a heavily heat sinked chassis connection. In other words, it will compete with any electric pencil iron. It has a valve on the rear for adjusting the temperature.

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 22 Nov 2004 1:38 pm

Ditto what John D says, we keep the Weller butane unit in our workbox all the time. Refilling it can be a pain but it WORKS, ALWAYS and we like that.

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<img align=right src="http://www.pdxaudio.com/dgsept03.jpg" width="114 height="114">Dave Grafe - email: dg@pdxaudio.com
PDX Audio
Music

1978 ShoBud Pro I E9, 1960 Les Paul (SG) Deluxe, 1963 Precision Bass, 1954 Gibson LGO, 1897 Washburn Hawaiian Steel Conversion

John Daugherty · Post by **John Daugherty** » 29 Nov 2004 11:14 am

Dave, If you have trouble refilling your butane iron, push the butane refill nozzle in and out of the refill valve several times and let it spray out around the nozzle.
I think those things get dirty and this cleans the valve. Anyway... I had problems until I started wasting a little butane in the cleaning process....JD