I've had the yellow rechargeable Wahl Iso-Tip 60 cordless soldering iron for a dozen years and find it a handy tool for light soldering on PC boards or soldering wires. In 10 seconds you are hot enough to solder. The '60' is only good for a handful of solder jobs before it needs to go on the charger for an hour which is a huge bummer.
The Iso-Tip 60 has a 2 subC 1300 mAh NiCd battery pack inside. Not much you can do about it either since I believe you are limited to a NiCd charging station. My battery finally bit it so I ordered a replacement NiCd battery pack for about $15 to bring my iron back to life.
Before I checked out I decided to shop around a little and came across the EZ Change Solder Iron. It comes with 2 C cell 1400 mAh NiCd's.
The Wahl EZ Change Soldering Iron
With some decent NiMH C cells the EZ iron is a different animal. I always liked my little Wahl '60' but it just didn't offer enough power or convenience. I can throw some LSD NiMH C cell's in the EZ and have it ready to go for up to a year with greatly extended soldering capability. The EZ Change iron is only $30 compared to $70 for the NiCd restricted '60'.
:twothumbs
It doesn't replace my trusty Weller but it earns a test run in my tool kit.
Neither of these items are new and most folks prefer a corded iron or butane. I've just been on the lookout for handy AAA-D NiMH operated devices since upgrading my battery drawer, especially the elusive non-light/radio C cell powered useful item. Considering what it replaces for less than half the cost the EZ is pretty sweet.
The Iso-Tip 60 has a 2 subC 1300 mAh NiCd battery pack inside. Not much you can do about it either since I believe you are limited to a NiCd charging station. My battery finally bit it so I ordered a replacement NiCd battery pack for about $15 to bring my iron back to life.
Before I checked out I decided to shop around a little and came across the EZ Change Solder Iron. It comes with 2 C cell 1400 mAh NiCd's.
The Wahl EZ Change Soldering Iron
With some decent NiMH C cells the EZ iron is a different animal. I always liked my little Wahl '60' but it just didn't offer enough power or convenience. I can throw some LSD NiMH C cell's in the EZ and have it ready to go for up to a year with greatly extended soldering capability. The EZ Change iron is only $30 compared to $70 for the NiCd restricted '60'.
:twothumbs
It doesn't replace my trusty Weller but it earns a test run in my tool kit.
Neither of these items are new and most folks prefer a corded iron or butane. I've just been on the lookout for handy AAA-D NiMH operated devices since upgrading my battery drawer, especially the elusive non-light/radio C cell powered useful item. Considering what it replaces for less than half the cost the EZ is pretty sweet.
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