Cold Heat soldering iron

[Wingerr]

Anyone have one of these Cold Heat soldering irons ?

Seems like a nifty idea- thinking about getting one, but wonder how small joints are handled, and the possibility of bridging different nodes and causing damage from the voltage.
manual

I'd really like to know just why they advise against rechargeable batteries also, since I'd probably rather go with them instead of the recommended alkalines.

 

[TOB9595]

Good topic, Wingerr!
I've wondered just how effective they are?
What are the limitations?
I'm so "old school" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Tom

 

[Lynx_Arc]

There is another recent thread on those soldering irons like the one sold by radio shack. Apparently they are like a small spot welder relying on passing current between a forked tip of sorts I believe. I think the conclusion those that tried/owned them came up was that they wouldn't replace irons due to the learning curve and problems associated with the design but they could be useful.

 

[Wingerr]

Yes, that's pretty much it; uses the contact point as a bridge between the two isolated parts of the electrode tips.
Some questions that come to mind would be how wide the gap is, which would limit the fine pitch jobs it would be capable of. If it's fine enough for the fine jobs, how problematic would it be where the solder bridges the electrodes and causes it to remain on, requiring clearing.
And lastly, is the tip reasonably durable (since it's not a metal tip as found on the old school /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif irons), or will it require frequent replacement even with careful use. At $10 for a tip replacement, it could get expensive if they get used up or broken easily.
Too bad the conical tip seems to be only available as a replacement item rather than the standard one; that's the one I'd want rather than the big chisel tip.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

as an owner of an isotip iron I find I rarely used it and found the batteries dead every time I needed it and every few years they wouldn't hold a charge for long. I saw a battery powered iron I think uses 4AA cells and may come with alkalines I was curious about.. you could use alkalines in an emergency and put in some hefty nimh AAs in it for longer jobs. One thing I didn't like about my isotips was the 222 bulb in them... it reduced run time a fair amount. I bet the 6v battery one could be modded for an led instead.

 

[Wingerr]

That's part of the reason I was interested in this one; it just seems much more efficient with the battery power, so even using alkalines wouldn't be all that bad. I'd probably do like you said and leave alkalines in there, and just swap in rechargeables for planned jobs, if I had them handy.
I currently have a butane Weller iron which works really well, but I like this instant on, instant off kind of scheme for things like working under the dashboard of a car, for example. With the always-hot irons, you have to be very careful to keep from holing out your upholstery or carpet..
And, this thing has LED's! Flashaholic approved /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

All I'm waiting for is someone to come here and say,
I'm a Flashaholic, and I approve this iron- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Wingerr]

[ QUOTE ]
Lynx_Arc said:
There is another recent thread on those soldering irons like the one sold by radio shack.

[/ QUOTE ]

So there they were- I didn't look back far enough after searching for cold heat- I really have to remember to enclose the search terms in quotes... thanks-

Strange how I found out about this; in a Carol Wright catalog, of all places, which I dismissed. Then I saw it in Sportsman's Guide, and decided to check online for more info. And now I see a bunch of threads on this already, with all the questions answered- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

thread

 

[N2UK]

When I first saw the ad on TV I was interested until I saw some users comments in Google Groups. This is just a gimmick and not a serious soldering iron. From what I remember, it is only good for a few joints at a time and they are poor solder joints at best.

 

[markdi]

I have one I bought it 6 months ago
I have never used it until today.

I have a weller wtcps soldering station it heats up fast
and works great.

I triet to tin a 20 guage stranded copper wire with the cold heat iron.

I tried to heat the wire and then add solder-no go

It barely worked I had to smash solder between the wire and the iron and press down on a little block of wood to get current flowing thru the tip and wire.



next I tried to tin a small pad on a clean copper pc board
all I got was a little solder ball.

next I tried an even smaller pad and I got a bigger solder ball.

I have been soldering for 20 years this is the worst soldering iron I have ever used.

maybe it will work better if I reshape the tip.

 

[kitelights]

You can't "reshape" the tip. Any alterations will ruin it.

I've had one since July and have only used it a couple of times. I wouldn't classify it as a general purpose tool - it will not work on everything.

You have to bridge a current path on what you're soldering. If you can do that, it works well. It is much more difficult to hold one "leg" on what you're soldering and the other "leg" on what you're soldering it to. You basically have to re-learn your soldering feel.

If you're creating balls of solder, I think that's lack of surface prep and/or lack of flux or you're not bridging both surfaces. If you heat the adjacent joint enough to melt solder, but not the surface that you want it to flow on, it won't flow. If you force melted solder on it and it's not hot or doesn't have enough flux on it or in the solder, it'll ball up.

I think it's a great tool to have around. Just realize that there is a learning curve and it does have limitations.

 

[markdi]

I cleaned the pc board pads.
I used flux.
I know that it heats by the current flowing from one side of the tip thru what you are soldering and back to the other side of the tip.

I will try a few more solder joints before writing it off.

 

[Wingerr]

Well, I gave it a whirl, and while it does work, I think the conditions it requires for decent operation are just too narrow. It works okay for small, low mass splices that you can brace properly, but trying a wire connection to a dc power plug with more mass to it was slow, and difficult to get a good flow on the connector without spending a lot of time manuvering it around. The wire would get all the solder, and the connector didn't, because of the difficulty in heating both simultaneously. As far as time saving, I fired up my butane Weller, and reworked it in much less time and with much better results than I was able to manage with the Cold Heat iron, even allowing for the heat up and cool down period.
I got a solder blob bridged in between the electrodes and shut it off immediately. Tried to clear it with a some stiff paper, and managed to chip off part of the tip. It's pretty delicate, so it doesn't bode well for long term use.
It's a neat concept, but the range of usability is just too restrictive, unfortunately. If you have to work with anything that's other than shiny and clean, the extra time spent on prepping it properly would tend to negate some of the benefits of the instant on concept. While it's always good to get the cleanest surface possible, you can get away with a lot more using the regular type irons.

 

[markdi]

I have kirkland aa in mine
maybe lithium aa's would work better

 

[markdi]

I think the cold heat iron is a hassle to use
I think a butane iron for 27 bucks from parts express is much better.