Field soldering kit recommendations

[Zero_Enigma]

Ok all you CPF geeks and freaks out there with your crazy lights! I just joined the ranks of being enlightened by the joys of solding my first SSC P4's thanks to my mate that got them from Deal Extreme.

He actually made a 3xCree w/3 degree lenses mounted on the reflector hole on his bike. I'll see if I can get a photo later if he's willing for me to snap a photo of his setup. Damn that was BRIGHT!

Ok, so I was talking about some field kits before for some quasi-cyber punk on the side of the road/park soldering but did not know what kit I needed to get. Obviously a soldering iron is needed for sure. Not sure if I should go with battery or butane. Pending price I may carry both so I can cover both grounds. Are those battery soldering irons safe to use with NIMH or lithium batteries?

Also I would like to see input from people for 2-3 types of field kits: BASIC, ADVANCED, and PRO (?)

This is what I can think of right now. Please contribute ideas in this format below:


BASIC:

-Soldering iron (batt or butane)
-multitool (Should be EDC)
-solder
-solder wick
-spare wire (rolled up CAT5 cable)
-spare LED?
-DMM (pocket/compact)
-spare regulators? (if using the cheap ones. I blew one up tonight >_<)
-thin latex or thin gloves should you be concerned about the lead in solder (this may be an ADVANCED option but you may already have a pair tucked into your bike repair kit if you've ever worked with your chain you'll know why to have a pair handy )
-cable ties (couple thin and midsize to cover all grounds and you can end to end to tie larger areas)
-electrical tape (improvised shrinktube cover)
-rubberband (many uses, Thanks PeLu)


ADVANCED: (Everything BASIC plus the following)

-pliers
-stripper
-side cutters
-LED lenses
-shrinktube (Thanks PeLu)
-silver solder (Thanks PeLu)
-quick connectors

PRO: (Everything BASIC & ADVANCED plus the following)


-folded up 'helping hand'
-solder pump
-spare butane fuel for butane solding iron
-special low temp solder for sensitive work (Thanks PeLu)
-compact quick AA/AAA battery charger (prefer with fold up plug, if not then thin cable. NO cube plugs. I've been told this should be in the BASIC but when I thought about it if you're using a AA soldering iron you can buy cells at any store and not worry about being out of power without carry extra fuel like the butane if you want out of fuel and bought a refill can and have to carry the extra weight)

Thats all I can think of right now. Thanks in advance for any help.


I'll update the list in the top post as more info comes in. For those with experiance in kit sorting perhaps you could help out with what should be placed in BASIC, ADVANCED, and PRO. Thanks.

 

[Calina]

Ok, so I was talking about some field kits before for some quasi-cyber punk on the side of the road/park soldering but did not know what kit I needed to get. Obviously a soldering iron is needed for sure. Not sure if I should go with battery or butane. Pending price I may carry both so I can cover both grounds. Are those battery soldering irons safe to use with NIMH or lithium batteries?

Also I would like to see input from people for 2-3 types of field kits: BASIC, ADVANCED, and PRO (?)

This is what I can think of right now. Please contribute ideas in this format below:


BASIC:

-Soldering iron (batt or butane)
-multitool
-solder
-solder wick
-spare wire (rolled up CAT5 cable)
-LED?
-Regulators? (blew one up tonight >_<)
-DMM
-cable ties

You would probably be better off with a flashlight backup and a holder for it than trying to fix a light at night in the middle of nowhere. It would be lighter than any of your field kits.

Anyway you'll need one to do any repair.

 

[znomit]

Any "field repair" is likely to do more harm than good! Thoroughly bench test the thing and bike test the thing before you head out, and always carry a spare light of some kind to get you home.

When things go wrong(and they do now and then), its back to the lab for a rebuild!

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Well I do carry a spare light but this is more on the geek side of things. I mean under a street lamp soldering is kinda sexy IMHO.


Zero_Enigma

 

[Calina]

Well I do carry a spare light but this is more on the geek side of things. I mean under a street lamp soldering is kinda sexy IMHO.


Zero_Enigma

Give it a try on a rainy night and we'll talk about it !

 

[alexlockhart]

This thread is very interesting to me, but for the practicality, not the imagined sexiness, of field-repairing your DIY light system. Of course having completely separate lights as backups or extras is a great idea, and that's what my helmet lights (headlight and taillight) are. But when home is 3,000 miles away, you don't want to rely on your backup system to limp all the way there.

I'm planning a long bike tour through remote parts of Mexico this winter, and am building a complex dynamo/battery/light/etc system for my bicycle, which will be extremely useful on my trip. Of course I'll have it fully bench-tested and bike-tested before I go, and I'm trying to design it for maximum reliability (waterproofing everything, using over-rated components, etc), but no system is infallible, so I've been thinking about what tools I should bring for repairing it.

For my use, a plug-in soldering iron would be acceptable, since I can use my backups until I can find an outlet in a town. But I'd have to bring it, and some solder, and a tiny DMM, and some wire, in addition to my regular bike tools, which will be pretty much everything else on your list. My electronics will all be in an aluminum water bottle, and my headlights and taillight will be securely mounted to (and protected by) the racks, so they should all survive even in a crash.

Sorry I don't have specifics to add to your list, but I'm also looking for suggestions for things to bring so I can fix my stuff in the middle of Mexico, should the need arise.

Alex

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Alex,

Well not just for the sexiness. I was going for practical all the way before. :kiss: I was leaning already towards the touring comments but you beat me to it.

Sometimes you just can't get home or you're exploring or adventuring out in field somewhere and you setup a tent or run under a tree that's doing a rather good job of keeping you dry with little no no dripping on you and you just erect some sticks up and put your jacket over and you got a cover to work on your stuff should you need to.

Personally I would be looking to carry a Basic field kit myself if I was touring.

I'm leaning more on the AA battery soldering iron seeing how AA's can be had anywhere in the world. If using NIMH then you'll still have to carry a small rapid charger to keep your cells charged up or charge while you're riding in the day with a flex/folding solar panel and a charger at night.

 

[PeLu]

-Soldering iron (batt or butane)
...
-solder

As I'm the technical person on caving expedition since the late 70ies, I'll have a little bit of experience with such kits.

A butane soldering iron is IMHO much better, a usual Portasol is around 80W, but can be adjusted down to a a few Watts.
A single AA cell contains only 2-3Wh at a medium load.
The Portasol also has different tips for hot air (no open flame), open flame and a hot knife. The only problem is, that you must not take butane cartridges on a plane (at least where I travel).

Solder: I use silver solder with great success, it is very good for soldering stainless steel and other difficult materials. It comes with it's own flux. And it is also mechanically much stronger.

I also had a solder with a very low melting point for sensitive repairs. As I have not seen it now for a long time, it might be poisonous.

Tiny amounts from these solders are ok, as they are only used in special cases.

For my multitool I had a strong rubber band to use it as a vise.

Shrink tube helps sometimes to repair cables.

Pliers: By far the best pliers I know are from the German brand Knipex. They also make very small ones, I prefer them sometimes over a multitool.

cable ties: I also have some which can be reopened (and reused). And some made from Velcro.

 

[Zero_Enigma]

As I'm the technical person on caving expedition since the late 70ies, I'll have a little bit of experience with such kits.

A butane soldering iron is IMHO much better, a usual Portasol is around 80W, but can be adjusted down to a a few Watts.
A single AA cell contains only 2-3Wh at a medium load.
The Portasol also has different tips for hot air (no open flame), open flame and a hot knife. The only problem is, that you must not take butane cartridges on a plane (at least where I travel).

I'm from Canada and yah we have the same rules as well I believe. I've not flown in about 15yrs I think (man thinking back to the good o'l days of getting crammed on a plane full of Girl Guides from France back in my scouting days from a vacation with the folks coming back from France. ) but from people I know that have flown recently you can't bring flamable liquids on the flight and you can't bring liquids more then I think 100mL because of some guys with a deathwish tried to go on a plane with some flamable liquid in sport drink bottles trying to down a plane.

 

[RadarGreg]

Don't forget a small tube of flux. It will take some of the frustration out of soldering and gives a good clean surface contact. You may also want to throw in a few q-tips and small squeeze tube of alcohol to help with clean ups. I also second the idea of a butane iron. Buy an extra tip, maybe in a finer tip.

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Thanks Greg. List updated.

 

[Zero_Enigma]

-added quick connectors

 

[auroreboreale]

As a subarctic winter cyclist who is totally reliant on a helmet light to make it home safely, I carry a butane piezo-electric lighter, which will cast its flame downwards or in any direction you point it, and soldering tape, which is taped to the side of the lighter with some thin, low-voltage insulative, red CMHC house-sheathing tape. That does it for me! Of course, the lighter has to be kept next to the body to keep the butane warm enough to gasify....

 

[moon lander]

Well I do carry a spare light but this is more on the geek side of things. I mean under a street lamp soldering is kinda sexy IMHO.
Zero_Enigma

actually, thats where i do all of my soldering :naughty:

what about "cold heat" (that battery powered soldering iron at radioshack)? has anyone tried it?

 

[James S]

I'm going to commit the ultimate CPF tribute when I suggest that you need BOTH a butane and a cold-heat I own both, and have both in my BOB.

The cold-heat is just terrific for quick small connections. It will work under any conditions of cold wind whatever. But it just doesn't generate a whole lot of heat for larger things like rebuilding connectors. Desoldering with one is almost impossible in my experimenting with it.

A butane powered one will generate a lot more heat and make possible repairs on larger bits and pieces. And works more like a regular soldering iron for desoldering and whatnot. I like mine a lot, but it's harder to start, it can blow out, I dont feel safe setting it down while it's lit and it's a real pain to relite with each pass and it stays hot for quite a while after you're done.

So each has plusses and minuses, and I think you need both

 

[Nitroz]

Here's a butane portasol for 57.00. Can't go wrong with these.


http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/weller/butane/butaneselect.htm

 

[iggs]

Surely you should have a small led head torch in the basic kit.

While I would never consider taking any of this stuff on the trail I could see the worthwhile nature some of these bits being in a base camp tool kit for the endurance and adventure races that contain over night phases. Often the campsites are in the middle of a field with no access to electricity. A snapped/damaged wire or connector repair could make the difference between finishing or not and it a team of say 4 thats a lot of lights to go wrong.

Oh, and would not a bit of sponge be worth putting in for keeping the tip of the iron clean during use?

 

[Khaytsus]

I wouldn't go touring with a light that I know I'll have to make repairs on.. If it's that squirrelly or unreliable I would just buy a proper bike light and use it.

What good is 350 lumens if it's 0 because you went over too many bumps?

I think what I'd do if I were making myself a bike light is make everything SOLID, no movement inside, make sure everything is soldered well to start with, strain relief, perhaps even cables that unplug if they're yanked so it doesn't damage anything internally, etc..

I understand that high power bike lights are expensive, but I found one bike light company that seems to make some good lights for $100-$150, it's http://www.marwiusa.com I don't have any of their stuff, so research some, but it looks pretty good. Last time I looked at their website much I think it was all incan, but might be able to see what kind of bulbs they use, maybe one can drop a replacement in or something if you insist on LED.

 

[Calina]

I wouldn't go touring with a light that I know I'll have to make repairs on.. If it's that squirrelly or unreliable I would just buy a proper bike light and use it.

What good is 350 lumens if it's 0 because you went over too many bumps?

I think what I'd do if I were making myself a bike light is make everything SOLID, no movement inside, make sure everything is soldered well to start with, strain relief, perhaps even cables that unplug if they're yanked so it doesn't damage anything internally, etc..

I understand that high power bike lights are expensive, but I found one bike light company that seems to make some good lights for $100-$150, it's http://www.marwiusa.com I don't have any of their stuff, so research some, but it looks pretty good. Last time I looked at their website much I think it was all incan, but might be able to see what kind of bulbs they use, maybe one can drop a replacement in or something if you insist on LED.

Marwi has lots of LED lights.

And I agree completely with your comment on reliability.

 

[filibuster]

I have both the Weller and Cold-Heat versions of battery powered soldering irons. I picked them both up at Home Depot. They both work fine (as fine goes) on NiMH but you want to make sure you have spare batteries because you will in all likelihood need to change them out to finish even a simple project.

The Weller is more of a traditional type iron and does better at de-soldering than my experience with the Cold-Heat. You can buy different tips for the cold-heat which may help depending on the task but the tips are another thing on the cold-heat you will likely need to replace after a few projects.