Best gas soldering iron

I need to buy a gas soldering iron. The application is limited production work on PCB's away from AC power. Accordingly, I would like a better quality iron than would be suited only to occasional repairs.

There are now quite a few on the market. Can anyone offer any firsthand recommendations as to the best and/or most cost effective brands and models?

The original Weller's still look good, but seem a bit expensive compared with the newer imports.

Robert Bennett

Reply to
Robert Benett
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These "gas" irons are rather poorly made in China devices. [OK, one was made in Taiwan.] I've had two fail in the field. Granted, they were cheap, but not being able to do the repair was the issue. I found using an inverter and conventional soldering iron is much simpler.

Reply to
miso

A gas iron will likely scorch the pads off a board. There are some battery-powered irons.

But why do "production" somewhere that there's no power?

John

Reply to
John Larkin

Just to be clear, the gas iron the OP speaks of uses a flame that heat a tip. That is, you don't put a flame to the board. It sounds good on paper, but reality is quite different. The butane flow depends on the tilt of the torch.

Harbor Freight sells a really cheap iron using that scheme:

Reply to
miso

On a sunny day (Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:38:19 -0800) it happened John Larkin wrote in : A gas iron will likely scorch the pads off a board. There are some

I vaguely remember using the Weller magnestat on a 12V sealed lead acid battery.

Reply to
Jan Panteltje

Yes, they are very bad for electronics work. They were almost unusable

20 years ago, when parts were much bigger, with big pads more tolerant to high temperature.

Unless they've developed an actively temperature controlled one now?

[...]
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John Devereux
Reply to
John Devereux

Robert,

If you're open to alternatives, I'll recommend the Wahl Iso-Tip series of rechargeable electric irons. Extremely portable, light (although perhaps not as light as some of the "micro" gas irons I've seen), and can be recharged in the field if you have a low-wattage inverter available.

Wahl also sells tips in a variety of sizes.

Frank McKenney

-- "They [the Congress] seemed, some little while ago, to be at a loss for objects whereon to throw away the supposed fathomless funds of the treasury." -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Thomas Ritchie

-- Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887 Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney ayut mined spring dawt cahm (y'all)

Reply to
Frnak McKenney

Yes, but tip temps can get very high on a gas-powered iron, and as you note control is poor.

Get a car or motorcycle battery and google "12 volt soldering iron"

John

Reply to
John Larkin

I'll second this: I've used these before, and they're awesome! ;-)

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Cheers! Rich

Reply to
Rich Grise

But if you do this often you need a deep-cycle version, not a starter battery since they won't last very long in this mode. Hard to find and expensive in smaller versions. In fact I am just looking for a 12V/18Ah lead acid because the battery in my emergency power suitcase has croaked. Probably buying a new kit will be cheaper :-(

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Regards, Joerg

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Reply to
Joerg

Hey, 30 years ago I repaired a stereo amp with an inbus wrench heated on a stove. It can be done. And I had copious amounts of Ouzo, beer and other stuff in my system at that moment. It was a party at a mechanical engineering student and those guys don't have solder irons, so a dead stereo meant a minor crisis. They were mighty impressed when Led Zeppelin was back on. Well, turns out I didn't even have to flick the power switch because I had forgotten to turn it off. That gave me a fright.

--
Regards, Joerg

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Reply to
Joerg

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I use gel cells pulled from datacenters. About $25 for 50AH.

Is the 209 area code near you? If so, I can email you a phone number for a source of used datacenter batteries. I've bought 5 from the guy (1 75AH and 4 50AH) without a problem. Now for failure is not an option, I buy the batteries new. But for "projects", the used batteries are fine.

Reply to
miso

:)

I'm sure I did something similar once using some handy piece of cutlery. Which couldn't have tinned very well. So you're right, a gas powered iron is better than nothing in a "field repair" situation. (But not "production", like the OP wanted!).

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John Devereux
Reply to
John Devereux

Thanks, but we are in the 530 area code (the one east of the 916 area code, 530 is split into two regions). Walmart, Costco and Sam's used to have large 12V trolling batteries for fishermen, somewhere between $50 and $100. I am going to Costco today for some year-end purchases so I'll look. Problem with those emergency power packs is that the battery must be an exact size-fit or you'll have to leave it external and then might as well buy a big marine deep-cycle.

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Regards, Joerg

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Reply to
Joerg

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Last time I looked, those big box stores have deep cycle batteries, but not gel cells. The vapors from deep discharge batteries will corrode electronics.

Reply to
miso

I received a catalytic pencil type iron by Radio Shack several years ago as a gift. It took a coupe of years for me to open and try it. I was pleasantly surprised with its light weight and fine tip. It uses Butane lighter fluid. Very handy, Nice control.

John Ferrell W8CCW

Reply to
John Ferrell

Yeah, I am going to place one externally. The prices for matching gel cells are ridiculously high.

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Regards, Joerg

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Reply to
Joerg

I'll ad mine to the chorus asking the question "Why would you do production away from AC power?".

Reply to
Greegor

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I'd track down a source of used datacenter batteries. These are pulled like clockwork because nobody wants to take the blame if the datacenter fails because they were being cheap. There is always some person that gets the batteries for cheap, then sorts out the best ones. If you can track down a local ham club, there is probably somebody who knows where to get the used gel cells.

I wouldn't want to charge the deep discharge battery in any indoor environment.

Reply to
miso

I have no idea what you have worked with. I currently have a couple of very nice throttleable ones that have been very useful for about a decade now. I like my port-a-sol pretty well. I also have a variety of corded irons, mostly temperature controlled.

Reply to
JosephKK

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