soldering tool question

Just say "No".

*-reviews+amazon+coldheat *-too-hot+Iso-Tip+cold-heat

I haven't used one yet, but they work by making two electrical contacts with a conductor, which causes the surface of the resistive tip to become a heating element. I am doubtful that it is easy to make two good connections, in the presence of solder flux and odd surfaces, like component leads sticking through a foil trace pad.

But I might be wrong.

I really like my thermostatically controlled iron. (one of these)

The heating element is recessed inside the hollow tip, so the iron heats up fast, but the handle stays nice and cool.

They're rubbish.

Graham

Avoid it - it's almost useless. Ed

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. :-)

Those "cold heat" soldering tools are just a hand-held resistance solderer. What they do is, instead of a tip that heats up, the tip comprises two electrodes that you press up against the item to be soldered, and it passes some insane amount of current through the object itself, so that the component lead (or pad) becomes the heating element.

I wouldn't buy one, and if my Dad (RIP) had offered me one, I'd have said, "Ah, gee, Dad, I really, really appreciate it, but it seems to me that it'd make much more sense for you to spend that money on something _you_ need, and then I won't have to buy _you_ a present! :-)"

(AAMOF, my entire family made that agreement some years ago, and it makes for much, much pleasanter Xmases. :-) Still gotta get trinkets for the SPMs, though. >:-( how exactly _are_ you supposed to enclose a smiley or frowney inside parens, expecially[SIC] at the end of the quip? ;-)

Cheers! Rich

Geez, this is succinct! It took me almost three paragraphs to say the same thing. What a pedant I am!

Cheers! Rich

now THAT's a good idea. I suck at shopping. I never know what to get anyone, so end up deliberating for hours and coming home with a gift certificate anyway. Dunno about smiley/paren interactions. I have found (OT,I know) that in a word doc, I can't enclose an "R" in parentheses, as it turns itself into a "registered tm" sign, an R in a circle. Same with "(C)" in a .doc. Odd 'feature', that.

-thanks for all the feedback re 'coldheat' btw. I won't be trading in my old tool. It's not hi-tek but it works just fine.

-karinne

k wallace wrote in news:vM-dnakYRZn7qQfenZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

I've got one... It's good for the first 2-3 connections on fresh batteries, but after that it's quite bad. I've been considering upping the voltage (to 9V) and seeing if that works better.

Take the $20 they want for it to Walmart or Radio Shack and get yourself a butane powered soldering iron if you want wireless.

Puckdropper

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www.uncreativelabs.net

Old computers are getting to be a lost art. Here at Uncreative Labs, we

...[some stuff]

It's possible to turn off all of that crap, but it's kind of a PITA, to plow through all of the menus and stuff..

Good Luck! Rich

Instead of upping the voltage....wouldnt you want to add more batteries in parallel.....you want to increase the battery capacity ...I doubt upping voltage would do anything....

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote in news:1134827729.966666.18620 @g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

I want it to a) heat up faster and b) be useful longer. I think

*possibly* going with a 9V battery would do that. When I do that experiment, I'll report back.

Puckdropper

--
www.uncreativelabs.net

Old computers are getting to be a lost art. Here at Uncreative Labs, we 

Do you really think a 9 volt battery will deliver enough current to work?

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Been there, Done that, I\'ve got my DD214 to prove it.

Michael A. Terrell

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net:

Not anymore... I just looked up the mAh ratings of the different battery sizes and the 9V is about a quarter of a AA.

Thanks for suggesting I look more into this before I go and do it.

Puckdropper

--
www.uncreativelabs.net

Old computers are getting to be a lost art. Here at Uncreative Labs, we