Cordless iron

The first generation battery irons were just toys and did not have the capacity to solder medium to large joints. I assume they have improved because they could not have gotten much worse. :)

I really like my Weller Portasol PSI-100K.

Beware though!

• It is a very unregulated source, so you will have to adjust the heat somewhat hotter than you would with an electric iron.
• Use good quality butane. The 'variety store' stuff can cause your iron to sputter. 'Master Ultratane' works very well for me.
• Don't send your iron in for warranty repair. They will steal it instead of repair and return it.

--Winston

I have a 20+ year old Weller battery (two sub-C nicads) iron that has had the batteries replaced several times. It still sees regular use for a variety of things.

Tips are still available on Ebay and elsewhere (I bought several last year). Some of the larger tips will do a good-sized joint (several #16 wires on a lug). There are also some very small tips (I use one for soldering SOIC 8 chips to SOIC-DIP adapters).

I did modify the charging stand. There's a resistor in series with one of the charging leads, sized to provide enough voltage drop to light a small LED when the iron is charging (if the iron isn't straight in the stand, it doesn't make good contact for charging). This also reduced the charging current to a level that makes it safe to leave the iron on charge continuously.

I also added a dioed in series with the bulb that provides light to the tip. It reduces the brightness a little, but it also reduces the current the bulb uses - slightly increasing the number of connections that can be made before the iron needs charging, John

Don't throw away your corded iron quite yet.

I have several Ungar, Weller, and no-name battery operated soldering contrivances. They all have some common characteristics.

1. Their accompanying crude battery chargers kill batteries. They also never seem to be charged when I need to use one.
2. The tips are far too small to solder anything larger than an SMT component.
3. The slightest breeze, even indoors, will chill the tip dramatically.

The main reason I was interested in these is that at one time, I was doing some soldering on top of a radio tower. After several failed experiments with cordless, I just dragged a 100ft extension cord up the tower and used a normal Weller soldering station. Butane burners were not an option because of the presence of emergency generator storage tanks, but might have worked if they were allowed.

One experiment that worked, but was impractical, was to use a 12V gel cell to run a small (100w) 12V to 117v inverter. That was a bit clumsy with all the cables, but provided the most heat for connector soldering up the tower.

Avoid the temptation to run a Weller soldering iron handles on DC. They normally run on 24v AC. Logic would suggest that DC should work. Well, it does, but it also tends to weld the thermostat contacts together after a few hours. They can be unstuck and cleaned, but that gets old quickly.

I also have a really old (1960's) 12V DC Weller soldering iron, that I horde for special occasions.

Since I haven't played with cordless irons for many years, I can't really offer a specific recommendation.

I used a first generation Wahl cordless iron daily on my bench, for over a decade. I used a larger iron when needed, but over 90% of the joints were fine with the cordless iron. Their 'TV Tuner extension tip' was quite handy in places that a regular iron would destroy other components or a wiring harness.

Along with the Wahl I had a Weller SP23, a Weller SP175, and for field use I carried a Weller 8200 soldering gun. If none of them were heavy enough, I pulled out a propane fired iron with a 3/4" wide chisel tip. Since most of my repairs were on PC boards, the cordless was my weapon of choice.

Why would anyone in their right mind want to steal a defective soldering iron?

I learned to use good quality butane because the 'variety store' stuff caused my iron to sputter. The warranty repair was for that sputtering, before I knew the cause of the problem. I feed my second iron the best quality butane and it has never let me down.

The Weller sales rep knew that all he had to do was flush out the bad butane and refill with good butane and he had himself a brand new iron for free.

He had me send it to an individual. I figured that it was an exotic problem that only that one guy could repair for me. Lesson learned.

--Winston

That's not stealing. If it was sent in for repair, they aren't giving you anything, either.

Let's say you give me an object for me to look at, temporarily. I put it in my pocket and walk away. You never see me or your object again for as long as you live.

How is that not stealing?

--Winston

What makes you think I'd let you walk away with it?

How do you know that it wasn't lost in the mail? How long would a company stay in business if they operate the way you claim?

I promised to make it perform to spec. See, it used to work properly, but then it malfunctioned. I told you I would fix it for free and send it back. It's all in the warranty:

"Cooper Hand Tools will repair or replace products found to be defective not caused by a part, component or accessory manufactured by another company, during the warranty period."

They didn't repair it or replace it. They stole it.

When he wouldn't return my calls, I called that a clue.

--Winston

Winston, I don't think I would return your calls either.

Gareth.

(...)

Your postings show you to be a courteous and thoughtful fellow and you managed to get 'labeled' by Allison, (so you don't allow yourself to be bullied, either).

Why wouldn't you return one of my calls? :)

--Winston

The early Wellers (I still have mine, though I haven't used it in some time, and don't know what the condition of the battery is) were perfectly okay for light soldering. That was precisely the point -- in exchange for low output, you got a cordless iron that couldn't electrically damage the components. Which is why they called it "IsoTip".

If you expect to medium or heavier soldering away from a power line, the propane -- I mean, butane (sorry, Hank) -- iron makes sense. For light work -- especially small components -- the rechargeable iron makes sense.