OTish: Anyone use a ColdHeat Soldering Iron?

It's actually four AAs. That really should be enough. Maybe I'll try that on the ground. Now where's that spare momentary switch...?

I just spent something like $33 on the last lb roll of 0.031" Kester solder. It's almost tempting to tin the larger tips with the crap out of the solder sucker.

Try it with 4 well charged Nimh batteries. It should have more punch.

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

Dont cut the tip off..simply unscrew the two hold down "bolts" and remove them and the tip.

Its getting harder to find good tips in small towns. Even at Ace Hardware.

Screwing them back in when done is a 30 second task.

Get some 1/2 plywood and cut them wide enough to go through the hatch and at least be able to cover 3 rafters. Makes working up there more "pleasant" by whatever one measures pleasant by. And you can leave em up there. 3/8 works too, but it will sag more under you.

Thats one of the reasons after running an alarm company for nearly 2 decades..I simply walked away from a sucessful business and never went back.

Attics

High Desert

110F outside...think of what they are like..inside

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

There is nothing wrong with that. I used to toss all that scrap into a solder pot, and used it to til leads & soldering tips. Dip the tip in acid flux, then into the pot. It comes out perfectly tinned, then you drop it into a slightly base solution to neutralize any remaining acid. When I didn't have a solde pot handy, I would toss the scrap solder into a small metal container, add a few drops of liquid rosin flux, then stir the stuff around to tin the tip. You ended up with a small ball of clean solder, and some dross. Over the years I collected about 15 pounds of used solder that way. :)

Using carbon electrodes will limit the maximum current through the joint. You'd need a higher voltage to do much more that what the Alkalines will do. The only advantage of the NiMh is their output don't drop until they are mostly discharged. The old Wahl cordless irons used a pair of C sized NiCad and worked fairly well. The problem is that he needs 25 Watts or more of heat for that wire size to get good wetting on a solder joint. That would be about 5 Amps out of the battery, and the tool was designed for lower output chemistry than NiMh.

Classic resistance soldering, scaled down to hobby level applications. Any surface resistance of the wire prevents it from heating at the availible current. The current has to be high enough to heat the copper past the melting point of the solder. 14 AWG runs near room temperature at 15 Amps. That means you'll need enough current to heat it to around 700 F°

BTW: Here is more than you ever wanted to know about AWG copper wire:

True enough. But it would work far better than the carbons and for a longer time. Even at 1.2 volts

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

Thanks Mike.

I'd bet that used solder is nice and high in Tin! A good mix with bullet lead. If you ever want to sell it, let me know.

What is the resistance between the battery terminal & the item to be soldered? How much resistance does the switch add? What is the maximum current the carbon will handle? How much does the resistance go up with heat? How much waste heat can the cheap plastic case stand before it deforms, or catches fire?

Lots of missing, but critical information. In the commercials & photos they never showed them soldering anything heavier than a component lead. If you want portable, use a 12V jump pack, a step up regulator & a 24 volt soldering iron. Then you can get up to 75 Watts of heat in a short time, and keep it hot for a long time. I'm trying to find a decent steel ammo can around here to build a portable soldering iron into. The battery, charger, regulator, iron holder & iron along with room for a few spare tips, & a roll of solder. All I've found are plastic junk. One slip of the hot iron and you'll burn a hole through it.

Real resistance soldering is generally done with AC, and the transformer primary was switched to minimize losses. It's closer to spot welding than soldering. It's done at lower currents & isn't pulsed, but both rely on fairly high currents through the joint.

You're welcome. If you can read the label on the old spool, see if you can find the same alloy & gauge. I've had way too many labels fall off spools before they were empty. I do have a bunch of empty orange

1Lb spools I collected whiile I worked at Microdyne. I managed to get them to request them when someone in prduction needed a new spool. Sometimes you can get a spool that's been dropped & broken, real cheap. They are also great for 22-26 AWG hookup wire. :)