Cold Heat Soldering Tool - any good? stay away?

[TE]

Hi guys,

I've never really done much soldering before but would like to pick up an
inexpensive gun to start playing... The one I came across is sold on QVC
and thinkgeek.com called the Cold Heat Soldering Tool. This device looks
very cool. However, I cannot find any reviews or posts about this
product. Further more, I purchased a matrix binary watch from this
company and it blew up in less then a year (no warranty). That left me a
little careful. Do any of you have experience (good or bad) or have any
of you heard anything? Perhaps there is a more appropriate forum to be
posting this question to??
Thanks in advance!!! Oh by the way, here is the link:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/69d3/

 

[Rich Webb]

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 22:09:25 GMT, TE <fr33b3m3@SPAMMENOTyahoo.com>
wrote:

Hi guys,

I've never really done much soldering before but would like to pick up an
inexpensive gun to start playing... The one I came across is sold on QVC
and thinkgeek.com called the Cold Heat Soldering Tool. This device looks
very cool. However, I cannot find any reviews or posts about this
product. Further more, I purchased a matrix binary watch from this
company and it blew up in less then a year (no warranty). That left me a
little careful. Do any of you have experience (good or bad) or have any
of you heard anything? Perhaps there is a more appropriate forum to be
posting this question to??
Thanks in advance!!! Oh by the way, here is the link:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/69d3/

It's not how hot the tip gets but how well it can heat the item to be
soldered. The heatup/cooldown rates mentioned in the link seem to imply
very low thermal mass. Maybe it can pump out enough heat to work but...

If you're interested in portable, battery irons then consider Iso-Tip,
who have been in the portable iron market for a number of years.
http://www.web-tronics.com/iscorsolir.html

For a little less than twice what ThinkGeek is charging for their toy,
there's this guy from the same web site as above
http://www.web-tronics.com/cispdeesdsas.html

Or even this one http://www.web-tronics.com/phcovatesoir.html

Disclaimer -- just a Web-Tronics/CSI customer who needed a quick link to
a site with a few inexpensive irons.

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA

 

[Dr. Anton T. Squeegee]

In article <pan.2002.01.02.14.40.12.760660@SPAMMENOTyahoo.com>, fr33b3m3
@SPAMMENOTyahoo.com says...

Hi guys,

I've never really done much soldering before but would like to pick up an
inexpensive gun to start playing... The one I came across is sold on QVC
and thinkgeek.com called the Cold Heat Soldering Tool. This device looks
very cool. However, I cannot find any reviews or posts about this

<snippety>

I would be concerned about that. I would also be concerned about
the fact that the thing goes to 800 degrees plus, which is way too hot
for most PC board work (you'll lift the traces right off the board with
that temperature). You typically want about 700-725 with most PC boards.

Good quality soldering/desoldering equipment is an investment. If
you're serious about it, you should take a serious look at spending up
to $200, and pay attention to brands like Weller, Edsyn, Metcal, and
Hakko.


--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute.
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR,
kyrrin (a/t) bluefeathertech[d=o=t]calm -- www.bluefeathertech.com
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped
with surreal ports?"

 

[Bob Masta]

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 17:45:13 -0800, Dr. Anton T. Squeegee
<SpammersArePondScum@dev.null> wrote:

In article <pan.2002.01.02.14.40.12.760660@SPAMMENOTyahoo.com>, fr33b3m3
@SPAMMENOTyahoo.com says...

Hi guys,

I've never really done much soldering before but would like to pick up an
inexpensive gun to start playing... The one I came across is sold on QVC
and thinkgeek.com called the Cold Heat Soldering Tool. This device looks
very cool. However, I cannot find any reviews or posts about this

<snippety

I would be concerned about that. I would also be concerned about
the fact that the thing goes to 800 degrees plus, which is way too hot
for most PC board work (you'll lift the traces right off the board with
that temperature). You typically want about 700-725 with most PC boards.

Good quality soldering/desoldering equipment is an investment. If
you're serious about it, you should take a serious look at spending up
to $200, and pay attention to brands like Weller, Edsyn, Metcal, and
Hakko.

I'd recommend a Weller or similar iron with a
thermostatically-controlled tip. (There's a little
magnet that pulls in the heater connection until
the temperature rises above the Curie point, then
it drops out. You can hear a soft "click" every
now and then as it runs.) Mine runs direct
from the 120V mains and was *much* cheaper than
the comparable "low voltage soldering station".
I've had this for 30 years now and it's still going
strong. Since the thermostatic part is in the
tip, you can change temperatures (as well as
tip shape) by changing tips. But I've never
found the need to do that so far. (I have
a big soldering gun for serious heavy-duty
stuff. The iron handles everything else.)

However, I should add that I haven't
used this for surface mount. If I had a
surface mount job to do, I'm sure I'd
have to get a different tip.

Hope this helps!




Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com