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Soldering Irons/Guns

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DesertSprite

Jedi Warrior
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What do you guys have? I'm thinking of buying a Craftsman one, just because I've had pretty good results with Sears tools. But, I'm also thinking of that "ColdHeat" one that is on the infomercials. Anyone bought one? I'm just wondering about its build quality.

Joel /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/patriot.gif
 
You have to have the two contact points (it is one tip with a split) directly on the object. It is sort of a mini welder so to to speak. Not as easy as they show on TV. I don't have one but watched a friend use one. Thye do work. doubt they would heat anything more than small wires. No idea if his still is working after a year though.
 
Joel, I've got a couple of Weller guns that have served me well over the years, and an old beat up Wen, that has to have been built in about 1955. The thing just won't quit!
For bench work, I have a Weller soldering station, with a rheostat to set the heat precisely where I want it. The last I knew, Weller was making the Craftsman guns.
Forget the cold heat iron. I have a friend in the electronics lab at work that has thrown three of them away in the last year. He and I just had a conversation about them a couple of weeks ago. Leave them on the 2 AM info-mercials where they belong.
A butane pencil is nice to have if you need to do any work in the field, where electric power isn't available. I keep one of those in my portable tool kit.
Jeff
 
I have a beat up old 100 watt Wen gun also. Forty plus years old. I got a couple of extra tips early on, & one of them is still new. Works great for general purpose. For delicate work, a 20 year old Wahl Iso-Tip, temperature controlled. Several sizes & shapes of interchangeable tips. Added an old Archer stand/holder for convenience. For big jobs, a propane torch using direct flame. I have found no need for anything more exotic. The Wahl will handle some pretty small micro circuits.

Never did like the Weller guns. Tip too small to transfer heat well & fragile. The Wen tip is much sturdier.

I agree about the cold heat irons. A TV gimmick that appears to be a joke when you think about what an iron actually has to do.

In the military/missile industries, we used to use resistance soldering. Two tiny tips that bridged a joint & passed current between the tips. Fully adjustable heat ranges & current pulse duration. Just the thing for ultra delicate, tiny circuits. I imagine that modern methods don't use this anymore.
D
 
Dave, I love my old Wen. I still have the metal box it came in when my grandfather bought it, and still have one original tip.
I agree that the Weller tips are more fragile, but they are cheap, and easy to find replacements for. I use the Weller guns for the smaller gauge stuff. If I have to do a bigger job, I grab the Wen.
Battery cables, etc., it's the torch.
Remember, Joel is on an Army budget! Or, I should say, an Army paycheck. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Jeff
 
I'm with you Jeff, I use a Weller Expert 100/140 watts. Got it when I was kid to build radios and other electronic vacuum tube stuff. When the tip wears out, I bend up some more 12 or 14 gauge copper wire.
 
"Good" copper soldering iron tips are nickel or iron plated. The tinning never needs to be redone. Just wipe it off when hot & there is a perfect tinned surface. Bare copper is constantly in need of cleaning, retinning. The plated tip never oxidizes or wears away. I'm just lazy I guess.
D
 
Okay, I'll forget the coldheat one, I was pretty sure someone was going to testify to it being a pile of /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/pukeface.gif

I think my Dad has an old Craftsman one that he never uses if I remember right. It seemed to work fine for small jobs. You guys think that would be adequate for auto applications?

I did see some Weller ones online when I did a search, but some of them were a bit spendy. The butane power source would be nice though, then I don't have to worry about an extension cord to my car (I live at an apartment complex: no garage). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Thanks for all the input.

Joel
 
Joel, for most automotive applications, a gun of 100 watts or so should be sufficient for probably 90% of the wiring you will be doing. It'll be slow on the heavier gauge wire, but should work OK.
Jeff
 
I think Sears had one for about $30 which would provide 100 watts but it had a cord attached to it. I'm tempted to go for one of those butane ones. Hmmm.

Joel
 
I have a stupid question. Just bought a Weller for a project that I am working on. I have not soldered much before. The gun has two trigger settings. Is the first click on the trigger low, then pulled all the way in the high heat. thanks, Dave
 
Dave, you are correct. The label or ID tag on the gun somewhere should show two wattages. Typically something like 100 / 140.
Only use what you need.
Jeff
 
It is a professional gun, something like 180/240. What power does one need to join wires as example, or does one just work faster?
 
I have a Weller, hardly ever dig it out. The 23-watt pencil type works well for me. The only electrical I couldn’t do on the car with it being the battery cables.
 
I have a 80-120W Weller (rheostat temp control attached to stand) that I acquired while I was in the Military (it pays to be around when they start ditchin' stuff for "inventory"). Haven't had to use it in several years though. The particular one I have isn't well suited for large applications (I was in electronics in the Marines), but it was perfect for soldering components on circuit boards. About the biggest thing I'd solder with it would be tinning 10ga wires... even then that might be pushing it.

brdave - the power you need to join wires depends on the size of the wires. 180W should be more than enough power to join wires up to 8ga I reckon... You usually don't want to use more power than what's needed because the practice is to get the job done without damaging the inuslation. However, more power will get the job done faster, but potentially more difficult if you heat the wires too much. I'd do a few practice runs on some scrap wires identical to the size of the wires you want to join just so you get a sense of the timing involved to get a good solid join without over heating the wires.
 
I have a collection ranging from the 15 watt iron for delicate surface mount stuff, a 25 watt for things like switches, and both 100 watt and 250 watt guns. Had to buy the 250 watt gun when I needed to desolder the 1/2" wide copper grounding strap from the chassis of my 1936 Zenith console radio, and I've named that one the knuckle scorcher :smile:. I've been a little leery of the cold heat thing I've seen on TV; it seems like a gimmick. Usually if I just need to join wires or solder something to a terminal the 100 watt gun heats up plenty fast.
-Dave
 
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