Topic: Cordless Soldering Irons

[swellguy]

So I'm starting to get into the electrical and wiring of my café bike . . .

I'm no stranger to soldering and thought this project was the reason to get a cordless soldering iron. About a year ago I was sold a Weller PSI 100 K butane powered iron:



Long and the short of it I've used it intermittently and frankly hate it. Goes through butane rapidly, lots of times never heats up hot enough, when I change tips sometimes small flames shoot out of the vents and now the igniter has gone kaput.

My friend uses a cold heat unit and he just hums along doing his work with it. I've asked him several times which one he uses and all he can remember is that it's gray.

Can anyone here offer some recommendations? I just don't want to do this with a corded iron.

[Duke McDukiedook]

I drag my Ungar UTC100 station out whenever I do any soldering.
A little cumbersome especially when working when the equipment is still on the bike, but it works well.

[wannabridin]

You seen this?  http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/heat_cold_soldering_set.html

I've heard some decent reviews on this one before. 

[gnarlycharlie4u]

I'm a big fan of the impromptu soldering iron.

I've used 12v wall adapter/transformer and a pencil before.

My favorite tho is definitely teh blowtoarch+screwdriver method.

[drones76]

I'm a big fan of the impromptu soldering iron.

I've used 12v wall adapter/transformer and a pencil before.

My favorite tho is definitely teh blowtoarch+screwdriver method.

My brother showed me how to solder with an ice pick over the flame on the kitchen stove.  He made some really nice cold solder joints. 

[Nortstudio]

You seen this?  http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/heat_cold_soldering_set.html

I've heard some decent reviews on this one before. 

I have this one shown in the link.  I have only used it for soldering audio cables, but sorta hated it.  I recently brought it home from the studio to give it another shot on the bike.  Haven't had the need for it yet.  I do all my wrenching on the curb, and it would be great to have a cordless solder set up, but I'm not sure this one won't cause more frustration than it's worth.  

[domer]

i gave my cordless away and went back to a corded. almost every reason sellguy gave. my corded weller takes about 30 seconds to get to temp, holds that temp well, and even has a built in light... what else could i ask for.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

I have a Cold Heat brand. I was very skeptical to say the least until I used it. Haven't used it much but it worked great. I doubt it would do much other than small wires however. Down side is that proprietary tip they talk about breaks and I don't think these things are made anymore.

[lone*X]

I had the Cold Heat brand that was pitched on TV several years ago.  It was only good for small gauge wire,  and even then you have to watch for cold joints.  They just don't have the wattage.   I use an old Weller soldering gun for heavy duty work and an Ungar corded iron for smaller jobs.   Good tools and good consumables get the job done right.

[BlindSight]

Have tried 4 different electric soldering irons as a mechanic doing frequent soldering work and they all were crap. I ended up getting one of the normal butane mini torches that came with a soldering tip and I love it, it gets hot enough to melt solder pretty fast and it doesn't seem to go through butane very fast...am only on my second small refill canister in over 3 years and use it for everything.

[crazypj]

I bought a Blue Point about 30 yrs ago when I was fitting a lot of Datatool motorcycle alarms and still use it
I forget the number but it was probably discontinued 20 yrs ago 
 I've soldered throttle cables and done off site repairs to various machine electrical systems where the nearest power outlet could be 5~10 miles away.
 Snap-On still make a cordless but it now had push button ignition.
 I buy a lighter gas refill every couple of years, only takes a 'spot' to fill soldering iron (I don't use it daily, sometimes weeks go by without needing it)

[wrenchmuch]

I have a  bunch of different soldering irons . My Weller butane iron is good for some circuit board work and for shrinking heat shrink tubing but it does sputter a bit just after filling . You get about 30 min. on a refill .
I use a Weller corded pencil iron for most of my board and audio cable work .
I use a 340 Watt Weller pistol type iron for larger things like heavy gauge speaker wire . If I needed an iron for just working on the bikes it would be the 340 Watt gun . It heats almost right away and has no problem getting 6 Gauge cable hot enough to solder . Its also small enough at the tip to work on smaller stuff .
 I've had this gun since 82' and I expect I'll be able to leave it in my will .
Cordless is fine till the wire gets to about 14 gauge . Not enough heat after that .
Mike

[Nortstudio]

It's hard to go wrong with a Weller.  Al the indoors audio connections I work on are done with a Weller, and as Wrenchmuch mentions, it will probably outlive you by quite a few years.  It seems to me, a decent corded iron, with an extension cord, covers all the needs you may ever have.

[stueveone]

I just ordered a hakko soldering station that I heard was the bees knees. Fully dial adjustable, light, and of course it has a holder, cause it's annoying trying to find a spot to dangle a hot object.