" Cold heat" soldering gun

[Tirebiter]

They work extremely well on circuit boards

A client gave me one and I was pleasantly surprised. The pity is that I would never have bought one based on their stupid commercial.

[leathermang]

Is that related to " cold Fusion" ?
How about a link to the ad ?
Is this the opposite of " hot cold" ?

[ned2683]

Originally Posted by Tirebiter

They work extremely well on circuit boards

A client gave me one and I was pleasantly surprised. The pity is that I would never have bought one based on their stupid commercial.

i saw that ad and they kept poking the guys finger right after they solder something. and i was thinking WTF would they do that for?

so how is the battery life on it?

[boneheaddoctor]

I still say its fine for soldering wires together.......but has too many watts of hear for PC work (printed circuits). You will overheat tracks and components, not good. 25 watt iron is the most you should use for electronic work....I spent a lot of years in the electronics industry and did R&D work which had me doing LOTS of soldering, etc.

[Tirebiter]

Yep, the ad turned me off too. We all know that "cold" is subjective and relative to other conditions while temperature is measured by degrees of heat. It sounded like a ploy aimed at the ignorant masses. Such is marketing.

It has several tips and although I have only used it to repair four circuit boards, it works as well as my 15 watt pencil tip. I have the habit of using heat sinks on transisters and diodes so I don't know if damage is easily done without them. Since I use sockets for ICs, no problem there either.

I'll be giving it a workout soon because I have a project coming up where I will be making a mobile cell phone jammer

[Palangi]

I just got one of those doodads for my birthday. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. Maybe this weekend.

[boneheaddoctor]

Originally Posted by Palangi

I just got one of those doodads for my birthday. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. Maybe this weekend.

Be careful, it doesn't take much heat to lift circuit tracks from the substrate, or damage a solid state component.

[phidauex]

You just have to be quick with it. 'Cold Heat' is a dumb name, it makes lots of heat, you just need to make an electrical connection between the two halves of the tip, then it heats them up with current so you can solder the joint. When you remove it, the circuit is broken and the current stops, and the tiny tips cool down very quickly because of their small size. Try sticking the tip against your tounge if you want to experience how hot it really gets. (note, don't actually try that).

I don't think they are too hot for small electronics.. I normally use a 35W with a tiny tip and just work fast. I'd actually like to get one of these doodads for my general electronics work around the house, keeping my other irons for precision work at the bench. Just remember that 'cold heat' is still heat, and if you are working on sensitive items with short traces and leads you'll still need clip-on heat sinks.

Neat item though.

peace,
sam

[trontek]

needs to be heated enough to melt the solder. You will most probably end up with a cold solder joint if you use the iron to melt the solder and then attempt to "stick" the connection together.

Comments anyone?

[boneheaddoctor]

Originally Posted by trontek

needs to be heated enough to melt the solder. You will most probably end up with a cold solder joint if you use the iron to melt the solder and then attempt to "stick" the connection together.

Comments anyone?

Very true, thats why a big iron is bad.....to much heat means timing is even far more critical

[phidauex]

Originally Posted by trontek

needs to be heated enough to melt the solder. You will most probably end up with a cold solder joint if you use the iron to melt the solder and then attempt to "stick" the connection together.

Comments anyone?

Yup, you never want to heat the solder, you want to heat the joint, then melt the solder onto the joint. If I can, I don't even touch the solder to the iron, just iron to joint, and solder to joint. Thats part of what makes the 'cold heat' thing pretty handy, it can't melt solder directly, it has to heat the joint first. Avoids that newbie tendency to get a gob of solder on the tip and then try to 'wipe' or 'glob' it onto the joint.

I still prefer more heat, I use a 25w/35w switchable, and usually leave it on 35. I keep trying to justify one of those cool temp controlled units.. This surprisingly cheap unit really tempts me.. I bet it would fit nicely on my workbench, and would definately be a step above the basic handheld units.

http://www.web-tronics.com/aueltecosost.html

Peace,
Sam

[SD Blue]

"Cold Heat?" For crying out loud! "Resistance" soldering irons have been around since the 40's. I definitely would NOT use it on anything but stand alone wires, (boat trailer lights). The current, from a resistive soldering iron will fry anything solid-state. That is why we have not seen them on the market in so many years.

Talk about intermittent electrical problems!

I have worked in electronics for the past 30+ years, multi-layer circuitry and surface mount technology up to major high speed communications on defense aircraft and medical technology. (in fact, I have used resistive soldering equipment).

If you want to use it on wiring, it works great. Do NOT use it on anything with circuitry!

I am only trying to save you a lot of grief!

[Palangi]

Well, I got to play with it a bit today. It has a split tip. There has to be conductivity between the two halves of the tip before you get heat. That in itself means it's no good for circuit board work. I wasn't too impressed. My butane soldering iron is much better for portable work.

i bought one the other day and agree with the previous post. cordless butane is much better! anyone want to buy a cold heat? really cheap!
Ray
mercedessd@cox.net

[unkl300d]

now available at Costco for $15 by Coleman.

cold heat good for cold sores???