? about cool touch sodering irons

[jecorbett]

Has anyone tried on of those cool touch sodering irons that I've seen advertised on TV. The ads claim they heat up in seconds but cool down just as fast. If I remember right, they are battery operated as well. Sounds too good to be true to me. Do they really work?

John

[selector]

Mixed reviews, but you should probably stick with the 30-60 watt irons or pencils. Last spring, there was a thread on this subject (no, I recall two), and the ones you mention did not get much credit.

[Robert Langford]

I have 2 of the cool irons you are asking about. Yes they do work, but mostly only for wire soldering. Actually it is not a new thing, 55 years ago I drove a 1941 ford coupe, and I used the center carbon of a dry cell battery hooked up the car battery to solder wires in the car. The carbon gets hot very fast, and cools fast also. The expensive soldering units advertised in model RR mags use the same principal. I hope this helps.
BOB
Srperintendent and owner of the SANDY SOUTHERN RAILWAY.

[tigerstripe]

sounds to good to be true, because it is.
lots of things work good TV.....wanna know how to make money in the stock market, send me $9.95 to learn more.
stick with the real deal its the same price, and it actually works.

[krump]

these responses are good to know - I had the same ?

[Anonymous]

Got one, tried it. More trouble than it was worth. It's sitting on the back of the shelf now and will probably stay there. Regular soldering iron works "SO" much better.

[Pruitt]

These things are just a small and cheap resistance soldering set.

I bought the "Cold Heat" one at Lowes a couple months ago. It worked great for soldering wires to some switch machines. Not enough OOMPH to handle larger wires (like my #12 Buss wires, but what can you expect from a couple of AA batteries, anyway? For small-gauge wires, 20 gauge and smaller, it works fine as long as you aren't soldering a whole bunch of them together.

[Anonymous]

Get a regular 110 volt soldering iron.

Those cool touch thingys are too puny.

If yer gonna get the job done, get something that gets HOT. Those cool touch toys are inadequate.

I think cool touch uses elcetricity and has the ability to literally electrocute computers etc...

[Anonymous]

One thing to keep in mind is that higher-wattage soldering irons are better for soldering wires to track without melting any ties. A larger iron heats a target area much FASTER than a small iron, so the heat doesn't have as much time to spread out to unwanted areas.

[howmus]

QUOTE: Originally posted by KenLarsen

One thing to keep in mind is that higher-wattage soldering irons are better for soldering wires to track without melting any ties. A larger iron heats a target area much FASTER than a small iron, so the heat doesn't have as much time to spread out to unwanted areas.

Uh... Yes and no. If you get too large an iron, it will transfer way too much heat way too fast, and you will melt the ties. I personally use a 25 watt iron and it works very well for me. I wouldn't want anything bigger. For most people a 40 watt iron would work best. Get much bigger than that and you will have trouble.

[Anonymous]

I had a NiCad portable but it would always seem to run out before I finished the job and I had to plug in the trusty Weller. I now have a Weller Butane portable that is instantly recharged. Haven't plugged in since.