Re: Soldering without a cord - butane, propane, or rechargeable?


"Chuck Olson" <chuckolson01@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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<jn_alexander2@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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I have gotten by over the years with a small no-name soldering iron, a
45 watt Weller iron, and an old Wen soldering gun to do the little bit
of electronics work I need done. I spent part of the 4th helping a
nephew with his car stereo installation. Most of it was crimping and
mechanical connections, but some soldering had to be done. With all
the cars parked around the house, I had to haul out an extension cord.
It kept getting in the way when working underneath the dash and hood.

So, I want a soldering tool without a cord. I'm old and cynical enough
to know that the 'Cold Heat' gun they sell on TV probably won't get it.
I saw a rechargeable iron years ago that a friend of mine had, but
never saw it in use. I have seen lots of the butane powered irons in
the store, but have no first hand experience with them. Looking at a
local electric shop, they had several butane irons (Weller Portasol,
Pyropen, etc) in different sizes. They also had a Bernzomatic propane
unit that looked nice with a four foot cord that would fit the propane
cylinders I already have for my plumbing torch.

Anyone have any opinions on what has (or hasn't) worked for you for
doing the sort of work normally done with a 45 watt iron or a 100 watt
gun?

Thanks,
J Nelson


I bought the Weller Portasol P2KC kit
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/weller/pricelist.htm last year and have
used it a few times on outdoor work with antennas, and stuff. Seems
dependable - - lights easily - - doesn't lose butane between month-apart
usage. It heats rapidly, and controllably to a degree, but it's not a
temperature-regulated device, so it tends to overheat between soldering
items a few minutes apart. I consider it a perfect answer for outdoor work
where it would be a whole lot of trouble to run an extension cord to an
electric iron.

Chuck

I have the P2KC and the WPA2.
The P2 works well if you stay out of the wind and are soldering 14GA or
smaller wire. The WPA just gets it on and does whatever I ask of it. They
both have a heat gun atachment for doing heatshrink etc, a hot knife for
cutting plastic and a torch head. I have had several earlier portasols and
used em up. The elements die after awhile for some reason and the tips
erode. But it takes a lot of soldering to do that. For most stuff I prefer
the P2 as it's smaller size makes it really easy to use. I even use it when
the soldering station is sitting right in front of me as I never drag stuff
off the bench with it :)
I have also had several different battery powered irons. All junk! Even
ones that cost as much as the WPA. The cold heat thing is Junk (with a
capitol J) The tip is carbon and fragile. Forget soldering anything bigger
than 22GA wire with it and circuit boards that I work on don't have room for
the kludge of a tip it has. On top of that it uses about 6 AA batteries
that last about 10 mins.
Avoid irons that use direct flame to heat the tip. Stick with the catalytic
heater type.
Glenn
Oh yeah .. I paid about $35 for the P2KC and about $80 for the WPA2 but that
was a few years ago.


.

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