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Any of you Pimps tried this Cold Heat Solder yet?....

Whadaya think of them ??

I have heard some mixed reviews. Haven't tried it myself, but people have said it works ok with somethings but for small electronics and stuff it can be a pain.

I have read one newerious forums that it sucks. Lol I'v heard its ok for somethings, great for like in the pit incase a wire comes undone yea know.

I've heard they suck down batteries like an old French whore.

hue35 wrote:I've heard they suck down batteries like an old French whore.

Like a digital camera, they suck alkalines. Lithiums are suggested.
I heard bad things about them too but they're "suppose" to be good for circuit board work

I actually have one. I got it last December. I've used it only a little bit. My thoughts are that it isn't high powered enough for big jobs, and it's too cumbersome for small jobs. But it really excells on medium sized jobs. So using it for FET's would be hard, but soldering a general connection on a board would be doable.

It takes some serious work to get used to it. Not sure if you know how it works, but there is a chisel tip with a small line seperating it in half. One half is positive, the other negative. You have to bridge the crack to get it to heat up and melt the solder. This is why it's hard doing small things. But who knows, maybe someone can use it better than me.

Later,
Chrome...

Thanks for the review Chrome, I've been curious about those.

I'll tell you what, I can wait 10 minutes for my soldering iron to heat up. Yeah, sometimes a wire pops off right when you're getting ready to play, and you just want to do a quickie job, but 90% of the time, when I sit down to solder, I'm gonna be busy for a while.

after going through 3-4 cheap RS soldering irons, hue and I splurged and bought these Hakko soldering stations and extra pointy tips. Along with our RCP track, probably the best little car investment to date. I think they were like $80.

And they heat up in about 20-30 seconds, no shit.

i use a simple desktop model for long jobs but for quick and portable stuff i have a japanese butane iron. it heats up in 30 - 40 seconds and is good for fine work like surface mount stuff or big jobs like battery packs.
i'm sure the portasol is just as good and spares would be more readily available.

Thanx Chrome, that's what I wanted to hear. Do they make smaller tip for these that you know of?

SF/Hue: That's one hella macho soldering gun man. Adjustable heat, damn! I'll hit you guys up later more on that!