On Tue, 23 Aug 2011 04:46:20 -0700 (PDT), Donovan Digital
wrote:
Thinking about picking up a cordless solder iron again - mostly for
audio cable work. Anyone have any suggestions? Weller or some other
brand? Gas or battery?
I'd really prefer battery. The smell of gas bothers me, so I hope
there's not really a significant power advantage to gas.
Don't throw away your corded iron quite yet.
I have several Ungar, Weller, and no-name battery operated soldering
contrivances. They all have some common characteristics.
1. Their accompanying crude battery chargers kill batteries. They
also never seem to be charged when I need to use one.
2. The tips are far too small to solder anything larger than an SMT
component.
3. The slightest breeze, even indoors, will chill the tip
dramatically.
The main reason I was interested in these is that at one time, I was
doing some soldering on top of a radio tower. After several failed
experiments with cordless, I just dragged a 100ft extension cord up
the tower and used a normal Weller soldering station. Butane burners
were not an option because of the presence of emergency generator
storage tanks, but might have worked if they were allowed.
One experiment that worked, but was impractical, was to use a 12V gel
cell to run a small (100w) 12V to 117v inverter. That was a bit
clumsy with all the cables, but provided the most heat for connector
soldering up the tower.
Avoid the temptation to run a Weller soldering iron handles on DC.
They normally run on 24v AC. Logic would suggest that DC should work.
Well, it does, but it also tends to weld the thermostat contacts
together after a few hours. They can be unstuck and cleaned, but that
gets old quickly.
I also have a really old (1960's) 12V DC Weller soldering iron, that I
horde for special occasions.
Since I haven't played with cordless irons for many years, I can't
really offer a specific recommendation.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558