I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

TIA

--
A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner, so if
one's life is cold and bare he can blame none but himself.
-- Louis L'Amour

On 1/1/2013 6:43 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

That's the way it works, the tips get hot.
I see them a lot at garage sales. When I found one for a dollar, I
took the plunge.
I want my dollar back.
Yes, you can contrive a situation where it works quite well.
But for average use, it sucks.
Send it back if you can.
Get a Weller PortASol.

TIA

--
A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner, so if
one's life is cold and bare he can blame none but himself.
-- Louis L'Amour

Larry Jaques wrote:

I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.


It won't. It's the soldering iron Ron Popiel would have invented,
right after his "Pocket Fisherman" It's a cheap attempt at resistance
soldering that just doesn't work on anything thicker than 24 AWG.

On 1/1/2013 9:43 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

TIA

--
A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner, so if
one's life is cold and bare he can blame none but himself.
-- Louis L'Amour



I didn't think they would work, energy density is too low...no free lunch.

On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:19:52 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.


It won't. It's the soldering iron Ron Popiel would have invented,
right after his "Pocket Fisherman" It's a cheap attempt at resistance
soldering that just doesn't work on anything thicker than 24 AWG.


The one I depend on when out in the field

http://www.alliedelec.com/search/pro...x?sku=70189381

Master Appliance

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:19:52 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.


It won't. It's the soldering iron Ron Popiel would have invented,
right after his "Pocket Fisherman" It's a cheap attempt at resistance
soldering that just doesn't work on anything thicker than 24 AWG.

Thanks, guys. I'd hoped it would work. I'll haul up an extension
cord and the trusty Weller pistol grip for the job after all.

Gunner, my buddy Terry has a BluePoint iron like yours which works
well, but this is in a semi-dark enclosed attic with puffy rockwool
insulation all around, even if it isn't flammable. I have a butane
iron from HFT and it works well, but I'm not taking that up into the
attic with me, either.

--
You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore
the consequences of ignoring reality.
--Ayn Rand

Bigger wire... Bigger soldering iron...

Solid wire absorbs more heat than stranded wire, and its harder to use
solder to transfer heat.

I have battery operated on in my tool pouch that works wonders on 18 ga or
smaller stranded with fine solder.

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 06:59:09 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:19:52 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.


It won't. It's the soldering iron Ron Popiel would have invented,
right after his "Pocket Fisherman" It's a cheap attempt at resistance
soldering that just doesn't work on anything thicker than 24 AWG.

Thanks, guys. I'd hoped it would work. I'll haul up an extension
cord and the trusty Weller pistol grip for the job after all.

Gunner, my buddy Terry has a BluePoint iron like yours which works
well, but this is in a semi-dark enclosed attic with puffy rockwool
insulation all around, even if it isn't flammable. I have a butane
iron from HFT and it works well, but I'm not taking that up into the
attic with me, either.

Why..you cant figure out how to make a safe "rest" for the iron?

Hell..use a bread pan with an inch of kitty litter in the bottom.

Gunner
The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:40:41 -0800, Gunner
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 06:59:09 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:19:52 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.


It won't. It's the soldering iron Ron Popiel would have invented,
right after his "Pocket Fisherman" It's a cheap attempt at resistance
soldering that just doesn't work on anything thicker than 24 AWG.

Thanks, guys. I'd hoped it would work. I'll haul up an extension
cord and the trusty Weller pistol grip for the job after all.

Gunner, my buddy Terry has a BluePoint iron like yours which works
well, but this is in a semi-dark enclosed attic with puffy rockwool
insulation all around, even if it isn't flammable. I have a butane
iron from HFT and it works well, but I'm not taking that up into the
attic with me, either.

Why..you cant figure out how to make a safe "rest" for the iron?

Hell..use a bread pan with an inch of kitty litter in the bottom.

My attic's tight, with a low peak, 4'. I didn't want to drag a cord
around, over and under ducts, and now you're talking about taking a
lit flame and pan of fly-everywheres up there? Brilliant!

--
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering WTF happened.

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 11:17:44 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:40:41 -0800, Gunner
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 06:59:09 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:19:52 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.


It won't. It's the soldering iron Ron Popiel would have invented,
right after his "Pocket Fisherman" It's a cheap attempt at resistance
soldering that just doesn't work on anything thicker than 24 AWG.

Thanks, guys. I'd hoped it would work. I'll haul up an extension
cord and the trusty Weller pistol grip for the job after all.

Gunner, my buddy Terry has a BluePoint iron like yours which works
well, but this is in a semi-dark enclosed attic with puffy rockwool
insulation all around, even if it isn't flammable. I have a butane
iron from HFT and it works well, but I'm not taking that up into the
attic with me, either.

Why..you cant figure out how to make a safe "rest" for the iron?

Hell..use a bread pan with an inch of kitty litter in the bottom.

My attic's tight, with a low peak, 4'. I didn't want to drag a cord
around, over and under ducts, and now you're talking about taking a
lit flame and pan of fly-everywheres up there? Brilliant!


The soldering Iron I suggested...works much the same way as the
coldheat one does. It heats the element, which heats the wire, which
melts the solder. It just does it very much better. No open flame at
all. Its just a butane soldering iron that works very well and
delivers a goodly amount of heat. Flamelessly. Not a torch, not a
rosebud, no fire.

Shrug.

You could..pull the tip/loop off a corded gun and hold the wire
between the two stubs on the front of the gun and resistance heat the
wire with it...but then..you will need to pull a cable around behind
you.

I used a big Weller gun with no loop..to solder PL-259 connectors for
radio coax. Works very well for resistance soldering. Heats the shell
and tip nicely.

But..it needs a cord.

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

On 1/2/2013 11:58 AM, Gunner wrote:

[cornpone bull****]

gummer uses one...to remove polyps from his own colon.

Gunner wrote:

Why..you cant figure out how to make a safe "rest" for the iron?

Hell..use a bread pan with an inch of kitty litter in the bottom.


The dust can be flammable, or even explosive in an old attic. Why
risk it?

The U.S Army had cartridge irons for places like that. Put the
cartridgrige in the iron, and puncture it with the trigger for about 15
minuters of soldering. No power, no open flame and roughly equal to a
150 W iron. It was the only soldering tool allowed for a lot of work
outside the shop. I have had good luck whit the old Wahl cordless irons
installing alarm & signalling wiring, but they are only around 15 to 20
W

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/1/2013 9:43 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

I didn't think they would work, energy density is too low...no free lunch.


A pair of AA Alkalines just don't pout out enough current.

On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:43:13 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

TIA
I've had one for 3 years. Used it twice. Once successfully. I don't
mind admitting I was a sucker.

On 1/2/2013 4:16 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/1/2013 9:43 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

I didn't think they would work, energy density is too low...no free lunch.


A pair of AA Alkalines just don't pout out enough current.

They weren't designed to work, they were designed to sell!

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/2/2013 4:16 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/1/2013 9:43 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

I didn't think they would work, energy density is too low...no free lunch.


A pair of AA Alkalines just don't pout out enough current.

They weren't designed to work, they were designed to sell!


I laughed when I saw their hokey commercial, years ago. Some idiot
on an antique radio group was trying to convince everyone tat they were
the greatest tool ever made. Of course, he had about 75 that were store
returns to sell...

On Jan 1, 8:43*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. *When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. *It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. *Would liquid flux help at all? *It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

TIA

--
A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner, so if
one's life is cold and bare he can blame none but himself.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *-- Louis L'Amour

http://www.amazon.com/CRL-7-Piece-To.../dp/B006JFJ57E

Many propane torch kit used to come with a chisel point soldering
attachment like the one included above. I have one that I use for
soldering heavier gauge wire. Mine is made with a short 3/8" dia
copper chisel point rod held onto a brass holder that clamps onto the
end of a propane torch. The brass holder has holes to allow the flame
from the propane torch to exit, but still heat the copper rod. Could
be easy to make one if you can't find one second-hand.

On 1/2/2013 5:05 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/2/2013 4:16 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/1/2013 9:43 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

I didn't think they would work, energy density is too low...no free lunch.


A pair of AA Alkalines just don't pout out enough current.

They weren't designed to work, they were designed to sell!


I laughed when I saw their hokey commercial, years ago. Some idiot
on an antique radio group was trying to convince everyone tat they were
the greatest tool ever made. Of course, he had about 75 that were store
returns to sell...


Do they still make "multicore" solder? I'm getting low on the last roll
I bought 20 years ago. The stuff will alloy to ANYTHING!

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/2/2013 5:05 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

Do they still make "multicore" solder? I'm getting low on the last roll
I bought 20 years ago. The stuff will alloy to ANYTHING!


Ersin/Multicore is still availible, but it's expensive. I bought
three NOS 1 Lb rolls at a flea market a few months ago for $10. It's
just what I needed to fix LCD monitors that had been built with that
crap lead free garbage.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=multicore+solder&_sop=15&_frs =1
has some decenet prices if you watch for them. They use a good mild RMA
flux that will let you solder to a lot of thengs oter solders won't wet
to.

Be careful to make sure you get the right alloy, and that you get the
one pound spool. Most solder is sold on half pound spoools these days.
The other thing to watch is the gauge. They make it all the way down to
..015" for rework of surface mount components. The smaller the solder,
the higher the price.

I was given one - have all sorts from large black beauties down.

It is a conductive short that heats up the work - the work must
be the conductor. If the current is high enough, it gets hot and
you can melt onto the hot metal.

Remember the short must be held for a while - not moved around or
on - off.

Martin

On 1/1/2013 11:01 PM, Tom Gardner wrote:
On 1/1/2013 9:43 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

TIA

--
A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner, so if
one's life is cold and bare he can blame none but himself.
-- Louis L'Amour



I didn't think they would work, energy density is too low...no free lunch.

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 11:58:23 -0800, Gunner
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 11:17:44 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:40:41 -0800, Gunner
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 06:59:09 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:19:52 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.


It won't. It's the soldering iron Ron Popiel would have invented,
right after his "Pocket Fisherman" It's a cheap attempt at resistance
soldering that just doesn't work on anything thicker than 24 AWG.

Thanks, guys. I'd hoped it would work. I'll haul up an extension
cord and the trusty Weller pistol grip for the job after all.

Gunner, my buddy Terry has a BluePoint iron like yours which works
well, but this is in a semi-dark enclosed attic with puffy rockwool
insulation all around, even if it isn't flammable. I have a butane
iron from HFT and it works well, but I'm not taking that up into the
attic with me, either.

Why..you cant figure out how to make a safe "rest" for the iron?

Hell..use a bread pan with an inch of kitty litter in the bottom.

My attic's tight, with a low peak, 4'. I didn't want to drag a cord
around, over and under ducts, and now you're talking about taking a
lit flame and pan of fly-everywheres up there? Brilliant!


The soldering Iron I suggested...works much the same way as the
coldheat one does. It heats the element, which heats the wire, which
melts the solder. It just does it very much better. No open flame at
all. Its just a butane soldering iron that works very well and
delivers a goodly amount of heat. Flamelessly. Not a torch, not a
rosebud, no fire.

Shrug.

You could..pull the tip/loop off a corded gun and hold the wire
between the two stubs on the front of the gun and resistance heat the
wire with it...but then..you will need to pull a cable around behind
you.

I used a big Weller gun with no loop..to solder PL-259 connectors for
radio coax. Works very well for resistance soldering. Heats the shell
and tip nicely.

But..it needs a cord.

Right. My buddy, Glenn, used that technique to show me how to solder
the terminal on the winch power cable I put together. It worked
nicely. I should cut the tip off one of my Wellers and do that.

I need to take some more tubasixes up into the attic, too. Extend my
crawling floor. Then I need another foot of insulation up there.
Cha Ching!

--
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering WTF happened.

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:16:05 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/1/2013 9:43 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

I didn't think they would work, energy density is too low...no free lunch.


A pair of AA Alkalines just don't pout out enough current.

It's actually four AAs. That really should be enough. Maybe I'll try
that on the ground. Now where's that spare momentary switch...?

--
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering WTF happened.

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/2/2013 5:05 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

Do they still make "multicore" solder? I'm getting low on the last roll
I bought 20 years ago. The stuff will alloy to ANYTHING!


Ersin/Multicore is still availible, but it's expensive. I bought
three NOS 1 Lb rolls at a flea market a few months ago for $10. It's
just what I needed to fix LCD monitors that had been built with that
crap lead free garbage.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=multicore+solder&_sop=15&_frs =1
has some decenet prices if you watch for them. They use a good mild RMA
flux that will let you solder to a lot of thengs oter solders won't wet
to.

Be careful to make sure you get the right alloy, and that you get the
one pound spool. Most solder is sold on half pound spoools these days.
The other thing to watch is the gauge. They make it all the way down to
.015" for rework of surface mount components. The smaller the solder,
the higher the price.

I just spent something like $33 on the last lb roll of 0.031" Kester
solder. It's almost tempting to tin the larger tips with the crap out of
the solder sucker.

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:24:19 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:16:05 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/1/2013 9:43 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

I didn't think they would work, energy density is too low...no free lunch.


A pair of AA Alkalines just don't pout out enough current.

It's actually four AAs. That really should be enough. Maybe I'll try
that on the ground. Now where's that spare momentary switch...?

Try it with 4 well charged Nimh batteries. It should have more punch.

Gunner


The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:22:20 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 11:58:23 -0800, Gunner
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 11:17:44 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:40:41 -0800, Gunner
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 06:59:09 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:19:52 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.


It won't. It's the soldering iron Ron Popiel would have invented,
right after his "Pocket Fisherman" It's a cheap attempt at resistance
soldering that just doesn't work on anything thicker than 24 AWG.

Thanks, guys. I'd hoped it would work. I'll haul up an extension
cord and the trusty Weller pistol grip for the job after all.

Gunner, my buddy Terry has a BluePoint iron like yours which works
well, but this is in a semi-dark enclosed attic with puffy rockwool
insulation all around, even if it isn't flammable. I have a butane
iron from HFT and it works well, but I'm not taking that up into the
attic with me, either.

Why..you cant figure out how to make a safe "rest" for the iron?

Hell..use a bread pan with an inch of kitty litter in the bottom.

My attic's tight, with a low peak, 4'. I didn't want to drag a cord
around, over and under ducts, and now you're talking about taking a
lit flame and pan of fly-everywheres up there? Brilliant!


The soldering Iron I suggested...works much the same way as the
coldheat one does. It heats the element, which heats the wire, which
melts the solder. It just does it very much better. No open flame at
all. Its just a butane soldering iron that works very well and
delivers a goodly amount of heat. Flamelessly. Not a torch, not a
rosebud, no fire.

Shrug.

You could..pull the tip/loop off a corded gun and hold the wire
between the two stubs on the front of the gun and resistance heat the
wire with it...but then..you will need to pull a cable around behind
you.

I used a big Weller gun with no loop..to solder PL-259 connectors for
radio coax. Works very well for resistance soldering. Heats the shell
and tip nicely.

But..it needs a cord.

Right. My buddy, Glenn, used that technique to show me how to solder
the terminal on the winch power cable I put together. It worked
nicely. I should cut the tip off one of my Wellers and do that.


Dont cut the tip off..simply unscrew the two hold down "bolts" and
remove them and the tip.

Its getting harder to find good tips in small towns. Even at Ace
Hardware.

Screwing them back in when done is a 30 second task.




I need to take some more tubasixes up into the attic, too. Extend my
crawling floor. Then I need another foot of insulation up there.
Cha Ching!


Get some 1/2 plywood and cut them wide enough to go through the hatch
and at least be able to cover 3 rafters. Makes working up there more
"pleasant" by whatever one measures pleasant by. And you can leave em
up there. 3/8 works too, but it will sag more under you.


Thats one of the reasons after running an alarm company for nearly 2
decades..I simply walked away from a sucessful business and never went
back.

Attics

High Desert

110F outside...think of what they are like..inside

Gunner



The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

Cydrome Leader wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/2/2013 5:05 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

Do they still make "multicore" solder? I'm getting low on the last roll
I bought 20 years ago. The stuff will alloy to ANYTHING!


Ersin/Multicore is still availible, but it's expensive. I bought
three NOS 1 Lb rolls at a flea market a few months ago for $10. It's
just what I needed to fix LCD monitors that had been built with that
crap lead free garbage.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=multicore+solder&_sop=15&_frs =1
has some decenet prices if you watch for them. They use a good mild RMA
flux that will let you solder to a lot of thengs oter solders won't wet
to.

Be careful to make sure you get the right alloy, and that you get the
one pound spool. Most solder is sold on half pound spoools these days.
The other thing to watch is the gauge. They make it all the way down to
.015" for rework of surface mount components. The smaller the solder,
the higher the price.

I just spent something like $33 on the last lb roll of 0.031" Kester
solder. It's almost tempting to tin the larger tips with the crap out of
the solder sucker.


There is nothing wrong with that. I used to toss all that scrap into
a solder pot, and used it to til leads & soldering tips. Dip the tip in
acid flux, then into the pot. It comes out perfectly tinned, then you
drop it into a slightly base solution to neutralize any remaining acid.
When I didn't have a solde pot handy, I would toss the scrap solder into
a small metal container, add a few drops of liquid rosin flux, then stir
the stuff around to tin the tip. You ended up with a small ball of
clean solder, and some dross. Over the years I collected about 15 pounds
of used solder that way.

Gunner wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:24:19 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:16:05 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/1/2013 9:43 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

I didn't think they would work, energy density is too low...no free lunch.


A pair of AA Alkalines just don't pout out enough current.

It's actually four AAs. That really should be enough. Maybe I'll try
that on the ground. Now where's that spare momentary switch...?

Try it with 4 well charged Nimh batteries. It should have more punch.


Using carbon electrodes will limit the maximum current through the
joint. You'd need a higher voltage to do much more that what the
Alkalines will do. The only advantage of the NiMh is their output don't
drop until they are mostly discharged. The old Wahl cordless irons used
a pair of C sized NiCad and worked fairly well. The problem is that he
needs 25 Watts or more of heat for that wire size to get good wetting on
a solder joint. That would be about 5 Amps out of the battery, and the
tool was designed for lower output chemistry than NiMh.

Martin Eastburn wrote:

I was given one - have all sorts from large black beauties down.

It is a conductive short that heats up the work - the work must
be the conductor. If the current is high enough, it gets hot and
you can melt onto the hot metal.

Remember the short must be held for a while - not moved around or
on - off.



Classic resistance soldering, scaled down to hobby level
applications. Any surface resistance of the wire prevents it from
heating at the availible current. The current has to be high enough to
heat the copper past the melting point of the solder. 14 AWG runs near
room temperature at 15 Amps. That means you'll need enough current to
heat it to around 700 F°


BTW: Here is more than you ever wanted to know about AWG copper wi

http://library.bldrdoc.gov/docs/nbshb100.pdf

On Thu, 03 Jan 2013 04:23:45 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Gunner wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:24:19 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:16:05 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/1/2013 9:43 PM, Larry Jaques wrote:
I don't remember if I posted this here yet or not, so...

I bought a ColdHeat soldering iron and it came yesterday. When I
tried soldering a couple of 18ga stranded copper wires together,
it failed miserably. It didn't seem to get hot enough to melt the
solder into the strands at all, although it melted about 1.5" of thin
solder.

Tips to get it to work (on the 14ga wire I bought it for) would be
appreciated. Would liquid flux help at all? It seemed like the
carbonized tip got nice and hot but the wire didn't.

I didn't think they would work, energy density is too low...no free lunch.


A pair of AA Alkalines just don't pout out enough current.

It's actually four AAs. That really should be enough. Maybe I'll try
that on the ground. Now where's that spare momentary switch...?

Try it with 4 well charged Nimh batteries. It should have more punch.


Using carbon electrodes will limit the maximum current through the
joint. You'd need a higher voltage to do much more that what the
Alkalines will do. The only advantage of the NiMh is their output don't
drop until they are mostly discharged. The old Wahl cordless irons used
a pair of C sized NiCad and worked fairly well. The problem is that he
needs 25 Watts or more of heat for that wire size to get good wetting on
a solder joint. That would be about 5 Amps out of the battery, and the
tool was designed for lower output chemistry than NiMh.

True enough. But it would work far better than the carbons and for a
longer time. Even at 1.2 volts

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

On 1/2/2013 8:09 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/2/2013 5:05 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

Do they still make "multicore" solder? I'm getting low on the last roll
I bought 20 years ago. The stuff will alloy to ANYTHING!


Ersin/Multicore is still availible, but it's expensive. I bought
three NOS 1 Lb rolls at a flea market a few months ago for $10. It's
just what I needed to fix LCD monitors that had been built with that
crap lead free garbage.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=multicore+solder&_sop=15&_frs =1
has some decenet prices if you watch for them. They use a good mild RMA
flux that will let you solder to a lot of thengs oter solders won't wet
to.

Be careful to make sure you get the right alloy, and that you get the
one pound spool. Most solder is sold on half pound spoools these days.
The other thing to watch is the gauge. They make it all the way down to
.015" for rework of surface mount components. The smaller the solder,
the higher the price.



Thanks Mike.

On 1/3/2013 4:18 AM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Cydrome Leader wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/2/2013 5:05 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

Do they still make "multicore" solder? I'm getting low on the last roll
I bought 20 years ago. The stuff will alloy to ANYTHING!


Ersin/Multicore is still availible, but it's expensive. I bought
three NOS 1 Lb rolls at a flea market a few months ago for $10. It's
just what I needed to fix LCD monitors that had been built with that
crap lead free garbage.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=multicore+solder&_sop=15&_frs =1
has some decenet prices if you watch for them. They use a good mild RMA
flux that will let you solder to a lot of thengs oter solders won't wet
to.

Be careful to make sure you get the right alloy, and that you get the
one pound spool. Most solder is sold on half pound spoools these days.
The other thing to watch is the gauge. They make it all the way down to
.015" for rework of surface mount components. The smaller the solder,
the higher the price.

I just spent something like $33 on the last lb roll of 0.031" Kester
solder. It's almost tempting to tin the larger tips with the crap out of
the solder sucker.


There is nothing wrong with that. I used to toss all that scrap into
a solder pot, and used it to til leads & soldering tips. Dip the tip in
acid flux, then into the pot. It comes out perfectly tinned, then you
drop it into a slightly base solution to neutralize any remaining acid.
When I didn't have a solde pot handy, I would toss the scrap solder into
a small metal container, add a few drops of liquid rosin flux, then stir
the stuff around to tin the tip. You ended up with a small ball of
clean solder, and some dross. Over the years I collected about 15 pounds
of used solder that way.


I'd bet that used solder is nice and high in Tin! A good mix with
bullet lead. If you ever want to sell it, let me know.

Gunner wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Using carbon electrodes will limit the maximum current through the
joint. You'd need a higher voltage to do much more that what the
Alkalines will do. The only advantage of the NiMh is their output don't
drop until they are mostly discharged. The old Wahl cordless irons used
a pair of C sized NiCad and worked fairly well. The problem is that he
needs 25 Watts or more of heat for that wire size to get good wetting on
a solder joint. That would be about 5 Amps out of the battery, and the
tool was designed for lower output chemistry than NiMh.

True enough. But it would work far better than the carbons and for a
longer time. Even at 1.2 volts

What is the resistance between the battery terminal & the item to be
soldered? How much resistance does the switch add? What is the maximum
current the carbon will handle? How much does the resistance go up with
heat? How much waste heat can the cheap plastic case stand before it
deforms, or catches fire?

Lots of missing, but critical information. In the commercials &
photos they never showed them soldering anything heavier than a
component lead. If you want portable, use a 12V jump pack, a step up
regulator & a 24 volt soldering iron. Then you can get up to 75 Watts
of heat in a short time, and keep it hot for a long time. I'm trying to
find a decent steel ammo can around here to build a portable soldering
iron into. The battery, charger, regulator, iron holder & iron along
with room for a few spare tips, & a roll of solder. All I've found are
plastic junk. One slip of the hot iron and you'll burn a hole through
it.

Real resistance soldering is generally done with AC, and the
transformer primary was switched to minimize losses. It's closer to
spot welding than soldering. It's done at lower currents & isn't
pulsed, but both rely on fairly high currents through the joint.

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/2/2013 8:09 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 1/2/2013 5:05 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

Do they still make "multicore" solder? I'm getting low on the last roll
I bought 20 years ago. The stuff will alloy to ANYTHING!


Ersin/Multicore is still availible, but it's expensive. I bought
three NOS 1 Lb rolls at a flea market a few months ago for $10. It's
just what I needed to fix LCD monitors that had been built with that
crap lead free garbage.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=multicore+solder&_sop=15&_frs =1
has some decenet prices if you watch for them. They use a good mild RMA
flux that will let you solder to a lot of thengs oter solders won't wet
to.

Be careful to make sure you get the right alloy, and that you get the
one pound spool. Most solder is sold on half pound spoools these days.
The other thing to watch is the gauge. They make it all the way down to
.015" for rework of surface mount components. The smaller the solder,
the higher the price.


Thanks Mike.


You're welcome. If you can read the label on the old spool, see if
you can find the same alloy & gauge. I've had way too many labels fall
off spools before they were empty. I do have a bunch of empty orange
1Lb spools I collected whiile I worked at Microdyne. I managed to get
them to request them when someone in prduction needed a new spool.
Sometimes you can get a spool that's been dropped & broken, real cheap.
They are also great for 22-26 AWG hookup wire.