Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 51053 2004-11-10 08:23:00 Off Topic: Battery Powered Soldering Iron somebody (208) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
290143 2004-11-10 23:28:00 It's a bit like a cordless chainsaw. Not really up to a day's work.

I'm spoiled by decent temperature controlled irons ... and I sometimes use a Weller soldering station on an inverter. :-; I'm sometimes tempted to connect a couple of Gel lead-acid batteries in series, and use the iron direct.

The Scope irons pulled something like 30 amps. The transformers gave 3.3 V. So these days you could use a Pentium as a soldering iron. Briefly.
Graham L (2)
290144 2004-11-11 03:11:00 Thanks Graham. Maybe i'll have to ditch my ideas of getting a battery powered soldering iron... I'll have to stick to the plug-into-the-wall ones I guess. somebody (208)
290145 2004-11-11 03:25:00 What is wrong with the butane ones?

They work very well, a little severe on temperature unless used carefully.
godfather (25)
290146 2004-11-11 03:30:00 I have a bit of a fear of compressed gas, but anyway:

How good do you think the DSE Cat#: T1104 is?

What do you look for when choosing a good butane soldering iron?

I have absolutely no idea of what to look for, so any help would be much appreciated.
somebody (208)
290147 2004-11-11 03:55:00 > What is wrong with the butane ones?

You can't take them on an aircraft GF, which is a real bummer if you are offering a nation-wide service. :(

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
290148 2004-11-11 03:55:00 I have had a T1370 for years, but the T1104 looks better.

They only hold a tiny amount of gas (lighter refill aerosol) but that lasts a long time.

Things I would look for are:

* Built in lighter (either flint or piezo)

* Venting of the heated air at the tip - one cheap unit I have vents to the side and can cause a local problem as the air is superheated.

* Catalytic converter in the tip - converts the gas to heat without a real naked flame once lit. The Portasol is better than by no-name cheap one in this regard.
godfather (25)
290149 2004-11-11 04:03:00 Thanks godfather .

When you say the T1104 'looks better' do you mean asthetically, or in terms of function?
somebody (208)
290150 2004-11-11 04:04:00 hmm... that rules out my idea of getting one cheaper from overseas then:D somebody (208)
290151 2004-11-11 04:17:00 Well, it would be sent empty. It's the gas that the regulations ban.

It all depends what you want to solder. One to solder a leak in the roof is a different soldering iron from the one you use to cable a minidin connector. Otherwise there's a lot of bad language, and that's useless as flux.

The traditional 25W irons aren't very useful these days for electronic work, because the tips were designed for use on valve sockets. They don't do 100 pin SMDs very well.
Graham L (2)
290152 2004-11-11 04:21:00 > When you say the T1104 'looks better' do you mean
> asthetically, or in terms of function?

Asthetically. The other is quite "clunky" but the fact that mine still goes is testament to the durability.

Graham L has a valid point, what are you going to solder?

I would never use mine for fine work, I have a temperature controlled mains operated unit for that, with a very fine tip.
godfather (25)
1 2 3