I am curious if anyone has ever used the coldheat soldering Iron instaling wirings on a decoder or using it at all with DCC installations?
Yes.
I found that a high-wattage pencil-type iron is still the best. The Coldheat iron is larger than it looks on TV, and I have better control with the smaller irons.
I would be really leery of using the ColdHeat gun on electronics. It is basically a resistance soldering unit, and as such feeds an electric current between the two poles to get the heat to melt the solder. Personally, I don’t really like it - the points break too easily. A good temperature-controlled soldering station is my choice for electronic work.
Right. You dont want to use the cold heat on decoders, and in my opinion it doesnt work very well on anything except the very smallest jobs. A couple of AA batteries just doesnt generate enough heat to work well, at least for me.
I was looking for a cordless soldering iron and thats why I tried the cold heat. Clearly I didnt like it[;)]. But I found one that I do like, its from Wahl clipper company and its called the “ISO tip quick-charge soldering iron”. It comes with a charging base and takes about 2 hours to charge the battery. Im not sure what kind of battery it is, I think its a ni-cad. Anyway you hit the button and it heats up in a couple seconds. Unlike the cold heat, it really gets hot. melts solder just as good, if not better than my pencil irons. Its comfortably to hold and control and has a bright light on the front that does double duty, it lights up your soldering very well and its an indicator for how much battery power you have left (if it starts getting dim you need to recharge). Its a lifesaver working on, under and around my layout and a charge will get you about 40-60 joints depending what you are soldering.
Its great, but it did cost me $60. Its a good buy IMO.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and its not a resistance soldering iron. It uses the battery to heat up a solid metal tip just like a regular soldering iron.
The Cordless ISO Tips work very very well. I’ve used these out on the Flightline to facilitate repairs on Aircraft. All the same techniques while using a regular soldering iron prevail while using one of the ISO Tips. Keep the Tip Clean, use flux, Clean the TIP, use a quality solder, Clean the TIP.
Chris
The ‘Coldheat’ tool you seel on the TV ‘infomercials’ is just about useless for anything serious. I bought one, and it really amounts to a ‘resistance’ soldering unit without much power. I think mine will wind up inmy ‘yard sale’ next month!
Jim
I pd $20.00 for my Cold Heat from Home Depot. The tip disentigrated after the forth time I used it. As was stated above it is only good for the smallest of wire sizes. Radio Shack sells replacement tips for $9.95 plus Tax!!! Go figure. Complete waste of my money.
Terry
Mine didnt break, but I did find it to be useless. Luckily Radio Shack actually took a return on it and I got my money back.
To be honest I bought it at Jewel-Osco and had a tips break. I however had no problems soldering track with it so I keep it for that. However I do have nice soldering iron for smalller applications.
I got a Coldheat iron, and really, its just a novelty. It works ok on large stuff, but not well on small wires. I much prefer a butane iron I have (Radio Shack, about 20 bucks) No cords to tie me down, adjustable temp ranges and small overall size.
Just dont forget to get a bottle of butane at the drug store (about 3 bucks)
I just got thru doing a sound installation in a Bachman 3-truck shay and I used a Weller BP645 cordless soldering iron. It is only 6 Watts but worked great soldering the wires to the speaker. Jim