Are weller battery powered soldering irons any good? i saw this one HERE
and i was wondering if the price reflects the quality or if they are good deal.
If anyone out there has ever seen them or used them give me your View of them.
It’s a good iron, but if I was going cordless I’d get something like:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/69d3/
–Austin
can it solder track together and solder wires to track. im just wonder if its powerful enough.
Easily.
–Austin
I have been soldering for over 50 years, with just about every type of soldering iron made, on just about every type of soldering application.
Buy a soldering station and forget these toys. They have a very short life and the tips on the Cold tools are very fragile and expensive.
You will over the years spend more money on various junk/toy soldering irons then you will on a good soldering station. The station will allow you to choose the temperature for the job you are doing. And have easily interchangeable tips for the different soldering jobs you encounter.
Save yourself a lot of frustration always buy the best you can afford.
Don’t buy that soldering iron its too cheap and is probably crap. If you want a cordless iron buy this one like the one I own. Its called ISO-TIP and they recharge in an hour. They work great for soldering track and small stuff too.
I agree with Driline, the Iso-tip is a great iron. It heats up in a few seconds and lasts a long time, up to probably 150 joints depending how big your joints are. They are great for soldering track and a lifesaver wiring under the layout, you can go wherever you need to, there is no cord to tether you to an outlet. It is a bit expensive but well worth it. It also has a light that does two jobs, it lights up your work very well and when it acts as a battery indicator, when it starts to get dim its time to recharge.
Dont get one of the cold heat ones, I had one and it was a total piece of junk. They can advertise it however they want but a couple of AA batteries just wont give you enough heat to do much of anything useful with it.
Soldering stations are great, I use one for decoders, but they are very cumbersome when doing work where you have to move around like working on a layout.
Uh, why? Your layout is inside, within easy reach of outlets. Unless you are soldering way out of reach of an outlet, use something you can plug in. The same goes for any battery-powered tool. I’ve got a good cordless drill with screwdriver bits. It’s handy for those little one-time jobs, but if I’ve got to put a 3/8-inch hole in a landscape timber, I’m going with the 120-volt plug-in drill with the handle on the side.
Well, its a big convenience for me. My layout is an around the walls type and there are only 2 outlets in the room. Before I got the Iso tip i would have to have my iron up on the layout with an extension cord running down to an outlet. I had to put a brick on the end of the extension cord, otherwise the weight of the cord would pull the iron off the layout, and more than once I accidentally snagged the cord and pulled the hot iron down, I have the melted carpet to prove it. So in my case it is much easier and safer to use a cordless Iron.
I have a Solder-It butane portable.
Very handy soldering iron.
Never have had any problems with it, and I use it often.
It is the deluxe version of the iron, bought it at the Oshkosh Air Show several years ago.
Has several different tips and is very easy to use.
Ed
I have to agree with Charlie.
I also have a soldering station, a good one.
I have NEVER been sorry I bought QUALITY!
My Solder-It is good for in-the -field -repairs, and I use it around home a lot too.
The one I have is was expensive, and is the deluxe version.
In about 4 years time, it has never failed me!
Ed
I, too, have a layout room with only two original outlets - one in the middle of the ceiling! The second thing I did was install utility outlets in several spots along what will become the fascia line of my benchwork, plug-connected to the GFI protected wall outlet through a surge protector strip. Since the circuit is all plug connected there was no need to get building permits (as I confirmed with the local building inspectors before I installed it.)
Back to the main topic. My primary layout soldering tool is a 320 watt Weller hand cannon that’s old enough to run for the Senate. When I really get rolling, I may make a hundred or so solder joints (wire to rail and/or wire to panel controls) in a single sitting. I seriously doubt that any battery powered device would be able to keep up with that rate of power consumption. I also use it to assemble specialwork built up from raw rail, which requires some serious caloric input to insure good solder joints.
Chuck