Cold Heat

[deek]

So I dont have the money yet to get a real solidering iron and was wonder if those Cold Heat iron work as well as they say they do. Any feedback on the iron woudl be great.

[Predator88]

Don't do it!! I received one as a gift and decided to give it a try. It just like doesn't work for me. As far as I can tell there's gotta be some special technique for soldering with this. I did successfully solder some wire to a pad once, not much like with components. It's like there's hardly any heat transfer going on. Amazon has a bunch of reviews stating how crappy it is. Also If you have the money for the coldheat you definitely have the money for a pencil iron and a stand. Heck I think ratshack might even have a little soldering station for around that price. Trust me, don't spend money on it.

[Born2bwire]

But, but, it has a 10 year warranty because it's powered by Cold Heat.

[star882]

I would also avoid the ColdHeats. While they work as advertised, the ceramic tip cracks too easily. Weller makes a small battery powered iron that uses a metal tip, although I've never used it.

[Gabe Logan]

There was a thread awhile back about this iron and the vast majority was in agreement that it was a complete waste of money.Needless to say i was gratefull to have read that thread because i was on my way to purchasing one.

[grandenigma1]

just get a cheap $10 iron from RadioShack... it is much better then the ColdHeat one... it does not serve our purposes well.

butane irons are however fun

[MrJoshua]

I use a fairly decent butane iron... The tip is not particularly fine, but it is a great all-round iron.

I can use it in the car for my Hi-Fi etc, and can also use it to DIY or fix things in the house.

But, a cheap £$10 iron will "do" if you're just getting into DIY.

[gordolindsay]

I agree, I have a ratshack iron that I got for like $7 or something and it works a ton better than the ColdHeat. I, unfortunately, didn't read the thread on here about it and went and purchased it not knowing. I used it (or tried anyway) to make a small joint with two wires, can't get much easier, and that stupid iron took almost a minute to make a 1/2 a second connection. POS!!!

[Tril]

I did try the cold heat. Don't buy it. The tip broke in a very short time. It's extremely hard to use. You need to create an electric path between the two parts of the tip for it to heat and it's very hard to do. It does not heat a large area. It gets cold too fast.

Don't even think about unsoldering with this.

I use a radioshack 15-Watt Soldering Iron with Grounded Tip (64-2051). It's half the price of the cold heat and it's much better. But you also need to buy a stand with a sponge. It's very good for the price except when you need to solder stuff that takes more heat like connectors and big fat ground wires or when doing desoldering. I use a more powerful soldering iron for those tasks.