Weller Cold Solder Iron

[roccaas]

A friend had one of these and liked it for small jobs. Now they seem to be "unavailable" or "discontinued".

Some customer comments online were that it would not get hot enough to solder anything!

Do they work? Is it worth hunting one down?

It would be useful for wiring (headlamps, stereos, etc) where you don't want to bring out the big iron.

Thanks

 

[TK in LA]

I have one. It works well on small items like circuit boards but not enough for large wire with large heatsink area. Just my 3¢

 

[MikeK]

Those 'cold solder' things are junk. They rely on point resistance heating of a graphite electrode. The big problem is the tip of the device cannot be wetted, or 'tined'. You will have extreme difficulty using the iron to draw solder to it. If your skill level is 'hot blob = OK' then that is the tool for you.

My choice for general work: Weller Transformer Gun

I like the old-fashioned trigger-transformer guns like Wen and Weller made. Only hot when you need it, plenty of wattage for larger joints. I did plenty of chassis work on old vacuum tube stuff and appliance wiring with it. Not for printed circuits, though. There I use a 20 watt thermostatically controlled pencil with an iron plated tip.

 

[marc hildebrant]

I've had a Weller Transformer type for about 50 years. The tips do wear out fast, but the heat produced is great and you avoid cold solder joints.

Marc

 

[d.j. moordigian]

I have both, the pencil and the larger Weller one. Marc is right about the tips and
there not cheap! Now I make my own from 12-2 or 14-2 copper wire, house stuff,
( can't remember which size ) in 5 min., works good! Armenian engineering.

Dudley

 

[hardtimes]

A friend had one of these and liked it for small jobs. Now they seem to be "unavailable" or "discontinued".

Some customer comments online were that it would not get hot enough to solder anything!

Do they work? Is it worth hunting one down?

It would be useful for wiring (headlamps, stereos, etc) where you don't want to bring out the big iron.

Thanks

Roccaas,
What Mike said! I have one of the 'discontinued' you speak of 'almost' NOS. If your collecting for display or experimenting well..ok! But, if your wanting to use for work, mines available. I 'tried' it once. Geese, how do we just keep being taken in with junk..I guess is sounded good?

 

[Kevin in NJ]

The small weller pistol shape guns are great for the stuff you find on the A.

They are usually under $5 or less at garage sales. Look for the type that uses nuts to tighten the tip. The screw type come loose too fast and need to be tweaked often.

For finer work the generic pencils may be ok. If you get serious about small to medium stuff then a weller magnetic tip temp control pencil type is great. The heat is concentrated at the tip. I use mostly 600* tips. The normal pencils have a lot of heat along the barrel and tend to melt other wires or plastic near the shaft.

Also stock up on the older lead solder you find at garage sales cheap. It will be harder to find new.

 

[MrTube]

I use a 1960s 60W Weller magnetic switch temp controlled Iron for bigger stuff. Usually run a 700F or 800F tip in it.

For surface mount I use a 1990s Weller 40W adjustable temp controlled iron. Problem is I believe these style irons will typically run you around $200-300 and the tips arn't cheap so it probably doesn't pay for someone to buy one unless you work on a lot of electronics.

Nice thing is the new weller stations are 80W temp controlled and have multiple style handles you can buy.

In regards to lead solder. I have not seen any signs of it becoming impossible to get any time soon, Although RoHS is being pushed many many companies still use leaded solder and its still being manufactured. Any electronic parts house like digikey or mouser will have standard 60/40 and 63/37 solder in stock.

 

[roccaas]

I'll just stay with my "big Iron" Weller for real heat (and with the right tip makes a wonderful hot knife for rope and line sealing) and the little plug in pencil that someone gave me.