There is some discussion on this solderin iron going on at
http://antiqueradios.com/forums/Forum5/HTML/002218.html
Some comment picks from there:
"What I did notice is that the tool is rather fussy as to what type of solder you use. You cannot just take regular 60/40 rosin core solder and melt it between the tips. You actually have to short the tip on metal before you can get enough heat to melt much of anything.
When i tried it out, I was not to happy with the results (no, I didn't solder anything) - a little piece of the tip broke right off when I applied pressure to a metal surface... pretty disappointing results nonetheless.
If you are looking at the iron from a safety point of view, my manager noted that a demonstrator for the iron at a product fair was able to melt solid core solder and then instantly touch his fingers to the iron without getting burned.
The instruction manual noted that the iron was good for 750 joints before it required a change of batteries, and it also cautioned users against shorting the tip across two pins of an IC... apparently the magic smoke comes out under that much current."
"yes i think this soldering tool will let the
magic smoke out of a lot of solid state devices.
it heats by shorting the batteries.
would be ok if stray voltages at high amp's. won't be a problem."
"What I have studied on these things is that it is a waste of money. "
"I bought one out of sheer curiosity yesterday at Radio Shack. I couldnt solder anthing to save my life."
Thare is on test article on this product at following addresses:
Review: ColdHeat™ soldering iron
http://www.ocwizard.com/index.php?optio ... 6&Itemid=2
"At first glance I noticed that the light on the front of the device provided ample light for the work area. I also noticed that there was a small arch at the point where the tip met the solder; this caused some potential concern when dealing with delicate circuit boards. Other than the initial and occasional spark, the solder seemed to heat up very quickly… almost instantly"
"When soldering with the ColdHeat™ soldering iron, it is important to note that there is no temperature control on the device and that there is no gauge on the device letting you know what the temperature is at any give time. It is important to use the iron in short increments so you do not burn the solder or the material you are soldering on. "
"The ColdHeat™ soldering iron seems to be a fast and efficient way to make quick solders without dragging out its old, "wait and burn", corded cousin. Although I would not personally use this to device to do micro-soldering or use it on circuit boards because of the arching that occurs, it would come in handy for other soldering projects, such as soldering copper pipes, wiring, larger electronics or creating stained glass projects."
"Tips are fragile"
It's Cool to Be Cold
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1750095,00.asp
"The Cold Heat performs as advertised. It heats the joint, concentrating the heat right at the point where the wire closes the gap between the two carbon electrodes. Because of the concentrated heat, solder blobbing is minimal. It does require an adjustment in technique, however."
"With the Cold Heat, thermal contact and pressure are immaterial; electrical contact is all that matters. If you press too hard, the carbon tip will crumble. The Cold Heat lets you know that you've achieved electrical contact with a red LED on top of the iron, and you will often see the telltale wisp of smoke from the work. You just feed in some solder and you're done."
"A few of the jobs I perform regularly, such as soldering thick ground wires or soldering wires to push-on connectors, were beyond the Cold Heat's capabilities. Because the connection is a dead short across the batteries, except for the 2 or 3 ohms in the carbon tip, current flow can be several amperes, which will drain the double-A batteries quickly if the connection is held too long. You can tell, however, when you're exceeding the Cold Heat's capacity because the white LED dims or goes out—so much current is flowing to the joint that there isn't enough juice left to light it. The tool is good for hundreds of smaller connections, though, because the carbon's resistance goes up dramatically when it gets hot and when contact is restricted to a very small area."
"The Cold Heat won't replace my Weller, but it's become a useful and handy addition to my soldering arsenal."
Hands-on with the Cold Heat Soldering Tool
http://machrone.home.comcast.net/coldheat/
"These pictures illustrate the abilities of the Cold Heat soldering tool"
"The Cold Heat tool is well suited for soldering to printed circuit boards because you can keep the heat focused on the component lead and not apply too much to the circuit board traces, to avoid damage."
