Is ColdHeat soldering iron technology any good ?

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Is ColdHeat soldering iron technology any good ?

Postby Tomi Engdahl on Wed Sep 15, 2004 7:07 pm

I received one e-mail advertising ColdHeat ( http://www.coldheat.com/ ) soldering ison techology. Most of the adverisement mails (spam) is completely stupid crap, but this one looked somehow interresting.

Promises on product from http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/he ... g_set.html
"The Cold Heat Soldering Tool is an battery-powered device that quickly heats and cools and makes soldering jobs faster and easier. It creates the heat right in the proprietary tip material, making the tool 20 times more efficient than the average conventional soldering iron. The instantaneous heating, up to 800°F in about 1 second, and cooling, cools to the touch in about 3 seconds, makes the soldering tool fast and safe to use."
"Uses 4 "AA" batteries*"
"Price $19.95 USD"

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Looks somehow too good to be true as a field repair instrument if it works well (sounds like faster and safer to use solution than gas powered irons).
Price seems to be reasonable compared to gas powered soldering irons.


Anyone has any comments on this product ?
Has anyohe really used this ?
Is it any good in real use ?
Could this technology be used on some interresting DIY project...

Here are few links I quicly found on the topic

http://www.trainboard.com/cgi-bin/ultim ... 001648;p=0
http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/he ... g_set.html
http://www.coldheat.com/
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/94949
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark, ... ~mode=flat
Tomi Engdahl
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Location: Espoo, Finland

Postby Guest on Mon Sep 20, 2004 7:58 am

Usenet newsgroups comp.robotics.misc, rec.arts.theatre.stagecraft and sci.electronics.design have had threads reveiwing the thing. The general comments are:

- As far as I can see these are resistive soldering irons with a tip formed from two shims of metal with ceramic insulation between them. When the tip is applied to solder it passes a high current through it which causes it to melt. I'm not sure I'd trust this approach with electronic components, but for soldering XLR's it might be interesting.
- It works by creating an arc when you touch it to metal. It might work fine for non-electronic work, but I wouldn't want that arc near any IC's or other low level electronics.
- The tip is very fragile, and once it scratches or chips it becomes very ineffective.
- The power is so low that it can't solder much more than a component leg. And the battery power dries up after just a few joints.
- I wanted one until I read the online reviews - the short story, give it a pass.
Guest
 

Cordless Soldering Tool Powered By Cold Heat

Postby Visitor on Mon Dec 20, 2004 3:08 pm

Radio shack seems to be selling this Cordless Soldering Tool Powered By Cold Heat at
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?c ... &hmsub=ad3

I don't still know if this is any good...
Looks promising.
Visitor
 

ColdHeat

Postby HWman on Tue Jan 25, 2005 2:28 pm

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."
HWman
 

Postby Marshall on Fri Mar 18, 2005 2:26 am

I have one of these soldering tools, and your best bet would be to save your money. Mine works for about 100 joints on some decent double A's, but even then it's frustrating to have to wait forever for the joint to get hot. Also, the tip breaks quite easily.

I was impressed though by its speed of heatnig and cooling. It took about 5 seconds to heat up, and 3 more to cool down. When I soldered something like an IC socket, where the power is constantly applied, the tip takes much longer to cool down.
This technology seems promising, but it needs some more work before it will be worthy of going mainstream.
Marshall
 

Coldheat soldering iron

Postby HWman on Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:36 am

There was just an interresting post by Clive Mitchell at sci.engr.lighting group about cold heat soldering iron. You can find the article at
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Cold+ ... .uk&rnum=4

Some picks from it:
"I tried it out and was rather surprised to find that it instantly cooked
a small pad before I could get the solder near it, and lifted the pad
clean off the circuit board. After a bit of practice I was able to do
modestly successful solder joints on average sized pads, but even with
some practice it wasn't performing anywhere near as usefully as a
conventional iron."

"The unit operates by passing current through the object to be heated.
The tip is a conductive ceramic that is split like a quill with an
insulator in between the two halves."

"I originally thought that maybe the design was as simple as the power
from the four AA alkaline cells being passed directly through the tip,
but found some info that suggested there was a PCB inside to generate a
lower voltage at higher current. There's not. The battery pack IS
connected directly to the tips via a suspiciously small slide switch.
There is a circuit board inside, but it holds the resistor for the white
LED and a mystery surface mount chip"

"In short, it's a novelty. Don't waste your money."
HWman
 

Postby El Fisgón on Fri May 06, 2005 9:07 am

Ok, look this address ;)
http://search.ebay.com/cold-heat-solder_W0QQfnuZ1

no comment.
El Fisgón
 

Cold Heat Soldering Iron

Postby Brian Walker on Sat Jan 14, 2006 5:50 am

The TV ads indicate that the Cold Heat Soldering Tool goes to zero degrees when turned off. Just watch the on-screen thermometer go from 0 to 800 and back to 0.

Zero degrees with no power applied is a heck of a trick.

Maybe I should throw a couple of them into a cooler along with some beers to keep the beers cold in the summer.

Woo! Hoo!
Brian Walker
 

Cold Heat Soldering Iron

Postby Visitor on Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:29 am

Cold Heat Soldering Iron seems to be an unfortunate misapplication of technology. Those who already know how to solder will, for the most part, understand why it is a mediocre-to-bad idea. Those who don't, would do well to learn on a conventional soldering iron first.

For those who are unfamiliar, it uses resistance heating by passing current through the metal(s) being soldered.
Visitor
 

Coldheat soldering iron by Weller

Postby Tomi Engdahl on Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:39 am

Now it seems that the Coldheat soldering iron is catching wider and wider markets. Besides USA it now seems to be available also form European outlets. At least Clas Ohlson ( http://www.clasohlson.fi http://www.clasohlson.se/ ) sells those coldheat irons in Finland and Sweden.

Lödpenna sladdlös Coldheat™ Classic.
Patenterad värmeteknik ger värme på bara några sekunder och svalnar lika snabbt. Inbyggd arbetsbelysning. Effekt ca 25 W. Drivs av 4 st. LR6 batterier (ingår ej) som räcker till ca 700 lödpunkter med max. 1 mm tenntråd.
Artikelnummer 30-9590
http://www.clasohlson.se/Product/Produc ... id=9624861

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It seems that Cooper Tools is also selling coldheat soldering iron under their Weller brand (brand known for long time for good traditional soldering irons).

ColdHeat Signs Agreement with Soldering Tool Giant Weller
http://www.mirror99.com/20051126/coldhe ... _bjbf.jspx
ColdHeat™, the innovator of patented, cutting-edge mobile heating technology, announced today its partnership with Cooper Hand Tools, manufacturer of Weller® soldering products, to deliver ColdHeat’s Pro Soldering Tool to the North American market under the Weller brand name.

The product is sold here
http://www.alliedelec.com/Search/Produc ... 0752E617F#

Image
Tomi Engdahl
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Is ColdHeat soldering iron technology any good

Postby blerlossy on Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:18 am

Im trying to source a portable, fast charging/long life soldering iron which could also be considered to be Aircraft Safe, tired of the present one running out before a job is finished

Has anyone had any experience or got any advice about what is actually floating around on the market?

Battery powered seems to be the way to go to be 100 safe but wouldnt a good gas one be so much more flexible?

Does anyone know of any Gas ones that have been cleared for Aircraft use?

Any ideas please?

Cheers


Chad


Похудение Слим Код, Апетинол, Slimcode, Apetinol, под руководством наших специалистов (495)925-51-40 .
blerlossy
 


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