Cold Heat soldering iron

Anyone tried or have one of these? They are in my face constantly. I have yet to buy one (don't need it anyway) Common sense tells me it's a load of BS. But I'm still curious. I just want to hear what real world users think of them.

 

I don't own one, but I've used one before. They are fine for small jobs, but if you want to do some serious soldering, they are kind of a pain in the ass to work with. They don't get hot enough to do anything other than small simple solders, and keeping the tip hot is also a pain. There are two little prongs on the end and placing solder between them completes the circuit. Trying to keep the solder in between the two prongs can be challenging when working in tight spaces. In the end, it's nothing really more than a toy. Give me an old fashion soldering iron any day.

 

I do own one and I agree...if you are going to do much more than solder small jobs then go for the plug in model. The cold heat does take a little practice but to do small jobs around the house it works great...I used mine in building the theater in my basement, and for some small jobs around the business such as replacing microphone jacks because the contractors used reall crappy ones when they built the building...but I digress...another thing that I noticed is that if you are working in a confined space forget the cold heat it's sorta cumbersome because the unit holds the batteries. The light is nice on the end when working in a partially finished basement. More than a toy, but not really a tool either. It does work as advertised though except the tip does not cool down as fast as it does on the infomercial...fast, but I would not go from computer circuit board to the palm of my hand without at least a 15 second gap. Try one out they are only like 20 bucks.

 

I knew there was something wrong with this product, as I have not seen it in the major hardware chains. The infomercials I reviewed did not say to buy it at Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

 

They are in Walmart and in Home Depot here but rebranded as something other than "Cold Heat". They can't really work due to the batteries - they simply cannot produce enough current to provide much heat. Even if they can crank 1000mA out of the batteries at 3 volts, that's only 3 watts. Even the smallest soldering irons out there are 15 watts which would require 10 AA batteries.

 

That's BAD for the manufacturer, as if the chain stores get a lot of returns, the manufacturer will have to 'eat' the returns and pay for the return shipping (As per most one-sided contracts with large chains!) PLUS what the manufacturer may have put out big bucks to have inventory on hand to meet anticipated orders.... A scenario I would stay far away from unless I knew my product would work as advertised (or how it led the consumer to believe how it works).

 

DEPENDS ON THE BATTERIES

RECHARGABLE BATTERIES ( NI-CAD, NICKEL-MED) ARE 1.2 VOLTS

ALKALINES ARE 1.5 VOLTS, EVEN WITH THE ALKALAINES, BETTER TO BUY A CHEAP WELLER PLUG IN.............

 

I have one that I got from Radio Shack. It's very useful for small soldering jobs - primarily because you don't have to plug it in and wait for it to heat up and it does cool down much faster than a regular soldering iron. I don't use it for sweating joints in copper pipes because it wasn't made for that.

Just one of the many tools that come in handy occasionally. And, as someone already pointed out, it only costs about $20.

 

I was being generous. There are also different current draw ratings for various batteries and lithium is not the same as NiCD is not the same as alkaline, etc. Best case it's going to be able to produce 3 watts and gradually ramp down over about an hour of use to about 60% of that before it dies.

 

BOTTOM LINE....WITH 3 WATTS OR 2.4 WATTS, YOU CANT REALLY DO JACK, AGREE????

 

Had one.

Tried to use it on a couple of simple jobs and it was for ****, so I tossed it.

Back to the old fashioned iron.

DM

 

Right on!

 

If you use light flux you can solder with it...it works well for quick simple soldering jobs. Does take a little practice, but you can solder with it.

 

Burn $20.00 and save your self the time aggravation! I never use it, just sits in my toolbox.

 

Agreed, give me a temp controlled Weller. Actually, make that a pair of 'em
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Best tool ever made for the creation of cold solder joints. If you need portability get yourself a butane iron and fill it with something other than Ronson.