COLDHEAT Soldering Tool

D

daba

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 11, 2004
Messages
340
https://www.asseenontvnetwork.com/vcc/coldheat/coldheat/

Supposedly it works great and heats up in a second. Surprisingly, it cools down in a second as well. Costs $20 + $6 shipping. You can get the wire stripper for $4 more, bringing the total to about $30 in the US.

I ordered myself one because I couldn't help myself. It is not a referall link. It's being sold at Thinkgeek.com and Frozencpu.com too, but it is more expensive there and sold out, respectively.

You can visit their site here http://www.coldheat.com
 
I saw the commercial for this the other day. Im curious to see how well this works. Especially since its cordless.
 
it works by completing the circuit at the tip of the iron. The tip is made of graphite from what I understand, and the tip is in two pieces (left half and right half), the the left and right are connected together with something conductive such as solder, it completes the circuit and heats up. Once you remove the tip from the conductive object, it shuts off.

interesting concept really...but I'm not quite sure how well it would work with components as small as the SMT ones on mb's and vid cards.
 
I bought one out of curiosity too. Works well for really quick wire/led/etc jobs, but I wouldn't recommend it for pcb work. I carry both in my toolkit now, its nice not to have to wait for my iron to heat up/cool down just to attatch a quick toggle switch.
 
the tip (not sure if its graphite or not, was under the impression it was ceramic of some sort) is made of a material that conducts heat incredibly effeciently but doesnt have a high heat capacity (ability to hold heat)...not sure how it heats up so fast...i am guessing it just dumps a load of current into the heating element/tip....when that power is removed because the tip dissipates and releases heat so fast it only takes a short time to cool off.
 
I saw arcs on the cammercial so the best I could think of was microwaves. I don't think they make the microwave stuff that small though.
 
hrm...perhaps my theory is wrong...

if its arcing then that sounds feasible...the tips have a little split in them too...

an electrical arc can generate a lot of heat and i guess that could be enough to solder...like arc-welding but on a smaller scale. sound feasible?
 
From everything I've heard - these can handle very small soldering jobs - but if you need to melt very much solder these simply won't cut it.
 
Arcing would be possible, but remember... every electrical discharge generates some sort of EMP. If the tool used arcing, you could not, for example, solder ICs to a PCB. They would die, either from the actual current grounding out through them, or the EMP.

We actually have microarc welders where I work, but we only use them with solid metal.
 
Very good review on it, with an explaination of how it works, over at Modder'sHQ. Found that while Googling for info on the tool.
 
Ah yes, it's a microarc system... so stay away from leds and ICs if you're attatched to them... I <3 my 1 watt needle tip soldering iron...
 
humm i was thinking bout getting one of these but it seems ill just stick with my butane soldering iorns they do big jobs and heat up faster than electric
 
tom61 said:
Very good review on it, with an explaination of how it works, over at Modder'sHQ. Found that while Googling for info on the tool.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but I have to say that whoever wrote that review has no idea how to solder. First of all, he's comparing the cold-heat soldering iron to a soldering gun. Soldering guns are used for heavy duty jobs where high wattage is required, not a delicate touch. If he wanted an accurate comparison, he should have compared it to a wand, not a gun.

Second, he constantly complains about there being too much solder ("The gun took a bit too long and resulted in melted PCB spots, along with excessive solder in some areas."..."The gun performed a bit better this time around, but still left excess solder drops."...etc.). Hmm, I wonder who's fault that is?? Could it be the fact that you aren't heating up the contact points correctly so the solder would flow or is it just because too much solder magically appears when using the soldering gun??

Third, he obviously doesn't know the correct way to solder if he didn't heat the pads using the soldering gun (resulting in the "tear drop drips") before applying solder. If you are going to make a comparision, know how to use the tools first. Wow that guy had no clue how to do a review.

-special [k]
 
daba said:
https://www.asseenontvnetwork.com/vcc/coldheat/coldheat/

Supposedly it works great and heats up in a second. Surprisingly, it cools down in a second as well. Costs $20 + $6 shipping. You can get the wire stripper for $4 more, bringing the total to about $30 in the US.

I ordered myself one because I couldn't help myself. It is not a referall link. It's being sold at Thinkgeek.com and Frozencpu.com too, but it is more expensive there and sold out, respectively.

You can visit their site here http://www.coldheat.com
Click to expand...

$4 WHAT!!! the commericial said it was free, what bs

lol, anyway, i have been wondering how people like these also, let up know in 4 to 12 weeks
 
specialk said:
Third, he obviously doesn't know the correct way to solder if he didn't heat the pads using the soldering gun (resulting in the "tear drop drips") before applying solder. If you are going to make a comparision, know how to use the tools first. Wow that guy had no clue how to do a review.
Click to expand...
I've been soldering for decades... you need a dab of solder on the tip of your iron to actually get heat into the pad first; holding a dry tip against a pad will just burn it. When the pad gets hot via the solder, you flow more solder into the joint.
 
gee said:
I've been soldering for decades... you need a dab of solder on the tip of your iron to actually get heat into the pad first; holding a dry tip against a pad will just burn it. When the pad gets hot via the solder, you flow more solder into the joint.
Click to expand...
thats how you solder with a traditional iron -- aparently the tip on the coldheat iron does not tin, that is, it does not hold solder.

in order to get the best contact with this new toy you would probably have to heat up the pad, apply solder, heat up the wire, apply solder, then heat them both up together. for portable soldering, a variable heat butane iron with a tradtional tip is alwase going to be better, but for people that dont know the diffrence, this will probably be suffecent.

and i woundent solder anything even close to a computer with this -- the ESD comming off that tip must be rediculous. i wonder what spectrum they transmit on...
 
Well, I said that I ordered mine back on 07/19... I have NOT received it yet. I sent them an email asking what's going on.
 
theshadow27 said:
thats how you solder with a traditional iron -- aparently the tip on the coldheat iron does not tin, that is, it does not hold solder.

in order to get the best contact with this new toy you would probably have to heat up the pad, apply solder, heat up the wire, apply solder, then heat them both up together. for portable soldering, a variable heat butane iron with a tradtional tip is alwase going to be better, but for people that dont know the diffrence, this will probably be suffecent.

and i woundent solder anything even close to a computer with this -- the ESD comming off that tip must be rediculous. i wonder what spectrum they transmit on...
Click to expand...


Gheez that would be a challenge to heat the surface instead of putting a bubble of solder on the tip. I like the idea of fast soldering like for fixing wires that fell off a solder joint. :rolleyes: no im not the best at soldering. and its not convenient to bring out the iron solder one point and leave it out to cool. I guess I can put it back into the box if I wanted a fire though.
 
theshadow27 said:
and i woundent solder anything even close to a computer with this -- the ESD comming off that tip must be rediculous. i wonder what spectrum they transmit on...
Click to expand...
spectrum? chances are it just puts DC through the tip. And this won't cause ESD...
 
well, i want to know if anyone on HERE have used one, i thought about buying it, but i wanna hear a first hand report on something like this. maybe doing stuff like PCB modding, wire splices, and god know whatelse is good for a 20W wand. btw, that thing looks stinking cool :cool:
 
it works by completing the circuit at the tip of the iron. The tip is made of graphite from what I understand, and the tip is in two pieces (left half and right half), the the left and right are connected together with something conductive such as solder, it completes the circuit and heats up. Once you remove the tip from the conductive object, it shuts off.
Click to expand...
I believe nst6563 is right and this is how it works, the sparks are generated by arcing when the high current contact is made. To generate such a high current from 4 AA batteries you would need to operate an oscillator and high current transformer so its probably not DC at the tip.
 
Rat shack has these in stock under their own brand but it essentially is the same. I took mine apart and all it is is a short circuit. Positive to one side and negative to the other. There are wires coming off these for the LEDs which are controlled, i believe, by a voltage monitering circuit. The tool refuses to work with NI-MH batteries so rechargables in this sense are out of the question, but the instructions suggest using lithiums, but i do not see how that would work since they are 3.6v cells. Either way the tip is very fragile and cracks easily. I know how to solder well and i have a lot of trouble getting this thing to work. Buy it if you want to experiment with it but other than that I do not reccomend it.
 
i'll be on the look out for a good review tho. if its good, i'll place an order for it the same day
 
i orderd a cold heat off asseenontvnetwork.com, they have refused to aknowlage my order and they have realy crummy customer service. i dont suggest anyone order from them.
 
after finding out my asseenontvnetwork.com order was never prossesed :rolleyes: i went down to radioshack and picked my self up a radioshack branded ColdHeat. its pretty cool -- i wouldent use it near ICs at all, but it works well for switches, relays, ect...

does anyone know where to get aditional tips? i cant find them anywhere
 
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