- Status
It probably will work if you are patient, but honestly the power output isn't good. When soldering you heat up the components you are connecting to a temperature hot enough to melt the solder. That takes awhile with a low wattage iron. I used to use a 20w iron but upgraded to a 30w because I got tired of holding the iron on a board or component for awhile to heat them up.
An underpowered iron can be more likely to damage components because you are applying direct heat to them for longer periods of time, causing the heat to travel further through it.
If you happen to be buying components from madvapes they sell a 30w iron for five bucks. Pick it up, you won't regret it.
An underpowered iron can be more likely to damage components because you are applying direct heat to them for longer periods of time, causing the heat to travel further through it.
If you happen to be buying components from madvapes they sell a 30w iron for five bucks. Pick it up, you won't regret it.
Weller's a good brand, but Twisted is right about the power, 20-30W is usually about perfect for our purposes... If you're looking for one like the madvapes, Harbor freight sells them for $5 also, in-store or online (+ tax in-store, + shipping online)... I would recommend stepping up if you plan on doing much modding; Ace sells the 25W Weller (what I've been using) for ~$8 in store, <$15 shipped, or I've had my eye on this adjustable soldering station for ~$15 + shipping (2nd one down)...
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Check this one out.....15 bucks at Parts Express and the tip assortment is another 5. 40w with a rheostat; it works great for all size joints and jobs. I haven't had it long so I can't vouch for the longevity, but so far, so good.
Radio Shack has a 15 / 30 watt switch selectable iron for around $11 if you're looking for something quick. I heat it up on 30w and switch to 15w while actually soldering.
Here's my $.02 on soldering: Heat the leads or wire and melt the solder into them, don't try to put hot solder on cold wires. When you think you've held the iron on the lead or wire long enough, hold it there another second. Just be careful not to fry any components! I try to clip something on the lead between the iron and the component so it absorbs the heat.
What kind of mod are you making? Show some pics!
Re: returning it..... 6W is kinda useless as the power is too low to be effective. I had a higher wattage battery one before and I liked it because it was instant-on and worked well and had a built in light but there's not much you can do with a 6W iron.
Good luck!
Here's my $.02 on soldering: Heat the leads or wire and melt the solder into them, don't try to put hot solder on cold wires. When you think you've held the iron on the lead or wire long enough, hold it there another second. Just be careful not to fry any components! I try to clip something on the lead between the iron and the component so it absorbs the heat.
What kind of mod are you making? Show some pics!
Re: returning it..... 6W is kinda useless as the power is too low to be effective. I had a higher wattage battery one before and I liked it because it was instant-on and worked well and had a built in light but there's not much you can do with a 6W iron.
Good luck!
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might have to pick that up luckily lowes is good about returns i haven't figured out what im making yet thinking about maybe a wii remote
y'know, instead of returning it, it probably wouldn't b hard to turn into an awesome mod w/ it's own built-in atty...
...just sayin'
...just sayin'
Hmmmm 6 Watts? You might be on to something there......
I saw a post with the power equations and resistance of common attys but I haven't been able to find it. It would depend on the output voltage and the resistance of the atty. It could be a quick and easy drop in rechargeable... just take off the tip and put on an atty? It can't be that easy.... can it?
edit: Here's some info on power equations.
edit: Here are the specs:
Battery Powered Soldering Iron
* Heats to working temperature in 15 seconds
* Heating element in tip for super-fast heat up
* 3 AA batteries
* 120 soldering joints
* 7 year warranty
................................................
3 AA's will power an atty but you need 4 to really make it vape good.
rege, maybe you can give it a try before returning it and see what happens. It shouldn't damage your atty.
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just went and picked that up along with a bunch of battery boxes now just have to figure out what im making
Adjustable temp is a big plus. I use weller digital at home(D51) that had a broken wand and was going to be thrown away but I repaired it and kept it for myself. In my cube I use a 60w weller ET , but I hate the temperature tips, have to change tips to change temperature. In the lab we have a few hakko rework stations which I could never fathom buying for home use but they work fantastic.
The cheap wands are ok, but personally I'd skip them and get an adjustable. The problem with most of the cheap ones is thaat the tips are HUGE. The one parallex mentioned looks pretty decent and the tip doesn't look like like the size of a pencil. Amazon.com: Stahl Tools SSVT Variable Temperature Soldering Station: Industrial & Scientific: Reviews, Prices & more
Oh and wire tinning techniques were mentioned, personally I put the soldering iron on the front of the wire and rosin core solder on the back side, when the wire itself is hot enough to melt the solder it is hot enough to accept solder. If you don't properly tin both ends of the connection you can end up with a cold solder joint which can be an absolute nightmare to troubleshoot.
The cheap wands are ok, but personally I'd skip them and get an adjustable. The problem with most of the cheap ones is thaat the tips are HUGE. The one parallex mentioned looks pretty decent and the tip doesn't look like like the size of a pencil. Amazon.com: Stahl Tools SSVT Variable Temperature Soldering Station: Industrial & Scientific: Reviews, Prices & more
Oh and wire tinning techniques were mentioned, personally I put the soldering iron on the front of the wire and rosin core solder on the back side, when the wire itself is hot enough to melt the solder it is hot enough to accept solder. If you don't properly tin both ends of the connection you can end up with a cold solder joint which can be an absolute nightmare to troubleshoot.
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I got one of those old school black ones that are actually in the shape of a gun... it is 100 whooping watts. I will tell you what, there is no waiting around with that thing in hand... the solder melts after a few seconds with the trigger pulled.
100 Watts!! Be careful you don't fry components or melt anything nearby or singe your eyebrows with that powerhouse. That's made more for soldering wires than electronics. Make sure to use heat sinks... clips between the lead you're soldering and the component.... LED,caps, even resistors will melt with that kind of wattage... even the insulation off the wires! But, on the bright side, there's no waiting! Depending how it works you may want a lower wattage (~20-40) iron for soldering small components.
What are you making?
I'll tell you what. I have not been soldering like this for over 15 years at least. I had to get used to it again. I forgot what a pain in the lower extremities it can be. My soldering iron was too old, and I got some work done with it, but the tip started oxidizing on me even when I cleaned it and tinned it, it was still turning black and cruddy after a little bit of use. So I dumped it and went shopping. I bought a 25W at walmart and it worked great for a few times, but then it too started oxidizing and I couldn't keep it clean even with the best rosin core solder, cleaning and tinning I could muster. I went and bought one of those cordless irons he is talking about. Almost the same exact thing because it said 6W but acts like XX and does 900 degrees. So I bought it. Piece of junk. Took forever to heat up and would not heat wires or component leads up enough to melt solder. Well.. At least not at first it wouldn't. I'm a modder after all. That means I am 10% technical, 10% willing and 80% nuts (yeah take your pick on that one) and I decided that instead of 4AA batteries to power this puppy. It needed 2AA batteries ...... and 2 14500 batteries.. YOWZA! Talk about instant on. Yeah, I knew the pretty light and the LED was gonna go bye bye before I even pressed the button, but hey, I knew the iron itself wasn't going to melt. This thing hit hot enough to melt solder in about 3 seconds flat. Problem is, now the damn thing is TOO fast and TOO hot so you have to work quick because my horn style switch started melting around the solder leg within about 4 seconds. I did manage to get my little mod done though. Which is all I really wanted. Just to have a nice new 3.7v 2AA box mod for my new E2 R4 carto's as I knew these knew carto's were fantastic on 3.7v - 4.2v and I didn't want to carry around my 5v box if I could go one smaller.
Hell, I may just keep using this bad boy as is, it certainly is fast. LOL. I really should just go buy a nice 40W iron and be done with it, but since this sucker is wireless I am not worried about anything happening beyond melting the iron itself. If that happens, I don't care too much, I am only out 15 bucks. I wonder what kind of power this is putting out.
Mark Linehan
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. I do not recommend anyone do this. There, I feel better now.
Hell, I may just keep using this bad boy as is, it certainly is fast. LOL. I really should just go buy a nice 40W iron and be done with it, but since this sucker is wireless I am not worried about anything happening beyond melting the iron itself. If that happens, I don't care too much, I am only out 15 bucks. I wonder what kind of power this is putting out.
Mark Linehan
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. I do not recommend anyone do this. There, I feel better now.
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In my garage (shop) I have a Weller WD-1 with a 60 watt wand and a stereo microscope. After my first 40hr training class in soldering per the J-standard at a large company I realized I would never be happy with anything less. I have made do with a 100 watt pistol style soldering iron (great for large connectors), lighter fluid irons (great in the field if you can get them lit in a wind storm for soldering connections on a hall effect loops for cars) and my dad's old bessy that looked like a wooden handled branding iron. Once you have experienced flux cored Sn63, RMA flux and a good vision system nothing compares.
At my current company I had to train the engineers that came to work the line during the last strike. We spent the first week learing how to solder to terminals to the J-standard and pass inspection. After that they rocked! Like most people they just needed to be shown what was the desired final product. They could work to that once they had seen it.
All I can say is parctice, practice, practice. Get some flux as well as the solder and pay attention to the following: Make sure the flux is the same type as the solder core - water soluble versus rosin. Flux is your friend, until you are finished soldering. Then clean the heck out of it. If it is water soluble use water, else use ISP Alcohol. Scrub with a brush until all of the brown goo is gone and the solder shows bright. Watch for cold solder. It will look matte silver instead of shiny. Solder should wet the wires and components that are being soldered not look like clumps of dull metal. Once you know what the process should produce and how to watch for it it will be easier to judge your own work.
-MLK
At my current company I had to train the engineers that came to work the line during the last strike. We spent the first week learing how to solder to terminals to the J-standard and pass inspection. After that they rocked! Like most people they just needed to be shown what was the desired final product. They could work to that once they had seen it.
All I can say is parctice, practice, practice. Get some flux as well as the solder and pay attention to the following: Make sure the flux is the same type as the solder core - water soluble versus rosin. Flux is your friend, until you are finished soldering. Then clean the heck out of it. If it is water soluble use water, else use ISP Alcohol. Scrub with a brush until all of the brown goo is gone and the solder shows bright. Watch for cold solder. It will look matte silver instead of shiny. Solder should wet the wires and components that are being soldered not look like clumps of dull metal. Once you know what the process should produce and how to watch for it it will be easier to judge your own work.
-MLK
I got the one from MadVapes, they had tons when I ordered and it was cheap (30W and comes with solder)...worked like I champ on my boxmod kit I got from them also. I don't have a freakin 14500 batt though, so I can't test my first DIY mod kit. Oh, burnt my thumb though but that was my fault
Good luck!
ice
Good luck!
ice
Just be careful with water soluble, if you don't clean it thoroughly it can lead to nightmares dealing with leakage. In a previous life as a semiconductor test engineer(I developed hardware and software to test analog devices). We tried water soluble and eventually banned it because of the leakage caused by leaving behind the slightest amount of water soluble. Long soaks, ultrasonic cleaners, and it would still stay sometimes. While rosin core might be unsightly if not cleaned thoroughly, it is electrically inert and doesn't cause problems.
Granted in this application either will work as a few 100k here and there won't hurt much. Personally I prefer a good ol' 60/40 tin-lead rosin core, but a few years back we changed to tin silver even for our test boards which sucks because it's a pain to use, but we are Pb Free!
I'm glad I play with computers now.- Status
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