12v soldering iron buying advice

[The Bishop]

I'm looking to buy one of these to add to my van tool kit as they don't take up much room and can get you going again.

Any buying advice? What wattage would I need? Is 40w adequate?

[Oldiebut goodie]

Piece of copper pipe on a wooden handle hammered over at the end to the size you want - heat it up on the gas ring. Why waste money!
I started soldering with the old style soldering irons which were lumps of copper on steel shaft with a wooden handle heated up on the gas. You can even solder live wires unlike with an electrical one. All you need is a means of transferring heat to the object that you are soldering.

[CJH]

Hehe - good old-school ingenuity ^^^

I agree it's good to have the option of doing running repairs on the road. I bought one of these - 40W, £7.75 + postage.



It seems to do the job - I've been able to solder a few things 'upstairs' in the pop top much more conveniently than running an extension lead up there. In my brief experience with it I'd say 40W is perfectly adequate.

Much of my 12V equipment is connected up using Tamiya/Kyosho connectors - a sort of personal 'standard' fitting in my van. I also have a few fused trailing leads hidden away in the van with these connectors attached.



So I inserted a male/female pair of these connectors into the soldering iron cable so that I don't have to use the croc clips supplied.

[itchyfeet]

Never carried a soldering iron, never needed one
if you are worried about being able to reconnect wires just take some terminal blocks

[R0B]

I have a gas powered one in the van.its bob on,its handy for using with shrink tubing as well.

[California Dreamin]

Gas all the way mate, powerful/portable and without cable interference...

I am on my second (first one lasted about 7 years) this one is already 5 years old.

This one is identical to the one I have at the moment and highly recommended..full kit with attachments & self ignition.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ferm-SGM1006-Ga ... B00433SN0Y" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However...you can buy them for under a tenner.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Professional-Bu ... ering+iron" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Martin

[Hacksawbob]

I don't know why but I have never been able to get good heat transfer on my gas soldering iron from maplins. I can sit there all day and the solder never goes molten. Love the copper tube oldie, that's got to be the best one yet!

[California Dreamin]

I don't know why but I have never been able to get good heat transfer on my gas soldering iron from maplins. I can sit there all day and the solder never goes molten. Love the copper tube oldie, that's got to be the best one yet!

That's strange mate ^^^^^^ the first one I listed is like a furnace...gets up to temp in 20 seconds flat and melts large amounts of solder in seconds.

Martin

[ianders]

I've got a small gas blowtorch that I use for soldering. Great for joining wires and shrinking heatshrink but not so great with pcb type stuff.



Handy for lighting the cooker/bbq too

[Hacksawbob]

Not sure if its something about tinning the tip, or cleaning it maybe, I have bought 2 and they were both the same. http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/pro-iroda-sol ... -kit-n13ar" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Looks pretty good but I have to resort to 240V if I want to get the job done, I must be doing something wrong.

[syncroandy]

Portasol Pro Piezo for me.

Runs on lighter gas, and no hassles with a power cable when working in random places.

Made in EU too. Don't buy from Amazon though, very uncool.. I got mine from RS.

[ninja.turtle007]

Not sure if its something about tinning the tip, or cleaning it maybe, I have bought 2 and they were both the same. http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/pro-iroda-sol ... -kit-n13ar" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Looks pretty good but I have to resort to 240V if I want to get the job done, I must be doing something wrong.

I bought that soldering iron on its own when on special offer for about £20 from Maplin.

It works really well.

[The Bishop]

Never carried a soldering iron, never needed one
if you are worried about being able to reconnect wires just take some terminal blocks

Yes but I had to repair a relay at the weekend that couldn't be done with terminal blocks. And yes, I did track down what caused it to fail (a spanner lying across two terminals!).

[California Dreamin]

Very useful bit of kit....there isn't a month goes by when I haven't used mine. Particularly useful when you want the best possible terminal connections where I tend to solder in preference to crimping .



Martin

[ermie571]

Boy I wish I could solder! Suppose the answer is to buy the kit and practise??