Have you seen this??!!

[Hell-Fire]

I wonder if this thing is the real deal.

Reaches 500F in 1 second...whoa.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/pcmods/cables/69d3/

[pduan87]

Why do I seriously doubt that?!

[STEvil]

link be busted, what was it?!

[T07N]

Little penlike soldering iron that uses batery.

[STEvil]

uh-huh..

[Ragnarok]

cools to the touch in 1-5 seconds so you can put it away – without any waiting.

more bull :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: than hardocp/thg..

[MaZeR]

One of the links mentions a patent number (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&r=1&l=50&f=G&d=PALL&s1=6646228.WKU.&OS=PN/6646228&RS=PN/6646228)

"Generally described, the present invention provides a soldering iron, with a graphite tip having two separate halves that are electrically isolated from one another. The tip halves are each electrically connected to the opposite sides of an electrical power source. When both halves of the tip are applied to an electrically conductive material, such as the material to be soldered, an electrical circuit between the tip halves and electrical power source is completed. The halves of the tip are constructed from material having high electrical resistivity and low thermal conductivity. Therefore, the tip can reach operating temperatures quickly. When the tip is removed from the joint, the electrical circuit is broken and the tip material quickly cools."

I think I'll keep my plain old mains powered Weller.

[Stang_Man]

i wont trust something like that.

i'll stick with my 14 dollar Radio Shack iron.

[Hell-Fire]

Originally posted by Stang_Man
i wont trust something like that.

i'll stick with my 14 dollar Radio Shack iron.

Well, I am with you on that until a solid review comes out from a trusted source.

[Monarch]

Maybe I should buy it just to make fun of it...there is probobl a wierd catch to it.

[hyem]

nope... I don't belive it...

[Holst]

I dont see why your all so sceptical,

It says for use on 18-24awg wire (pretty small)

But I agree that its use may be somewhat limited.

I do the vast majority of my very small PCB soldering with a small battery operated iron.

[STEvil]

We are skeptical because it requires the use of the material to be soldered to complete the circuit.

Its an arc welder, for all intensive purposes in other words.


"Generally described, the present invention provides a soldering iron, with a graphite tip having two separate halves that are electrically isolated from one another. The tip halves are each electrically connected to the opposite sides of an electrical power source. When both halves of the tip are applied to an electrically conductive material, such as the material to be soldered, an electrical circuit between the tip halves and electrical power source is completed. The halves of the tip are constructed from material having high electrical resistivity and low thermal conductivity. Therefore, the tip can reach operating temperatures quickly. When the tip is removed from the joint, the electrical circuit is broken and the tip material quickly cools."

[Chipzfriar]

Ok, been reading a lot of threads on mods, and am _Thinking_ of maybe attempting a mod or 2, sometime down the road, after my level of confidence is Much Higher, that is, after I've destroyed some old PCBs and an old video/network card or 2. So, if money was no object, what would the consensous be of the best soldering iron to do these mods with? And, STEvil, thanks, but I don't think I'll be going with 350 watt iron, I have one, and it works well for heavy soldering, but ain't gonna even Think about bringing it anywhere near a PCB ;)

[STEvil]

hehe ;)

[DriveEuro]

You guys realize it's only $20. I don't see why you wouldn't give it a shot. It's as cheap as taking a girl out to eat.

[Tedinde]

I ordered one you cheapskates!!!! I've probably got 15 soldering irons. One more wont hurt. Most of the time i reach for my Radio shack butane one anyway.

[Chipzfriar]

Well, just saw another thread about soldering irons, and I think I may have found my answer. It's the Weller WSL2, think it could probably solder a trace on a spiders butt, but them, at $400, it had better be able to... ;)

[Hell-Fire]

Originally posted by Tedinde
I ordered one you cheapskates!!!! I've probably got 15 soldering irons. One more wont hurt. Most of the time i reach for my Radio shack butane one anyway.

Let us know how this thing works out man....should be interesting.

[STEvil]

<3 Butane.

[DaveX]

Originally posted by Tedinde
I ordered one you cheapskates!!!! I've probably got 15 soldering irons. One more wont hurt. Most of the time i reach for my Radio shack butane one anyway.

Then it won't hurt to order me one? ;)

[Chipzfriar]

OK, since we're talking Mod Tools, can I get some opinions on if a Fluke 189 True RMS would be a good meter to get? If so, what would be some good options to get with it? Here's a link to their page: http://www.fluke.com/products/orderinfo.asp?SID=9&AGID=6&FID=26863 As always, thanks :)

[Ragnarok]

flue is the best u can get, but then if u r a beginner, just a cheapo MM will do... it will do everything u need

[Holst]

The 189 is a good meter, but overkill for most people.

However the ability to read Ktype thermocouples may come in handy :D

I have a 75III that I use for day to day, however I also use a small pocket meter that only cost me £15.. works fine for continuity and volt mods.

[Chipzfriar]

Prob going to be getting it, did you happen to take a look at the link, with the options available to it?
Any suggestions, as this would be the 1st meter I have bought, and would like to get what I need now, stock up, so to speak, so I have what I need and not have to buy more later (GF/$ issues, if you know what I mean...) ;)

Thanks!

[Ragnarok]

I prefer my multimeter and thermometer seperate, never know when u r gonna need to use both @ the same time :D

*hugs Fluke 51..

[Gothic]

is this 'coldheat' tool precise? or it's gonna mess my mobo?

[Hell-Fire]

Beats me Gothic......I think someone ordered one.

Maybe they will post their findings after they test it out.

[Gothic]

but, in your opinion, is it more precise than the traditional way (20w tool)

[Hell-Fire]

If it does what its says it should...sure.

But I still would go with a pencil thin point and standard solder iron. But thats just me.

[gouda96]

I don't know anything about flukes, but a temp probe would be nice. I just payed $30 for one from radioshack, and it doesn't seem to be too accurate below -25c from what I have heard and seen.

[Chipzfriar]

Well, took the plunge, ordered it. Looks like it's going to hopefully be the last meter I would ever need... (that's how I rationalize it, yes, it's expensive, but good tools always are, and if it lasts 'forever'...) ;) Still trying to determine what accessories would be a good investment at this time as well, though.

Now it's time to crawl the mods forum(s) and start to try and educate myself as to meter reading points, modification locations, etc... this should be interesting! :)

[aoc007]

Has anyone tested one of this? Where can you buy them? If it actually works itd be a cool little toy.

[MAJT]

wow, that would be sweet if it does what it really says it should.

[Hell-Fire]

Has anyone bought one of these things yet to test it out.

I actually think I saw one of these on a late night info-mercial.

[DaveX]

Originally posted by Hell-Fire
I actually think I saw one of these on a late night info-mercial.

Damn...nobody's going to buy it now after that comment :D

[STEvil]

lol!

[blinky]

<3 my $15 radio shack soldering iron

[boshi]

so, what became of it?

[CrazyXP1700]

i saw the infomercial the other night... then this afternoon i burnt myself for the 1,000,000th time with my $2 soildering iron (beat that price!) and wondered if that thing is any good

aparently it only heats up when it makes contact with soilder or the wire or whatever...

im just wondering how affective this stupid thing will be at soildering wires to IC's... i mean 2 wires together isn't :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:... but soilding a wire to a IC is the true test...

and why the :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: make it battery operated... just so theres no wire? seems kinda stupid to me...

i guess for all those times your out in the back country and wanna volt mod your videocard.. thank god this thing doesn't need a outlet...

if someone gets one before me let me know how it does soildering onto IC's...

[Ragnarok]

Lol, does that thing send a huge current through the wire?

[slavik]

I think that the tips are just giant "resistors"

remember that the more resistance the more "heat" (waste), so I guess you have these two "resistors" and when the connection is complete, they heat up pretty bad and melt solder ...

I am guessing if there is any "current" it is very "low" (not too hurt a component)

but if someone tries it (I am sure it works, thinkgeek is not a cheap/ripoff store) I'll get one ... (no more danger of burning traces :))

[gouda96]

For the love of god, someone just buy it already. I am amazed that nobody has picked one up out of sheer curiosity. How many of us have bought a piece of hardware over $100 for no other reason than curiosity?

Someone please buy this damn thing already :D

[Hell-Fire]

Originally posted by gouda96
For the love of god, someone just buy it already. I am amazed that nobody has picked one up out of sheer curiosity. How many of us have bought a piece of hardware over $100 for no other reason than curiosity?

Someone please buy this damn thing already :D

LOL...send me the money and I will test it for you.

If it works, I will mail it your way.....hell, this would make a good XS review I think.

::thinking he needs to ask FUGGER to send them an email about that very topic since so many of us solder on a weekly basis.::

[Hell-Fire]

Received a Cold-Heat Solder Tool today. ;)

Will take several days to do a proper review and test on this interesting piece of hardware.

First looks tho:

Supposedly has 2 electrodes that when bridged produces the heat needed to solder.

I used it quickly as I couldnt stand waiting....wanted to see what was up. I obviously read over the manual, and noticed something interesting. It "can" produce sparks during the soldering process. That could be trouble for us Vmodders.

On a quick test, it certainly threw a spark or 2. Nothing parge like a lightening bolt mind you, but if you are soldering around ICs that have many small pins...could be a problem.

I will do a thorough test on it this coming week if all goes well.

[STEvil]

sounds like a killer in the waiting...

[JSU]

it forsure can reach 500 degrees...... It uses a carbon arc (grafite). I used to play with them when i was a little kid. You take a pencil a strip away the wood then get 2 pieces and attach each piece to a lead on a 9v battery, then attach them together and they glow redish orange..... the kelvin rating for that color is about 3 or 4k.
To sum it um that thing is prolly around 1200 degrees
sorry if im a bit hard to understand

[STEvil]

I wouldnt put one near an IC..

[Stang_Man]

Originally posted by JSU
it forsure can reach 500 degrees...... It uses a carbon arc (grafite). I used to play with them when i was a little kid. You take a pencil a strip away the wood then get 2 pieces and attach each piece to a lead on a 9v battery, then attach them together and they glow redish orange..... the kelvin rating for that color is about 3 or 4k.
To sum it um that thing is prolly around 1200 degrees
sorry if im a bit hard to understand

i just went through 10 pencils trying to pull them apart... fuggers are glued pretty strong now a days i guess, cause i couldn't get long enough pieces of graphite.


could i just use those .9mm lead straws for mechanical pencils?

[STEvil]

i dont think length matters as long as you've got a couple peices fair sized... thickness shouldnt matter either, and mechanical pencil lead is the same as normal pencil lead or very close I would think.

[WildKard]

I am going to buy some pencil lead and a battery tomorrow...this sounds like fun :rolleyes: I really dont have much better things to do on a saturday

[DaveX]

We did a demonstration of this in AP Chemistry...we didn't strip away the wood on the pencil though. We ran the current through and the wood burst into flames, leaving the lead glowing bright orange/red.

[STEvil]

lol :D

Wire a pair of 9v in series for 18v and see what happens ;)

[aoc007]

Originally posted by STEvil
lol :D

Wire a pair of 9v in series for 18v and see what happens ;)

lol that ones always great.

[craig588]

Lets build an arc welder using batteries! :D

[slavik]

craig ... ROFLMAO!!! time to go find a pencil ... I got 4 1.5 D type batteries in series (batt holder) will that work?

[JSU]

I dunno if D's will work but 9v in series are realy fun :)

[STEvil]

if you get enough in series it will work, even if you can make up for voltage with amperage you're goo to go ;)

[slavik]

I can't find the batteries now ...

with the thing actually get hot? I set it up on a steel case I have ...

[JSU]

yes it will get hot.... you should use aligator clips though and you can hold onto those

[STEvil]

I wired 3 9v in series.. burned my finger in a hurry!

[DriveEuro]

You guys see this on TV commercials now?

[autoexec]

how long does it take to heat up?
is it dc only?
or will a double side sharpened pencil ignite nicely from ac supply

[JSU]

it should get hot amost instantly and i wouldnt try it with a/c