Halfpint
Member
ncarpenter said:
Hmmmmmm... You might want to take a good look at the new WAHL `IsoTip' "EZ Change" iron that takes NiMh `C' cells. Takes 5 different tip sizes/styles @ around @ $5.50 - $6.00, uses standard `C' cell sized batteries (Even can work quite well with good old Alkaline cells like the Duracells in a pinch!), comes with a fairly decent `rest' and has a cover for the `business end' that does a good job at protecting surrounding things from the tip until it finally cools. While *I* try to keep from dropping my tools Edsal Murphy always seems to pop up now and then and the couple 2 - 3 times I *have* dropped mine the only `damage?' to the tip was that it ended up curled off to one side and a `pair of metal fingers' IE: needle nose pliers took care of it handily. Now... One *still* has to be careful of how one hold the tip in relationship to whatever it is that one is soldering but it is just the usual precaution that one would normally take no matter what iron one is using. I'd think that the `ColdHeat' iron would be adding to that and I really don't think that one needs another `distraction?' on top of what a beginner would be dealing with. Some one like those of us who've spent our share of time `slaving over a hot iron' (I've got over 45yrs of that `under my belt' in both `consumer electronics' repair and `industrial electronics' repair/assembly/R&D. 15 of the last 20 years I, along with my wife, ran our own business repairing and restoring `Stereo Hi-Fi' equipment and even in my `so-called retirement' I still spend a fair amount of time `slaving over a hot iron' doing the occasional `restoration' of `hollowstate' equipment and the occasional scanner tweaks. FYI {VBE GRIN!}) might not find it too bad but still... why, even then, have an additional thing to deal with?
'Course there *still* isn't anything that can really beat `an olde original' corded iron. {VB GRIN!} Reach over, grab it, give it a quick wipe / poke into the tip cleaner, `hit' the joint(s), give it another quick wipe / poke, put a bit of solder on the tip to protect it while it waits for the next use, and `holster' it. Something about it is sort of `natural?' and `reassuring' compared to either butane or battery powered `cordless' irons. Probably just the assurance of knowing that the job will be / is done `right' with the `right?' tool? (Those of us who've `been there, done that' with *any* of them, corded, butane/battery cordless, always seem to always prefer the corded even though we *do* know that either of the other 2 can also do the job? {WAN GRIN!})
I guess that *my* main thing when it comes to the `ColdHeat' iron is *why* when there are already other `cordless' irons out there? It's just `re-inventing the wheel' as far as I can tell *especially* since, like I `extolled the virtues' of one above, WAHL has had several models of battery powered irons out for *years' now. That `split tip' `touch the tip to heat' thing strikes me as pretty much not much more than marketing hype than anything else. I suspect that *if* WAHL went and `over powered' the heaters behind the tips that even the `heating speed' would become a non-issue but I also suspect that WAHL decided against it in favour of longer battery, and tip too, life.
Just an `Olde Fart's' 2¢ worth. {GRIN!}
