Uhh..

Jakq · Post by **Jakq** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:06 pm

I asked my aunt for a soldering iron for christmas and she got me a cold heat. Is it still usable, I have heard bad things.

jeroen · Post by **jeroen** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:08 pm

Not to hurt your aunt butt. Ya basicly that soldering iron sucks. (from what i've heard) It uses electricity to melt solder wich is bad in electronics.

Jakq · Post by **Jakq** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:18 pm

I am gonna keep it just because shes 71, and really like these wire strippers.

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 9:15 pm

kurt got one of those too, actually, so i had a chance to see it in action.

its definitely a bit scary, it sparks and such when it makes contact.

i can see how it could have some neat applications though. like soldering in tight spaces where you want to avoid 3rd degree burns, or soldering large pads of solder that your wimpy 25w iron cant handle. or even if you need to just reattach a wire that broke and you dont want to wait for your iron to heat up.

as long as you make sure the tip is truly and directly shorted, you cant fry anything. but it wouldn't put it anywhere near sm components.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 11:22 pm

Cold heat's ok for simple things but it suck and this is from personal experience, sucks when being used on electronics. Even if you manage to get the solder to melt, which is a difficult thing sometimes, then you have to be concerned that the high voltage it uses to melt solder could fry some of the components.

Save it for jewelry and the like. Things you can get both prongs around.

Spend the $20 or so and run down to RadioShack and buy a real soldering iron. And simply tell your aunt, "It's a nice tool, I can find a use for it. But it's not what I can use for my hobby."

Hey at least it's not like getting a gel case for a 3G iPod and you have a iPod Video and Nano (2G).

Rototiller · Post by **Rototiller** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:20 am

Sparkfist wrote:
Hey at least it's not like getting a gel case for a 3G iPod and you have a iPod Video and Nano (2G).

Or, getting a computer screen for christmas but no actual computer.
And being told to "Go ahead. play with it."
(My aunt is stupid.)

dudex77 · Post by **dudex77** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 12:21 pm

Or, getting a computer screen for christmas but no actual computer.
And being told to "Go ahead. play with it."
(My aunt is stupid.)[/quote]

wow hearing that made me want to cry