Recommend me a gas soldering iron!

I fancy one of these.

Are they all much of a muchness or are the savvy lot that make them packing some full of con tricks like pricey fuel canisters?

Any other tips? Can they be used for heat shrink or is the heat radiation no where good enough?

TIA

 

Noticed someone mention these gas irons the other day.
What are you trying to solder? A decent leccy type will manage the smallest of work. The likes of the 37 pin connector used on a Megasquirt ECU is no problem with the suitable bit fitted in the iron.
The electronic technicians at my old work wired up huge electronic pods with leccy irons.

 

I'm not soldering anything in particular - normal wires. I just like the potential handiness of them.

 

Sounds like you need the iIron app.

You can solder on the bus, at work, at the bar of your favourite local whilst having a pint (soldering quality may deteriorate with the latter).

 

Only to poke in the eyes of the scheming c*nts at Apple. I'll need two of those

 

I got one from Maplins. Nice case, handy ends, convenient but won't beat my plug in which wins hands downs, unless I'm somewhere other than my drive or house lol

 

Something like this, very powerful and the equivalent of a 120w plug in soldering iron.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ANTEX-Gas...Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item589071409c

May seem overpowered but when your outside in cold conditions with a breeze it doesn't take much to drop the heat of a lesser powered gas iron so that soldering becomes a nightmare.

For the price and the amount you probably solder outside away from power, I would get by with spare wire and crimp terminals until you get to somewhere more suitable for soldering with electric.

 

Can highly recommend the RS multi purpose Gas Tool Kit (Stock number: 512-610) The soldering iron comes with a the extra bits.

Doubt the part number is still valid though as it is over 10 years old

 

Be careful with the exhaust on those irons though. Easy to set fire to stuff.

Gurds

 

I've got one of these, and I love it. Very easy to use, gets hot quick, gets cold quick too.

Linky

 

Search weller gas iron on eBay and take your pic. I got one bought for me as I did a favour for someone. It's great to be able to solder stuff in the workshop without plugging it in.
It would never beat a mains one though

 

Don't get one of the cheapy draper/generic ones. Mine lasted about 6 months of medium use and now needs to be lit with a lighter

 

Did all my MS wiring using a gas iron. Much easier than a wired one. I used the exhaust to melt the heat shrink after soldering. Get things done alot quicker.

They can be a bit hot for PCB work, but joining wires etc its ideal.

 

+1

 

Portasol ones are good, but I've found you are paying some of the price for the name

I've got an Iroda one, like this kit - http://cpc.farnell.com/iroda/pro-70k/solderpro-70-gas-soldering-iron/dp/SD01093

I'd also suggest one of these tips - http://cpc.farnell.com/iroda/s-22/tip-for-solderpro-70/dp/SD01104

The kit comes with a heat blower head that is perfect for heat shrinking, as well as a mini blowtorch head and a hot knife head.

I've had no issues with mine, used it for a variety of jobs including re-soldering connections on my Sky+ HD box! I wouldn't pay extra for piezo ignition, for the extra money over a flint ignition iron you may as well have a better iron rather than a piezo one.

Compare the power outputs as well, you can always turn down a powerful one. When I was looking I found that you'd get the next level up of Iroda iron for the price of the less powerful Portasol.

 

same as i've got from maplins.

great bit of kit.

as said above use the exhaust out the side of the tip to do the heat shrink

 

I guess the exhaust can be used for heat shrink - but since it came with a hot air blower head I just use that for it.


Chris - reference pricey gas - they run on std lighter gas. Cheap as chips. If I was using it every day as part of my work I'd probably go and buy the top spec Portasol. As it was the most basic portasol was the same price as the more powerful Iroda kit, so I got the better spec kit with more attachments Never had an issue with it. I *nearly* spent the extra to get a piezo ignition one, but since the cap come with a flint sparker on it I'm glad I didn't bother.

 

http://shop.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/searchresults?cmd=SKW&kw=powerprobe+soldering+iron&x=7&y=15

ive had this for around a year, does all my needs at work, parking sensors, wiring repairs
never used a lecy one so cant comment

 

That one looks like quite a lot of money - does it say what the power rating is? I can't see it on the EBay auction.

 

sorry got no advice on which one to get, but the one i would avoid is the cheap MAC one that they used to sell, think it retailed at around 45 but was good for nothing