New Cold Heat Soldering Tool??? Any good?

[bazzwazzle]

I currently have a 30 watt RadioShack Brand Soldering Iron. I recently saw a commercial for this soldering iron. the Cold Heat Soldering Tool. I was wondering if anybody knew if this thing was any good?  Thanks, bazz.

[Fret Wire]

You just missed the second recent thread on it. No one seems to think it's very good yet. It also introduces current into what you're soldering. Not good for pedals. If you need a mini, go butane.

[bazzwazzle]

ha ok i saw the thread, thanks. I was watching the WWII Berlin thing on History too with my father. lol

[STOMPmole]

My brother bought one of these and IMO they suck.  The tips are EXTREMELY fragile (they will crumble with too much pressure as he found out after about 30 seconds of use) and they cost $9 to replace and they didn't carry them where the iron was purchased (Fry's).  I wasn't overly impressed with how well (quickly) it melted solder either and the tip was WAY too large to do delicate PCB work.  STAY AWAY...you've been warned.

[The Tone God]

They have been running that commercial pretty hard where I am.

Looking at the tip it appears to be made of ferrite which is very brittle. I belive it has a notch in it where you slide the wire/contact in. Then it performs a controlled short circuit through the contacting metal to generate the heat hence why the tip is cold after your done. Obviously putting a short through a system can be bad for many componets as others have suggested. It would also make it hard to work on flat surfaces like circuit boards or the case of a pot.

I personally think the commercial border lines on being fraudulant. Just look at the "work bench". Its too damn clean and organized. I can actually see the work surface. Thats completely unrealistic.

Look at the main actor "testifying" about the product. A housewife in the kitching. Thats akin to asking me to talk about the greatness of musicals or vegatarin buggers. No offense to any wives that solder in the kitchen of course. Your husband (or possible wife if you live in Canada) must be proud/lucky. If I'm to belive the actor is some kind of authority then I need a shot of her pulling out of the driveway with a bumper sticker that says "My child reads your honor student's email."

Now if they tried selling the thing to geeks saying "You could be the first of your friends to have one, that is assuming you have friends" or "it gives you a +2 bonus to a thirty side dice roll for coolness" then I can see some chance for this thing.

Seriously though just about any product that is sold through an infomercial is crap.

Andrew

[strungout]

The only thing those kind of products advertised on tv are good for is entertaining you  while under chemical influence . Esteban's Gift of Guitar is my fave. I mean, chromed tuning heads   and that strip on the back   and it's ALL WOOD, not like those crappy plastic toy ukulele...
:twisted:

Ciao.