Rechargeable soldering iron suggestions?

[senlow]

I'm sure they'll never catch on. Kinda like cordless drills.

It's funny that you mention that. I bought my first cordless soldering iron in 1981, the same year I got my first cordless drill.

 

[xjfish]

I stand corrected. Have gotten a little pricey. But hands down the best for electrical soldering. I used to solder wires 7 hours a day.

I bought one of these from Radio Shack, before they went under. Good heat, always had issues with leaks. Snap-On (rebadged) has been a bit better. Usually reach for Matco rechargable, but its not hot enough 1/2 the time... Rebadged Power Probe?

 

[Tactile]

JBCs are the Ferraris of soldering stations.

I’m more of a Hakko guy because they perform well enough for me and are reasonable cost with durable tips (tip life is one weak area of the higher performance JBC tips). The Hakko cordless product is an also-ran that I do not recommend. It’s effectively an obsolete product they should drop from their line.

I was expecting them to be bad because I'd had experience with Metcal irons that use a similar tip system. I havent replaced any of my JBC tips yet.

 

[Rabid Badger]

Pinecil.

USB-PD power bank.

Done.

 

[MiteyF]

Looks like the Pinecil/powerbank or one of the ones that fits on a Dewalt battery are probably the 2 best options. I guess it probably comes down to which form factor you like, although the Pinecil does seem to have a lot of rave reviews.

Thanks guys

 

[WWheeler]

Looks like the Pinecil/powerbank or one of the ones that fits on a Dewalt battery are probably the 2 best options. I guess it probably comes down to which form factor you like, although the Pinecil does seem to have a lot of rave reviews.

Thanks guys

FWIW there are similar or the same soldering irons also available that work on other brand batteries, for example:

Amazon.com

Cordless Soldering Iron Station for Milwaukee 18V Battery

I've also seen them for Harbor Freight brand batteries, Bauer and Hercules, but those for some reason I'm not seeing on Amazon any more. A few on eBay but those sellers want a little more. I suspect you can find the same similar for whatever platform batteries you want on aliexpress, for less.

 

[MiteyF]

Yeah, but like I said earlier, I only have Dewalt and Hilti tools.

 

[Beerhippie]

FWIW there are similar or the same soldering irons also available that work on other brand batteries, for example:

Amazon.com

Cordless Soldering Iron Station for Milwaukee 18V Battery

I've also seen them for Harbor Freight brand batteries, Bauer and Hercules, but those for some reason I'm not seeing on Amazon any more. A few on eBay but those sellers want a little more. I suspect you can find the same similar for whatever platform batteries you want on aliexpress, for less.

Thanks again. Another tool I didn't know I had to have.

I was soldering some low-voltage lighting out in the yard today that would have required about 50 yards of extension cords to reach. I used my little Bernzomatic butane torch, which is sub-optimal, especially in the daylight as I can't see the flame.

I have one of those above on the way now.

 

[dnschmidt]

I have one for heat shrinking, works better with the deflector I find, very slow going without as you are wasting most of the heat.

The Milwaukee ***** and the DeWalt is considerably better and I've had both. Neither are anywhere close to my plug in Milwaukee or Steiner heat guns.

 

[Beerhippie]

Thanks again. Another tool I didn't know I had to have.

I was soldering some low-voltage lighting out in the yard today that would have required about 50 yards of extension cords to reach. I used my little Bernzomatic butane torch, which is sub-optimal, especially in the daylight as I can't see the flame.

I have one of those above on the way now.

Then I go to get something out of the passenger footwell--I have no passengers (get your own junker, looser!)--and stumble over the 1K Watt inverter that's been there forever. I guess that would have made for one hell of a cordless Weller soldering iron.

 

[richfinn]

The Milwaukee ***** and the DeWalt is considerably better and I've had both. Neither are anywhere close to my plug in Milwaukee or Steiner heat guns.

Yeah, I have a 240v AC Bosch at home but needed one for working out of the van, I have a butane Iroda Thermo torch thing that works pretty good.

I do use the Milwaukee M18 for other stuff where it's mild nature is quite good though.

Drying out flooded spark plugs.

"relaxing" electrical connectors to make them easier to release (It gets cold in Yorkshire)

 

[Rinspeed]

I have one for heat shrinking, works better with the deflector I find, very slow going without as you are wasting most of the heat.

Using a deflector does help a lot, McMaster sells one that fits on the Milwaukee corded but I can't remember if they are made by Milwaukee or not.

 

[duneslider]

In my opinion, the TS101 powered by usbc works pretty darn good and is worth having.
The soldering irons that you can power with your 18v battery are a little bit better and seem to work great for what they are.
I have not used a true rechargeable pen style soldering iron that I felt was good.

The Milwaukee 12v soldering iron actually works pretty good but I don't own Milwaukee stuff so I don't have one but have one at work that we occasionally use in the field. I don't like how big and clunky it is but most of the time I would rather run an extension cord to use my Hakko.

 

[duneslider]

I was expecting them to be bad because I'd had experience with Metcal irons that use a similar tip system. I havent replaced any of my JBC tips yet.

Sort of surprised by your comments on the Metcal, I had always heard they were "it" when it came to soldering irons. I don't own one but have tried a metcal and thought it was pretty amazing. I haven't used a JBC, they seem pretty nice too.

 

[MiteyF]

I think the TS101 is looking like a good option. 120 -> 24v for the shop, and USB for when I'm away from an outlet.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

I use a PowerProbe butane torch for pretty much everything, whether soldering or heat shrink connectors. More compact and easier than electric, especially out in the middle of a field or whatever weird spots I need it.

For electric, I'd get a TS100 and run it off a power source for whatever your preferred battery tool system is - Milwaukee, Dewalt, etc.

 

[Tactile]

Sort of surprised by your comments on the Metcal, I had always heard they were "it" when it came to soldering irons. I don't own one but have tried a metcal and thought it was pretty amazing. I haven't used a JBC, they seem pretty nice too.

I was surprised too. Metcal are a very nice piece of kit but after using them I just assumed that the higher temps and fluxes used with lead-free was just harder on the tips. It was the first time I had experienced lead-free 100% of the time in manufacturing, so I made that assumption. It was a while ago so I will make another assumption: Metcal have probably improved the quality of their tips!