Well the on-line manual at radioshack answers just about all the
questions.
http://www.radioshack.com/images/ProductCatalog/Manuals/OME64-2102.pdf "To heat the tip, carefully place it against the electrically-conductive
work piece so that both tip electrodes make solid contact with it.
The red operating light will shine and the tip will create heat almost
instantly, allowing for clean solder flow and the formation of a
smooth joint. A slight spark may occur at the tip during soldering".
It's uses resistance soldering. It requires good electrical contact
between the tip and the metal being soldered, or as stated elsewhere,
you can bridge the two halves of the tip with solder to get it started.
It has a red light that comes on when contact is made.
"When soldering electronic parts with a small pin-out (or any part with
“legs” or leads that are close together), use caution not to bridge
two or more different pins with the opposite halves of the Split-Tip™.
Doing so will cause a current discharge into the part and may damage
it".
Guess the voltage is enough to damage SS parts if applied across leads.
This thing may not have a switching power converter. It may just use the
raw 6 volts from the AA cells. Maybe the tip has "just the right amount"
of resistance to cause it to heat locally when bridged by a conductor
and still not draw excessive current at 6 volts from the AA cells.
Also, it says you can expect up to 750 solder joints from one set of
batteries (lithium recommended).
This thing sounds pretty good for occasional portable use. I personally
don't do that very often. All my soldering is on the bench with my
Weller soldering station. If I had the need, for $19.95 I would buy one.
Phil B
"Phil B" <pcb
...@NOSPAMcomcast.net> wrote in message
...
> Timmi,
> It sounds like it uses the "resistance soldering" method.
> See http://www.contacteast.com/product/group.asp?parent_id=15 or
google
> "resistance soldering".
> Typical bigger units use stainless steel or carbon electrodes.
> Apparently keeping the electrodes clean is a common problem when rosin
> and corrosion builds up. It is said that filing the electrodes is
common
> practice.
> I would expect that it does indeed have a switching converter to step
> the 6 volts from the 4 AA cells down to say 1 volt or so at higher
> current. You said the tip lasted for 1/2 hour but you didn't say how
> many solder connections you made and how much metal you were trying to
> heat.
> Descriptions of this unit on the web say temperature can reach 800
> degrees. This should be plenty to conduct heat through the molten
solder
> to the wires to flow the solder as long as there isn't too much heat
> sinking going on.
> Since it is powered by AA cells, by implication, it is intended for
> occasional portable light-duty use. I would never think of using it to
> solder a tube socket pin with a wad of wires connected to it.
> As for CMOS work, the voltage should be low enough (say 1 volt) to not
> cause any problem. Are you sure about that 600V p-p reading? That
> doesn't make any sense to me. What do you mean by a "real nice damped
> wave". Did you see a square wave or sine wave. What was the frequency?
> Phil B
> "Timmi" <socvees39...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1a306$41db464f$d1cc458e$8878@snip.allthenewsgroups.com...
> > RatShack is selling them. I tried one with
> > the clear understanding of the manager
> > that if I didn't like it, I'd be able to return it
> > for a full refund. Tip lasted all of 1/2 hour
> > of use. Seems to be a high voltage metal
> > clad switching PS using some kind of a
> > thermocouple. (read real nice damped
> > wave of about 600V peak-to-peak on the
> > worn tip when the element sheath gave way
> > to the inner element...remember this if you
> > use this thing to solder ANYTHING of
> > the CMOS variety...)
> > In short, it was a nother redundant
> > piece-o-crap from China. Junk. Phooey!
> > Stay away from it and use an old
> > reliable Ungar or Weller plug-in model.
> > "peterB" <zar...@albany.net> wrote in message
> > news:1104879226.782696.106820@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> > > Hi,
> > > Has anyone seen or used this new soldering iron called 'cold
heat'?
> > > Seems like it would not heat up the wires enough to create a good
> bond
> > > between the wire and the solder. The ad makes it look as if it
melts
> > > the solder instantly, which wouldn't give time for the wire to
heat
> up.
> > > Any thoughts?
> > > Thanks,
> > > -Pete
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