battery-powered soldering iron

[gearhead]

I walked into a roofing supply store and found, of all things, a 6
watt Weller battery-powered soldering iron (BP645MP). I had to have
it.
Turns out the tip itself contains the heating element. It attaches to
the body with a fitting much like an RCA jack. The soldering iron
works pretty well, and heats up quick as advertised. Of course you
can only use it on small stuff. Uses three AA batteries. Using it
very much could get expensive with replacement tips costing $5 each.
But it's a cool little toy.

 

[Michael Robinson]

Gearhead,

We started selling a newer version of that product (BP860MP) from Weller
a while back and have gotten some pretty bad reviews from customers over
our blog and the phone. How long and often do you use it? What kind of
soldering have you done with it? The new butane kit from Weller (PSI-100K)
is a far better mobile soldering product and does more than solder so it
is around $60. A bit more cash than the battery powered iron.

BP860MP blog: http://blog.all-spec.com/?p=19

PSI-100K blog: http://blog.all-spec.com/?p=176

I have not personally tested either one, but from previous experience
with both butane and battery powered irons I'd only use a butane iron
"on-the-run" in a very sheltered area. Everything else would be done with
a WES51 or WESD51. Curious to hear more about your experiences with it.

Regards,

Glen / All-Spec

Glen,
I'll state the biggest drawback:
not enough mass in the tip.
Only good for circuit boards.
If you try to solder anything heavy, it sucks the heat right out of the tip.
I was able to solder a stranded wire (I think it was 14 gauge) into a hole
on a circuit board, but when I tried to splice two pieces of wire end-to-end
the soldering tip didn't have the thermal heft to do it.
So it's a limited tool.
I'm on the lookout for a good, cheap butane iron.

 

[Michael Robinson]

Gearhead,

We started selling a newer version of that product (BP860MP) from Weller
a while back and have gotten some pretty bad reviews from customers over
our blog and the phone. How long and often do you use it? What kind of
soldering have you done with it? The new butane kit from Weller (PSI-100K)
is a far better mobile soldering product and does more than solder so it
is around $60. A bit more cash than the battery powered iron.

BP860MP blog: http://blog.all-spec.com/?p=19

PSI-100K blog: http://blog.all-spec.com/?p=176

I have not personally tested either one, but from previous experience
with both butane and battery powered irons I'd only use a butane iron
"on-the-run" in a very sheltered area. Everything else would be done with
a WES51 or WESD51. Curious to hear more about your experiences with it.

Regards,

Glen / All-Spec

I made a post on the BP blog.