Electronics → Cold Heat?

Has anyone tried one of these yet?

I have read reviews, and it seems that the reviews are at the extremes; either the user absolutely loves it, or the user thinks it is a POS.

I usually ignore such TV ads, but this one has me intrigued.

I have a big soldering gun and a smaller pencil type, but if this one works as promised, it would be great for that occasional quick fix that pops up.

Inquiring minds want to know....

I tried one that a friend of mine bought and have thought about ordering one. I only used it once and it worked fine and I think for small jobs such as soldering a wire or a small piece of jewelry it works well but I doubt if it would work on large jobs very well because the temps don't seem to get hot enough to melt one of the larger pieces of soldering stuff evenly (sorry, I'm completely brain dead this morning).
I dabble occasionally in jewelry making and have a regular soldering tool and the thoughts of having one that is cool within seconds is pretty appealing to me since I seldom use the other one without burning the back of my hand at least once.

I got one at the wallgreens knowing it was going to be just-this-side of a joke, but figured what-the-hell it might be ok for an emergency.
All it is is a carbon(type) tip electrode and 4 AA batteries in series. When you short the carbon together it completes the circuit and you get a hefty short across the batteries that causes the tip to heat. Yes, it will melt solder, I have used it in situations where I had no 110V nearby. But its heat is very small and uneven, and it will suck the batteries dry after a dozen uses. At least it did on my PC board repair I used it on. So its a cute gimmick, and fine for emergencies, but not for production.
Also, you only get 1 tip, and they wear down with use. New tips are not cheep, as its where the company will make their money.
-Riss

It's a new take on what's called "Resistance Soldering". As Riss pointed out, it has limited utility, and eats batteries.

See the reviews here at eHam: »www.eham.net/reviews/detail/4623

There are battery powered irons that work very well, and also butane powered irons. The butane ones are great if you have something to do outdoors in cold weather, but they take a while to cool down after you're done. I used to have a Wahl ISO-Tip battery iron that was great for small stuff, but lost it years ago.
»www.starkelectronic.com/ ··· 7670.htm

I bought one from Radioshack, and I love the little thing.
They're not going to be worth jack for building boards, or large parts, but for what I do with a soldering iron/gun, it works great.

Mine generally sees nothing more than re-flowing a cold solder joint, or replacing a resistor. That's where this thing really shines. I don't have to wait ten minutes for a iron to heat up, three seconds to repair a board, and ten minutes for it to cool off. Time is money.

It does suck the life out of batteries, it's a little strange getting used to, and the tips are brittle. It has quite a few downsides, but if you do find it useful, you'll never go without it.

My style is that I hold the solder with something, heat it and let a molten drop fall on what I want to join. I still haven't figured out how to do that with the Cold Heat.
It's only good for taking stuff in and out.

not good for delicate electronic soldering. i tend to have a hard time getting it to work well with intricate jobs, getting both tips down to the bit of solder i want to use. i tend to be pretty stingy with solder.

also, if you drop it, it's very easy to damage the tip and then it's useless.

i like my temperature adjustable weller.