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Billfred 20-07-2004 20:23

Cold heat?
 
Since we're on an As-Seen-On-TV kick, I noticed the other day an ad for this soldering iron called Cold Heat. Supposedly when you touch it to metal, it gets wicked hot. Let it go, and it cools off in seconds to the point that you can touch it.

So, can anyone tell me whether this is hotness or hype?
Linkage

Dorienne 20-07-2004 21:04

Re: Cold heat?
 
Hmm it seems like it's true to its word.
I just don't see how it cools down in seconds from a high tempature.
It's possible, but I don't think it does cool down that fast.
They probably mean like over 60 seconds of cooling time.
*shrug*
I just prefer the old ones...I use them everytime I need them and I never have a problem.
--d0ri

Cory 20-07-2004 21:10

Re: Cold heat?
 
I saw that thing last night.

Looks pretty fake to me... Common sense tells me you can't heat something to 800 degrees and then cool it down to room temperature again in a matter of seconds.

Cory

Jay H 237 20-07-2004 21:25

Re: Cold heat?
 
Cold Heat.......it's pretty much an oxymoron. :p

See what I mean:
civil war, bittersweet, open secret, genuine imitation, smart blonde, drag race, cold heat, plastic glasses, painless dentistry, freezer burn, pretty ugly, criminal justice.

I saw it advertised too but somehow I don't fully believe it. If you remember several years ago they were selling a wax that would hide scratches. You had to buy the wax that was similar to the color of your car. My Dodge was blue and had several light scratches on the hood. These were not deep scratches but just enough that they were visible up close. Well, I bough the blue wax and put it on then buffed it out when dry. It hid the scratches and looked nice.......for a day or two until the sun bleached the wax to an off-white color and then they REALLY were visible at that time! :mad: Needless to say I tried redoing it several times but it would never last for more than a few days and that was the last time I used that wax. If I wanted the scratches to show up with wax I would have used regular Turtle Wax or Carnuba Wax or something. This is also when you have those doubts about what you see on TV and you realize how true they are sometimes.

Elgin Clock 20-07-2004 21:35

Re: Cold heat?
 
There is actually a marketing trick that says that the customer won't bother returning items they bought on those "as seen on tv" commercials if the item is less than $20. Hence the $19.99, or $9.99 trick.

They figure, most people will just keep the (cheap) under $20 item, rather than go thru the trouble of returning it.

Darn marketing trickery...

edit: Although, there is an "as seen on tv" store at the local mall here. Maybe (in the interest of science, and FIRST) I will see if I can buy one of these "cold heat" devices there and test it out.. If it doesn't work, you can be sure that I will return it to the store..
Muwhahahaha..
Marketing team, I'm onto you and your trickery...

Ted Boucher 20-07-2004 21:40

Re: Cold heat?
 
Ok... I will say that i have bought one of these ( since I babysitted my cousins for 3 days) and it does work. You turn it on and connect the tip to metal and it instantly heats up ( about 5 sec.) when you disconect it then it cools down very fast ( about 6 sec until cool). It is great since it is cordless and it also has a LED near the tip so you can see what you are soldering ( or as a cool flashlight).

The website is http://www.coldheat.com/. Watch the videos and demo on there to learn more.

Elgin Clock 20-07-2004 21:48

Re: Cold heat?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted Boucher
Ok... I will say that i have bought one of these ( since I babysitted my cousins for 3 days) and it does work.

I am at a loss for words upon reading that sentence....

Did you use it on your cousin?? :ahh:

Jay H 237 20-07-2004 21:56

Re: Cold heat?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock
I am at a loss for words upon reading that sentence....

Did you use it on your cousin?? :ahh:

Hey Elgin, remember, we ARE talking about Ted here! :p

Ted Boucher 20-07-2004 21:58

Re: Cold heat?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock
I am at a loss for words upon reading that sentence....

Did you use it on your cousin?? :ahh:

No i did not........... ;)

Adam Y. 20-07-2004 22:21

Re: Cold heat?
 
This product appears to be the real deal. I read a review that says that it preforms as the company says. The only thing it says to be wary of is that it produces current at the tips so electrostatic sensitive components may be damaged.http://www.moddershq.net/reviews.asp...2&pagenumber=1

Franchesca 20-07-2004 22:23

Re: Cold heat?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted Boucher
Ok... I will say that i have bought one of these ( since I babysitted my cousins for 3 days) and it does work.

I COMPLETELY understand! It is hard to save money from babysitting ... it takes forever :yikes: !!! Anyway, its an honest job so no worries there!! :cool:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted Boucher
You turn it on and connect the tip to metal and it instantly heats up ( about 5 sec.) when you disconect it then it cools down very fast ( about 6 sec until cool).

Thanks for the info. Its good to know that it does work, that way people 'interested' don't waste money on something that's completely bogus such as the car wax or else!! :]

And to agree with Elgin, I also believe that the marketing industry is ripping us all off!! They stink ... darn advertisers!! I'm also unto them :p !

Joe Ross 21-07-2004 00:30

Re: Cold heat?
 
I just saw it today on thinkgeek: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/69d3/

sanddrag 21-07-2004 01:14

Re: Cold heat?
 
About the car wax, my uncle worked in show biz and he once shot a commercial for some car wax, and right before take 1 they were waxing the car with the wax they were going to sell and it just would not shine. So they had to run out and buy some Simonize wax to shine the car that would be selling the cheapo wax. :D

JohnBoucher 21-07-2004 04:51

Re: Cold heat?
 
No Ted didn't use the soldering gun on his cousins.
We stocked up on duct tape and cable ties.

bigboi146 14-03-2006 13:08

Re: Cold heat?
 
I have one and it works fine. My team used it on every soldering job we had.

KenWittlief 14-03-2006 13:31

Re: Cold heat?
 
my son got one - it does work

but

the tip has to maintain electrical contact on both sides of the tip for it to heat

and as someone else said, there is voltage present across the tip (I dont know how much)

I like my Weller. Never yet grabbed it by the wrong end and burned myself. And Ive never NEEDED to stick a soldering iron in my pocket 3 seconds after using it.

If you need to cool an iron quickly you simply wipe it with a wet sponge or paper towel.

Neat product, but I thinks its a solution in search of a problem.

TubaMorg 14-03-2006 13:34

Re: Cold heat?
 
Quote:

civil war, bittersweet, open secret, genuine imitation, smart blonde, drag race, cold heat, plastic glasses, painless dentistry, freezer burn, pretty ugly, criminal justice.
Don't forget "hot water heater" :D

Andy A. 14-03-2006 14:57

Re: Cold heat?
 
I've used one.

It does work- it heats up quickly and cools down quickly. You can even solder with it.

The problem is that it's pretty useless for doing more then quick fixes. It heats up quick, but it has so little thermal energy that youd be sitting there for an hour trying to heat up a large joint enough to get solder to flow properly. So don't even bother trying to solder up a crimp connector. For small PCB stuff, it's pretty snazzy. I wouldn't want to do more then a few joints with it though. An electric iron may take a few minutes to heat up, but once it does it will stay hot for as long as you want. It may seem silly, but waiting those few seconds for the coldheat to warm up is annoying.

I'd say its not overly useful for FIRST, but it could be handy for the average joe. It certaintly is a lot faster and easier then a butane powered iron and more portable then a corded. There is more concern with keeping it clean, as solder stuck on the tip fouls it up right quick.

-Andy A.

Erics626 14-03-2006 16:42

Re: Cold heat?
 
We have one, but I didn't like it. It is true to its word of heating up and cooling quickly, but metal must be in the little slot for it to work. It might be good for small jobs around the house, but I did not find it very useful for robotics.

ICE MAN 14-03-2006 16:56

Re: Cold heat?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy A.
I've used one.

It does work- it heats up quickly and cools down quickly. You can even solder with it.

The problem is that it's pretty useless for doing more then quick fixes. It heats up quick, but it has so little thermal energy that youd be sitting there for an hour trying to heat up a large joint enough to get solder to flow properly. So don't even bother trying to solder up a crimp connector. For small PCB stuff, it's pretty snazzy. I wouldn't want to do more then a few joints with it though. An electric iron may take a few minutes to heat up, but once it does it will stay hot for as long as you want. It may seem silly, but waiting those few seconds for the coldheat to warm up is annoying.

I'd say its not overly useful for FIRST, but it could be handy for the average joe. It certaintly is a lot faster and easier then a butane powered iron and more portable then a corded. There is more concern with keeping it clean, as solder stuck on the tip fouls it up right quick.

-Andy A.

This is quite true as I myself had this same problem. It is OK if you want to solder a cheap fix, but if you try and solder for anything complicated like r/c cars or robots it is pretty ineffective. I once tried to solder my r/c car with it and before the solder melted the plastic encasing around the tip melted and it has never worked since. My advice leave it alone, any plug in wall solder gun will work fine and there really is no reason why someone needs to put their solder gun in their pocket after using it. This is my experience and may be biased, so don't follow my every word if you choose.

Jay H 237 14-03-2006 17:23

Re: Cold heat?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Erics626
It is true to its word of heating up and cooling quickly, but metal must be in the little slot for it to work.

That limits what gauge wires you can solder with it. The average person who sees it will think it will totally replace, or they'll have no need to buy a regular soldering iron. It may be fine for 18, 20, 22 but wait until they try it with 12 or 14 and become disgusted with it. What they would expect is for it to do everything and then they'll wind up with not only the Cold Heat but also cold solder joints! :rolleyes:

jkoci 14-03-2006 18:19

Re: Cold heat?
 
I'm not exactly sure how it works, but there is a spark somewhere in the thing and that's how it gets the solder hot. however, there is still a possibility of you burning yourself with this iron. my team decided to stay away from this and stick to the normal irons. according to one guy, this thing is also hard to get into small places. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6151688/

mechanicalbrain 14-03-2006 19:06

Re: Cold heat?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Cory
I saw that thing last night.

Looks pretty fake to me... Common sense tells me you can't heat something to 800 degrees and then cool it down to room temperature again in a matter of seconds.

Cory

Actually it works pretty well. It uses two conductive plates with a insulator between the two. When the two prongs connect (like soldier touching them) electricity flows. The resistance in the soldier is what causes the melting. The tip itself is quite resistant to heat.
What I liked
The tip appears to be Teflon coated and it is impossible to get soldier to stick to it.
A nice little light.
You can touch it right after soldiering (It will be hot but just an uncomfortable hot not a AHHH!!! hot)
I like how It is held like a pencil as apposed to how you hold normal irons like a paint brush.

What I didn't like
You can't do big projects with it.
It's kinda thick (But I have small hands) and takes getting used to.
It does use electricity, 1.5 volts, so keep that in mind when working with electronics.
Also I found the tip to be brittle and I broke it pretty quickly. :( Though the new tip I bought seems to work fine.

Ultimately It's pretty good at hobby, small scale electronics, and quick fix tasks. I like using it to remove soldier.

Cody Carey 15-03-2006 00:23

Re: Cold heat?
 
It works... Kind of.

The carbon tip breaks fairly quickly for me, and because of the way it is shaped... It makes you hold it so that if you were using a "real" one, you would make a cold jont every time.But other than that it works just fine.

DHarris 15-03-2006 09:40

Re: Cold heat?
 
I tried using one a couple of times, but I had gotten so used to using the regular corded ones that the cold heat just annoyed me. I didn't like having to get the piece of metal in between the tip just to get it to heat up, and it doesn't get in between close spaces as well as a regular corded soldering iron because of the tip's shape. It's good to have when you need to fix something minor really quickly though.

KenWittlief 15-03-2006 13:31

Re: Cold heat?
 
the real problem with the coldheat iron is this. For proper soldering you need to heat both surfaces that are being soldered together. If you are soldering two wires then the iron should touch both, or if you are soldering an IC to a pad on a circuit board, the iron should touch both.

One way to help get good heat transfer is to put a bit of solder on the tip of the iron. The little bubble of solder helps conduct the heat to both parts.

Ok, so now you have this ColdHeat thing. How do you get the two contacts to touch and heat both surfaces at the same time? And how would you put a dab of melted solder on the tip of the iron.

I dont think either is possible. Therefore you would have to overheat one of the surfaces and blob solder onto it, making the solder blob transfer the heat to the other surface.

Weller makes a nice cordless soldering iron that uses AA batteries. You can either use alkalines or NiMH rechargeables - it works like a traditional soldering iron.

Quote:

Cold Heat.......it's pretty much an oxymoron.

See what I mean:
civil war, bittersweet, open secret, genuine imitation, smart blonde, drag race, cold heat, plastic glasses, painless dentistry, freezer burn, pretty ugly, criminal justice.
Beauty mark? <= oxymoron or marketing spin?

greencactus3 15-03-2006 18:28

Re: Cold heat?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by bigboi146
I have one and it works fine. My team used it on every soldering job we had.

even for battery cables? i havent ever tried to use a cold heat so i dunno but our 80W one makes it really easy.
and with such a small tip it may take a lot of heating to get a good joint with bigger wires

KenWittlief 15-03-2006 19:01

Re: Cold heat?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by greencactus3
even for battery cables?

definately not! for soldering the terminals on the battery cables you need an 80 to 150W iron or gun-style

or a propane / butane torch.


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