"Cold Heat" a fraud

The subject's been on soldering in various threads over on the
8trackheaven "goo goo groop" of late, so I thought I'd add this word
to the wise.

You see those "Cold Heat" battery operated "soldering" irons
advertised on TV? Someone presented me with one, as they fell for the
ad hype and then realized they had no real use or knowledge with which
to use the thing. So, being technically inquisitive, I thought I'd
give it a shot.

The "Cold Heat" iron uses 4 AA cells powering a DC current amplifier
circuit that feeds a composite "tip" that plugs into the front of the
hand held unit. A bright white LED provides illumination to the work
area, while a red LED on top of the of case supposedly indicates the
unit is providing heat with which to solder. It comes in a plastic
carrying case, about as Chinese as it gets all the way around, and has
the typical "plastic Chiney" styling and markings.

First, I decided to try this thing in an application where it'd be
most handy...solding a speaker wire in the car instead of dragging out
an AC cord and using a conventional iron. With 4 fresh AA cells at
the ready, I attempted to replace a length of 18 AWG wire to the
woofers in the front channel with 14 AWG to lessen effective series
resistance, a consideration when loads are 4 ohms and below. The
ceramic tip doesn't allow for tinning or fluxing at all, so you have
go put the tip "bare" onto the joint, making sure that two metallic
contacts molded into it are making contact with the base metal to be
soldered. I did so, with a roll of Multicore 60/40 at hand. Sure
enough, the red LED came on, and I waited a bit, then attempted to
apply solder...nothing. So, I waited awhile longer...some flux smoke.
Due to the inability of the "Cold Heat" to provide enough heat to
quickly melt the solder, heat transfer was already working its way
down the wire on both sides, and now the PVC was smoking...and still
not hot enough to melt 60/40 solder alloy. FINALLY, I was able to
melt enough solder to have it go to plastic state, and that's about
it. After about five minutes of this, I pulled off and inspected the
joint, and it was a classic "cold joint". The alloy hadn't been
sufficiently heated to allow molten alloy to flow properly into the
joint, leaving small "globs" of alloy and flux all around the copper.
I use a modified Western Union joint when joining free air wire like
this, so the joint was mechanically tight, so heat transfer was no
problem...as witnessed by the smoking PVC on either side. Finally, I
gave up, went to get an AC cord, got out the Weller and did the job in
a couple of minutes...properly.

It WILL work on very small components, such as SMTs, IF you wait long
enough, however, but then you run the risk of heat transfer ruining
the device at hand, important on small transistors contained in
various ICs. But, as shown in the TV commercials, no...it cannot do
that kind of work. Also, and more annoying, is that after I had tried
this thing out on one single wire joint, the four fresh AA batteries
were depleted, showing barely 1.00 volts each. Of course, alkalines
will bounce back after some rest period, but these batteries were
already toast. Further annoying is the fact that the tip is ceramic,
and thus cannot be tinned, retarding heat transfer all the more.

Coming with the "Cold Heat" was a grip type wire stripper, also
Chinese, also cheaply made. I tried to use it to strip 18 AWG zip
cord, and it couldn't do it. Then, I tried using it to strip
individual PVC insulated 18 AWG automotive wiring, and it was
successful 50% of the time. 14 AWG? FAHGEDDABOUDIT!

Conclusion: "Cold Heat" is yet another fraud of cheap Chinese crap
being marketed on US television. The "complimentary" wire stripper is
similarly a fraud. You can see this piece of crap on their web site,
http://www.coldheat.com, where they festoon their web site with all
sorts of "industry" accolades and the like. I especially liked the
lie about "700 joints per battery pack." Well, maybe...if you're
joining hair width strands of lead with pure tin, maybe. Trying to
join 14 AWG to 18 AWG stranded wore out a battery pack in ONE
try...and it didn't even finish the job.

Don't buy it...it's a fraud and a waste of money. I wonder if Charlie
Nudo is somehow connected with this???

dB

PS: Did the up sizing the wire to the woofers help the stereo? Well,
yes, a little, which is what I'd though it would do...a barely
noticeable, but real, improvement. When load impedances are low, like
they typically are with audio gear these days, it's important to avoid
the old 22 and 18 AWG "speaker wire," as this will add a small but
parasitic resistance in series with the voice coil, thus lowering
power and hindering damping factor. Of course, these differences to
most would be more academic than useful, but they are, indeed, real.

On Sun, 15 May 2005 11:05:47 -0700, DeserTBoB
wrote:

You see those "Cold Heat" battery operated "soldering" irons
advertised on TV? snip

Dan Gibson of "Kate's Track Shack®", the 8 track repair and sales
powerhouse, informs me that the "Cold Heat" thing makes an EXCELLENT
"cartridge opener-upper heat tool" for RCA riveted carts, and indeed
it does!

See? "Cold Heat" isn't really a fraud...it's just marketed for the
wrong use! HAR!

dB

why bring that lame-ass 8trackheathen thread bull**** over here ? You
start a new site, then hang out here on the old one, when you see how
many NEW guys are now posting here- once those assholes are gone.
**** off douchebob !

the comm states that its not for everything made its for light work not some
heavy gage wire to a speker terminal


"UNIVERSAL GENIUS" wrote in message
oups.com...
why bring that lame-ass 8trackheathen thread bull**** over here ? You
start a new site, then hang out here on the old one, when you see how
many NEW guys are now posting here- once those assholes are gone.
**** off douchebob !

the comm states that its not for everything made its for light work
not some heavy gage wire to a speker terminal snip

"Comm?" I assume you mean "commercial", and they do indeed show people
soldering wiring of around 18 AWG. I use far heavier stranded on my
"speker" terminals outside of a car, anyway...8 AWG from my biamped
Haflers to my JBL 4303s on the bottom end, 16 AWG on the top end.
Damping factor: sky's the limit, even at 40 feet.

dB

why bring that lame-ass 8trackheathen thread bull**** over here ?
snip

Because it's topical.

You start a new site, then hang out here on the old one, when you see
how many NEW guys are now posting here- snip

Yeah...how many...one? Your buddy, the high end "speker" (sic) seller?

Go suck donkey cock, Noodles. By the way, nice job getting booted out
of more "Goo goo groups!" Pretty soon, the only place you'll have left
to spam is your toilet!

roflmao ! roflmao !

I'm DoucheBob Scarredbutthole

aka Bob Scarborough, king of the o-dildow-scope

On 18 May 2005 02:55:41 -0700, "DoucheBob Scarredbutthole-Mr.Roflmao
!" wrote:

roflmao ! roflmao !

I'm DoucheBob Scarredbutthole

aka Bob Scarborough, king of the o-dildow-scope snip

TRAVEL ADVISORY: Travelers on I-80 and I=81 in the depressed, broke
NE part of Pennsylvania are warned that a paranoid delusional
psychotic, Charlie Nudo of nearby Drums, PA, is on the loose and has
guns in his possession. Think Southern California has a lock on
highway snipers? Guess again!

Charlie Nudo may be identified by being naked or with poopy underwear
over his head as a mask while toting a .30-06 with the scope on
backwards. He may also have some 8 track tape cartridges shoved up
his ass.

Approach with extreme caution. Excessive force in apprehending
Charlie Nudo has been approved.

DB stands for DICK BREATH...

and what else ?

DOUCHE BAG
DOUCHE BOB
DINGO BALLS
DUMB *******
DUMB & BROKE
DINGLE BERRY (the toilet paper ****balls that sometimes get stuck on a
person's ass after they take a **** and wipe their ass with toilet
paper-Bob Scarborough no doubt has an entire orchard of them hanging
from his ass)


any other suggestions ?

On 18 May 2005 16:22:46 -0700, "Bob Scarborough-******** apartment
renter" wrote:

any other suggestions ? snip

Yeah...Charlie Nudo ****s his sister?

ROTFLMAO!