Portable soldering irons

[PeteT]

Does anyone have any experience of portable soldering irons, such as either of the below TS101 or Pinecil V2?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173843435430 ... 4964970173

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295731449544

There are a couple of product review type reviews, but nothing that I could see on modelling forums.

I'm not expecting it, or wanting it, to replace the iron on my workbench - but thinking that one could be useful for a variety of (in no particular order) layout work, taking to shows, taking as part of a mini toolset for evenings working away.

As tools go they aren't expensive - but expensive enough that I'd like to know it is worth it first ideally. I'm surprised that I haven't seen any relevant reviews. The tips seem quite expensive, but I don't use that many nor go through them so that isn't an issue in itself.

[nigelcliffe]

Can't comment on those, but the Burntisland team were very impressed with the battery-rechargeable units from Lidl (Parkside) which come around fairly regularly. They use a typical power-tool square battery (same as Lidl cordless drills, etc), have a decent heat capacity (so actually solders joints!), charges fairly quickly. The battery sits under a soldering stand, with the iron connected to that by a reasonable length lead, so somewhere to park the iron when not needing it.
We saw the first one, tried it and decided it was a good tool at any price, bought another and carry one the exhibition tools box. It's far easier to deal with soldering situations when not needing a mains lead.

- Nigel

[David Thorpe]

If you google "TS101 review" or "Pinecil review" you'll find quite a lot about them, the vast majority of which is pretty complimentary. Try this one for example: "https://www.theverge.com/23541478/pinecil-best-cheap-soldering-iron-open-source". Having read them, I must say that if I had an exhibition layout I'd certainly get a Pinecil, or a TS101 for that matter - they seem much of a muchness.

[Geoff]

I would urge people to be careful with these. I bought one from Amazon ( sorry, can't remember the make ), a complete kit for around £60. I got a package with solder, stand etc. All was well at first, but the iron only lasted about 6 months. Spare bits were not available. All a pity as I found the tool really useful due to lack of a lead trailing around, especially good for track building in situ. I'd be pleased to know if anyone has discovered one with longevity and reasonable power, spares etc.

[David Thorpe]

Geoff, you must have been unlucky in the brand you chose. Both Miniware, who make the TS101, and Pine64, who make the Pinecil, are well established and reputable companies that have been around for years and market worldwide. Pine64 makes the Raspberry Pi as well as a range of laptops, phones, etc. Spares are readily available for both and tips are interchageable between the two.

Both these units are sophisiticated "smart" irons but it appears that they're not truly portable inasmuch as they don't incorporate a battery but have to be worked with a power supply connected by a cable, eg USB3. I don't think they can be worked without the cable connection but I stand to be corrected if I'm wrong. So when you buy one you'll also have to consider a suitable power supply which may cost about £20 for a decent USB3 unit. Some people just use the power supply for their exisiting laptop. Anyway, if you buy the iron plus a power supply of sufficient capability to be able to use the iron to its full capability (up to 90 to watts, heat up in less than 5 seconds) it's going to set you back getting on for £100 for the TS101, a bit less for the Pinecil. Having said that, every review I've read on both the TS101 and the Pinecil is very favourable - I haven't managed to find a bad one.

I hasten to add that I haven't got one of these myself and, Pete's initial posting having sparked my interest, all my information has come from a variety of sources on t'internet.

[CDGFife]

I would second Nigel's comments re the Parkside (Lidl) portable iron.

On the strength of our experiences with Burntisland I got one myself to go in the commercial layout building toolbox and despite usually carrying the Antex digital soldering station as well, it's the Lidl unit I find myself using most often. It's powerful enough for any model railway building tasks and having bought 2 batteries I'm never without charge. Lack of tether to a power socket is most useful.

The cone bit supplied is not the finest so I do find I use the Antex for really detailed fine brass work on kits and fine electronics etc. but it does electrics and track rivet adjustments for example very well. Wouldn't be without it for the exhibition layout now!

CDG

[David Thorpe]

I think that the Parkside unit referred to still has a lead attached to the iron while soldering - it's the soldering station that doesn't have a lead. Parkside also do a soldering iron which incorporates a Li-Ion rechargeable battery and the iron is therefore genuinely cordless. Whether it's any good or not I've no idea, but although there aren't any in Lidl at the moment they are available on ebay for £24.99, which I suspect is considerably more than Lidl charged. (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355099228527?_ul=GB)

[PeteT]

Thanks for the input & thoughts!

David you're right that neither of these are completely standalone units. For travelling that isn't an issue, it is more about losing the bulk of the station, as well as the relatively inflexible cable & mains lead. I already take a USB3 charger with me for my phone. For layout work, a battery pack would do the job & I think is a good balance between flexibility but also an iron that still feels like an iron in use (ie not to big, heavy & unwealdy). In this scenario very similar to the parkside option.

I have read reviews, but I asked here as our kits are a bit different to a lot of PCB & wiring jobs (though a PCB can easily wick a lot of heat away!).

The completely wireless & options seem to be about 8W which doesn't sound particularly useful. They are nearer £10 so might be worth a play without wasting too much money, but I can't see them cutting the Mustard for what I want really - & the range of tips available is slim with little obvious cross compatibility. That said my cordless minidrill has pretty much put my wired one out of use!

[David Thorpe]

That said my cordless minidrill has pretty much put my wired one out of use!

Mine too. Late last year I bought a Ferrex 4v Li-Ion Rotary Tool from Aldi for about £13. It's cordless. requiring to be recharged via USB when necessary, which isn't often. It's remarkably similar to the Dremel 7760 albeit costing a quarter of the price. It's been very good, done everything I've required of it, and comes with a 3-year warranty. Because it is so handy, and works so well, I now use it much more than my corded Proxxon although I do use the latter for precision work.

[CDGFife]

The Lidl product Nigel and I were referring to is definitely the soldering station. It runs of a rechargeable drill-type lithium battery. As such the battery, stand (that sits above the battery) and the iron itself are completely portable. Both for my exhibition layout and my commercial stuff I have 2 batteries so one is always charging whilst the other can solder.

CDG

[peterbkloss]

Here in Norway I bought one at my local 'budget' hardware store chain (yes, despite the high cost of living we have one or two) - the make totally unrecogniseable, built in Lion battery and non-replaceable tip, so not great on those counts, and the first one broke in six months, replaced without fuss. Despite all that, its invaluable for soldering track in-situ and making small electrical connections especially on the kind of small tags attached to motors, micro-switches etc where you want to limit the amount of heating. Only 18W but light and nifty so for those jobs a no-brainer, I'm very pleased with it for those jobs.