Suggestions for a wireless soldering iron?

"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike) 01/14/2018 at 09:56 • Filed to: Tools

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Hi all!

With no garage, doing anything to my car means doing it on the driveway. Electrical work is particularly annoying because my house (oddly) was built with no plugs right near the driveway outside, so I have nowhere to plug in my soldering irons.

Both my irons are cheap 35w units, so they don’t heat things up a whole lot and I have been considering a wireless replacement with a little more oomph to let me work untethered when I need to.

Anybody have any suggestions?

MM54 > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/14/2018 at 10:25

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Shouldn’t really solder automotive connections, short of putting on plugs which only have solder cups (which would be unusual).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GXQMP66/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0069TRKJ0/

Monkey B > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/14/2018 at 10:42

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butane torch. Range from $20-100+. I’ve used a Master Appliance torch for years. I think Dremel sells one for $40.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > MM54 01/14/2018 at 11:26

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See, that’s always confused me...aren’t solder connections stronger than, say, something that is crimped on...?

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Monkey B 01/14/2018 at 11:26

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Thanks!

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/14/2018 at 12:42

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They’re not flexible and they harden the wire in either side of the solder joint. Crimp and seal butt connectors or plastic butt connectors with solder in them (because those melt and seal at lower temps and have a very small amount of solder).

MM54 > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/14/2018 at 12:57

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Vibrations. You’ll eventually fatigue a soldered wire where the solder ends, since that’s where all the flex ends up going to (same reason you don’t see solid-core wires in cars). The self-sealing crimps act as strain relief while still being a good connection and being able to flex a bit.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 01/14/2018 at 12:58

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Well, my issue is this - I’d bought two small LED lights to install in the interior as map lights (my car never came with them), but the lights came with no wiring, so I have to connect ground / power to both lights, plus cut and connect a wire to the on/off switch (plus a wire for the power to the light on the switch) and ground somewhere in the car. So that just seems like a lot of crimp/seal butt connectors! :S

HammerheadFistpunch > Monkey B 01/14/2018 at 14:32

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Thats what I use. They heat fast and work fine for me.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/14/2018 at 19:25

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RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 01/14/2018 at 19:51

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My other issue is that the ground and power wires from the LED lights are INCREDIBLY thin gauge...nothing to crimp to! I would at least have to solder some larger wire onto those. :)

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/14/2018 at 22:34

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That just means you need a smaller gauge connector!