Cordless soldering iron teardown (with schematic)

[@phantomkate6]

When I was about 12-13, I remember being sad that I couldn't fix my walkmans & headphones when they broke because I did not have a soldering iron. Of course I took them apart when they stopped working, but I could rarely do a repair even when I identified the problem. I'm just getting into electronics again since discovering your channel and while it's not practical for me to start making things at the moment, I do frequently fix stuff around the house as needed. And I already own such a vapour-producing device! I feel like my inner child just got some very good news. Thank you, Clive!

[@Youtubecensoredmyusername]

I remember broken headphones as a kid. Those stupid wires. Even if you twisted them together it wouldn’t work without soldering and that white nylon rope inside. Frustrating. I learned to get insurance from Best Buy

[@weazeldark3983]

I just chucked a screwdriver into my oven element and was away

[@PunakiviAddikti]

@@KZbincensoredmyusername Yep, the wires are enameled because they run twisted together inside the cord. Easiest way to remove it is to push the wire into a flame for a split second. Be careful when doing this, the enamel will burn like a fuse!

[@timhartherz5652]

This brings back memories. I got myself one of these cheap 25W Weller irons from my local electronic DIY store for this Reason, but soldering Headphone cables never was a lasting solution. Eventually the cables end up breaking right at the plug, which were almost the same price as thes cheap a** headphones :-D. Ending up buying Headphones of slightly higher quality (Phillips, Sony whatever was available), still cheap but lasted longer and sounded better. These litte Electronic corner stores no longer exists, but i still have my trusty weller iron almost 30 Years later.

[@phantomkate6]

@@KZbincensoredmyusername You definitely had better luck than I did! I never had Best Buy (or Future Shop) honour a warranty, due to "exceptions" that I suspect they made up on the spot. I gave up on warranties after getting burned, twice. Unexpectedly, I discovered that my Visa card includes idiot warranties on certain items, which was absolutely thrilling when I dropped a phone onto a tile floor mere days after purchasing it.

[@nhcs2k]

I started vaping nearly 10 years ago but I had absolutely no idea that these things exist. Amazing! I have got a lot of vaping devices and will give it a try!

[@Averna222]

I stopped smoking and switched to vaping six years ago myself and this is the first I'm hearing of these also. I may have to use Clive's idea of keeping one in the car with some solder. Extremely handy.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

On a slightly unrelated topic, how is your health? (if that's not too personal)... Is vaping the way to go? (I'm trying to get my bro to quit the cigs)

[@xenonram]

@@FatNorthernBigot I quit smoking 9 years ago as of November. When I started, vaping sucked. The technology wasn't there yet. So it was very difficult to stick with it. I still vape and ice never felt better. I also got my aunt with emphysema/COPD, my uncle, my other aunt and uncle, and my dad to all quit smoking around the same time. All 6 of us are cigarette free (although my dad and one uncle did relapse a couple times). My aunt used to go to the hospital a few times a year, and now she hasn't been since she quit combustible cigarettes. I have about a dozen other friends who also quit smoking with vaping and they're all cigarette free. The key is to use enough nicotine and vape enough at the beginning. Get of the cigs and it'll be the best thing you've ever done.

[@janami-dharmam]

@@FatNorthernBigot I stopped when the lockdown started and it is now bout 2 years. When the shops were closed cigarettes were being sold at 2-5 times the normal price and I got angry and stopped. Not feeling much better but I am happy that I gave up.

[@ladislavzenk2139]

@@janami-dharmam its better for ur healt

[@TrondBørgeKrokli]

Thank you for another calm and enjoyable video, as usual. I find it calming and soothing to listen to your voice before I go to bed, as well as having fun watching you take electronic devices apart.

[@bigclivedotcom]

A lot of people use my videos to help them get to sleep.

[@goose5654]

As someone who used these a lot, the battery is the same as a “mod” vape, one of the big ones that make huge clouds. They have the exact same power on sequence, and can have different power settings

[@skrimper]

Now this needs to be converted into a vape

[@Tinfur104]

18650 battery

[@BradTech.]

Some even feature double/triple-clicking for ten seconds of autonomous heating 💨

[@Tinfur104]

I have the Aegis, it has a custom mode to set your wattage for a custom 4 second vape pull with you setting your own wattage for each of those 4 second. (5w min - 200w max)

[@rofiiqyla]

@@Tinfur104 high current drain ones

[@learnelectronics]

Hi Clive, I have the American version of that vaping device. Pressing the button 2x preheats it. Pressing it 3x toggles betweenay voltages from 2.5vdc to 4.0vdc. I pray you are well my friend. Peace.

[@inactivecoyote2871]

What is the device called.

[@drkastenbrot]

The TS80P is my choice for a portable iron. In fact, its so good that my Weller station hasnt been turned on for over a year now. The tiny iron runs from a USB PD powerbank and happily beats even large heatsink surfaces with relatively low temperature settings.

[@DavidThoren]

I went ahead and picked up a Pinecil for the same use case but more flexibility in power supply.

[@apbosh1]

What a choice to have!

[@drkastenbrot]

@@DavidThoren The Pinecil uses the TS100 tips I believe, so its not going to be quite as good in performance as the TS80 tipped irons. Its plenty good regardless. The TS80P can be powered with any 12V supply too by just using an adapter. I never got to do that though because phone and laptop chargers as well as my powerbank are always within reach.

[@chaos.corner]

I like the TS100 but I see Pine has one that takes both USB and direct power which is the best of all worlds and it's dirt cheap. It's on my Christmas list.

[@chaos.corner]

@@drkastenbrot I sometimes run my TS100 on 12V when I can't find my 19V PSU and the difference is very noticeable to the negative. What is the advantage of the TS80 tips? I watched the EEVBLOG video and don't recall any difference mentioned other than shielding? (It's been a while).

[@madog1]

My father was an Electronics Engineer for NASA projects. I learned how to solder amongst other electrical and electronics things, when I was in elementary school.

[@OscarSturgess]

I'm an electrician who happens to use a vapour producing device its extremely rare that I have to solder anything, but on rare occasion it has cropped up where an LED light fitting isn't working because the DC leads that go out to the LED's have been pulled out of the driver board and there's nothing wrong with it other than those loose connections previously I've fixed these with a little blowtorch style portable soldering iron but this method looks both more convenient and faster so I'll definitely be keeping one in the van

[@PunakiviAddikti]

Remember to also always carry a power bank. You never know when you'll need usb power.

[@Alacritous]

@@PunakiviAddikti I have a 10 Ah USB battery pack on my carry all bag with several different cables and plugs. It's handy. Thinking about swapping it for one of the ones that can boost cars.

[@PunakiviAddikti]

@@Alacritous Just be careful with those, the cheap ones are basically one time use. They don't have a BMS and will drain the LiPos to zero when jumping a car.

[@jasonkuehl639]

This would have been extremely handy back in the bad old days when I was a field mechanic! Now that I'm disabled, all my soldering is done at a workbench... and since Clive likes it, the price will skyrocket. 😆

[@absolutely1337]

looks like a dandy rig. im a disabled marine engineer...greetings from nova scotia :))

[@drillaplayer9010]

The thing is amazos

[@SlyPearTree]

I got a propane one about 30 years ago but it unfortunately stop working after a few uses. I'm guessing the gas got blocked but I had nothing to unblock it. Edit: It might have used butane, I do not remember.

[@jasonkuehl639]

@@absolutely1337 Good afternoon from the center of the USA!

[@jasonkuehl639]

@@SlyPearTree I always just used my cigarette lighter. Some guys claimed I could fix anything as long as I had my lighter, pocket knife, and a rock to use as a hammer.... 😆 I guess the box full of tools on my truck was just for show!

[@andersboffyjohansen3499]

I actually "made" one of these for myself a couple of years ago, by creating an adaptor from a dead vaping heater/coil and a RCA connector - which allowed me to connect a vaping device to a soldering tip from a Weller BP865MP. It worked surprisingly well (and way better than the BP865MP), as long as I kept the supplied power bellow the tip's 8 watt rating (apart from the same timeout issue). It's really fun to see that it's now an actual commercial product.

[@Alacritous]

After seeing this video and the realization that I have several 510 threaded battery units that I bought to make mini fog machines with(with small 3 volt air pumps and some glycerine) I ordered some 510 threaded solder tips and just got them and they work perfectly. Something new to add to my carry-all bag.

[@james_robertson]

4:40 judging by the tracking number ending in "BE" it would mean that bpost (Belgium post) was involved with delivery. Usually when tracking shows "arrived at destination country" it actually means that bpost received it. And 4 months is kind of typical for bpost. Edit: from bpost's tracking it showed that it was in Belgium for almost exactly 3 months.

[@Boemel]

The fact that there are more dutch (postnl) drivers in belgium than the actual own belgian post says enough.

[@ChiggyMakonga]

I had been building my own using old vape cartridges and the little solder bits from the usb pens, but now i know of the 510 solder tips! Thanks Clive! Youve just made my life a wee bit better, as you usually do. Much love.

[@graemezimmer604]

Back in the day, many soldering irons had a push-to-heat button. In Australia most technicians had a Scope and a MiniScope iron on their bench. Millennials sneer at them of course because they don't have automatic temperature control. But the oldies swear by them due to their enormous heat range and capability. With the requisite skill they could carry out the finest or the heaviest soldering job. And the fact that they cooled down between joints meant that they didn't burn off the flux.

[@MrSQAUD]

as a vaper, i keep one of those points in my edc. can be pretty usefull for small things. with a 18650 no-timer mod becomes a pretty amazing soldiering iron.

[@aliteraldumpsterfire672]

That seems like a neat little piece of soldering kit! No need for a 'bulky' standard soldering iron/station. Just a wet sponge, your solder, a set of tweezers and this little thing and you're good to go!

[@Robothut]

Very low cost and seems to work quite well. I still have my Butane solder unit from the early 1980's. Still works great but not as easy to use as these rechargeable units and cost so much more money back in the day. Thank you for the tear down and demo.

[@tkermi]

TS80P USB powered soldering iron is a great option too. It's 30W and has active tips. Heats to 300℃ in around 8s. Very comfortable to use.

[@vgamesx1]

TS80 is great, but they're still too pricey, you could get a TS100 / pinecil AND one of these "vapor" soldering devices (they're only about $15) for about the same price, likely less. They really need to find a way to drop the price of the TS80 down to like $50...

[@tkermi]

@@vgamesx1 True, (btw. the TS80P is newer ESD safe 30W model from TS80). I used that professionally so the price wasn't a problem. Often did repairs to expensive gear while the client was watching - so even the portable tools needed to be best/stylish for marketing reasons alone.

[@StudSupreme]

There is beauty in these 'simple' designs. I feel like I'm looking at Art.

[@flamy111]

As someone who doesn't own a proper de-soldering kit, the useless knife bit works really well when using it just wrong for desoldering components, especially surface mounted ones. I just stick it between pcb and a sufrace mounted component and the later one just comes out.

[@MrAsBBB]

This jogged a memory in me when my dad who was a Rolls Royce tool maker, use to heat hits soldering iron on the stove at home it was about an inch across, how have things progressed! Felling the love XXX

[@markfergerson2145]

Thanks for this fun video. We knew you read comments but it's really nice to see you accede to popular demand as it were.

[@mlenstra]

I suppose the charge enable line from the uC to the charge chip is to briefly disable charging when the “vapour producing device” is used while connected to USB power. That would quickly pull the battery voltage down quite significantly and might otherwise create a big current spike through the charge chip.

[@electronron1]

Back in the 70's I had a Wahl iso-tip cordless soldering iron that I used when on the road. It was handy but back then it used Nickel Cadmium cells so battery life wasn't so good.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Subsequently made by Isotip. I think they may have a lithium version now.

[@bryanlatimer-davies1222]

I still use my isotip today it is quicker than waiting for my hakko to warm up for just one or two joints

[@dustinsmith8341]

I have had a mod and these tips for about 6 months now. I really like them. They are great for getting into tight spaces because they don't have a long ass power cord coming from them. I have tips that work at 10W and there are other tips that work with 30W. I think the 30W ones burn out quick so I tend to run them at around 22W.

[@PonderousRage]

Try a double tap on the button once it's on. Some devices have a "preheat" mode. Should keep the tip warm for sometime up to 30 seconds

[@bigclivedotcom]

Sadly, this one doesn't have that.

[@PonderousRage]

@@bigclivedotcom wow I feel special. A reply from the man himself. First reply I've every gotten from a creator actually. And I guess I should have assumed you would have tried that already. Cheers, happy holidays.

[@michaelthibault7930]

This kind of iron could use some automagic means to power the tip when the tool (body) is held, tip-down, at any of a range of angles e.g. 15 or more degrees from horizontal or vertical.

[@dustinsmith8341]

@@michaelthibault7930 Some kind of capacitive sensor or something. Although I'm not sure I want it heating up if I'm walking around with it in my hand. lol

[@michaelthibault7930]

@@dustinsmith8341 Modes, invoked via n-clicking the button… if you're going to be clicking the button cyclically in using it, you might as well make it so that you can opt to do all the clicking at once, transferring the on/off-ness to physical orientation of the unit. If you've got a 30° cone of off-ness around both vertical and horizontal axes, you'd have to expend effort to burn yourself while moving about with it in hand.

[@McTroyd]

Most of my soldering at work is three or four solder joints a week, with maybe some reflowing. It always seemed awkward to plug my traditional iron in, wait for several minutes for it to slowly heat up, do the job in ~20 seconds, unplug it, and warn every passerby for several minutes it's still hot. This seems like a night-and-day difference for that use case. I will have to get one now. 🤑

[@pantherent.1689]

Me: *searches for soldering iron He: "vapour producing device" Me: *starts to question my entire life

[@schlosserprofi8647]

I saw this video an got myself one too. The first job was to modify a bunch of D Cell adabters with 3AA bateries. I baught the wrong ones with 4.5 Volts (because cheap 0.86€ pice) so I had to swab a Spring and connect some metal plates with wires to convert them into the 1,5 V version. It woked a charm and hold up very long and charged suprisingly fast. I have an Ersa gas soldering iron. Its good too, but takes way longer to heat up and is always difficult to lay down becaus of the hot air that is blowing out of the side of the tip. And this hot airstream melted on several ocasions some things around the solderjoints. This little device is much more convinient, smaller, better to handle. Thanks for the video

[@CheapCheerful]

Exactly what I was looking for, to do quick fixes without having to break out the station.

[@C_Gell]

As one of the aforementioned traveling technicians (Manx as well) I will definitely look into these as an alternative to a gas iron!

[@DanielLopez-kt1xt]

I have both, got the usb one to solder without mains near by, and then upgraded to the fat vaping with screen, it works quite good, and even distracted a bit and run the tip red hot... it was actually glowing, so as you said, you must be careful and don't push it too hard...

[@MotoCat91]

I used to rely solely on butane powered irons because I can't stand the weight and pull of being tethered to a power cable.. and for a while it was ok but my experiences with cheap butane torches ended with one melting, another refusing to light and now my latest is sputtering while I'm using it So I recently switched to an 18650 powered device like yours and it's just fantastic Though mine has a battery door where it just pops out and I can charge them separately in a more robust/safe charger

[@ElmerFuddGun]

The "CE" _Charge Enable_ is likely turning *off* charging while the iron heater is *on.* - 12:55 This will help prevent exceeding the max charge rate (current rating) of the 4056 charger IC.

[@ElmerFuddGun]

Further, at 13:08, it likely defaults to charging with no signal from the controller thus it will still charge even if the controller stops.

[@diditbreak]

I love my Weller BP860MP. It's a pain that you need to hold the power on, but for a real quick dollop of solder, it does the trick.

[@Russwig]

I have something similar but it uses 4 AA batteries. The Iron is larger but the tips are similar. Great for keeping in your kit for unexpected repairs.

[@mrrkrr]

Clive so careful to say "vapor producing device" but doesn't realize he keeps saying "joint" during the first portion of the video. Still probably demonitized!

[@tim1724]

I'm confident that Clive actually says "vapour" rather than "vapor" 😆

[@goodun2974]

@@tim1724 , I'm pretty sure the AI filter won't differentiate vapor from vapour! Interestingly, although I'm in the US, after an automatic upgrade some months ago my Samsung phone started spelling/ correcting everything to UK standards: colour, honour, favour, behaviour, vapour, aluminium.....the phone store, and their technical services phone reps, couldn't figure it out; but I had an acquaintance with the same model of phone and he figured out how to get into the language settings and change it to American English.

[@ThunderBassistJay]

I used to have a Weller cordless soldering iron back in the 80's. It utilised a NiCad battery. I used it a lot for quick repair jobs, as it heated up almost instantly.

[@linuxgeex]

the knife bit is very handy for cutting bits off plastic housings to make things fit

[@wimwiddershins]

Handy piece of kit. Funny how YT are anti vape but more than happy to promote investment scams, gambling, malware apps in their advertising. :/

[@benbaselet2026]

Not to mention removing a bunch of harmless legit comments but not doing anything to a bunch of obvious sex-spamming ads in the comments.

[@Totalinternalreflection]

For the most part only the Americas and the UK get those kind of adds as far as the developed world goes, it’s advertising taking advantage of a poorly educated population in those countries after decades of the respective right wing parties cutting education. If you use a VPN and set it to countries other than those included in the aforementioned, you’ll see that they don’t even bother with trying to sell all those scam products and webinars in most of them because people just don’t fall for it like we do.

[@Totalinternalreflection]

@@benbaselet2026 KZbin has a serious bot problem

[@threeMetreJim]

@@benbaselet2026 the way to get rid of the spamming ads in the comments is to always report them. The YT AI will then learn to block them eventually. Correct use (abuse!) of the AI can also be useful for getting spam blocked in YT live chat, killed one off yesterday and managed to get the legit app nightbot banned last year - the key is to be consistent, and remember the AI suffers with understanding context.

[@ItsMrAssholeToYou]

@@Totalinternalreflection A bit overly reductive, your stance on education spending. Can't speak for the UK but in a good chunk of the US, education spending is more than ample. It's more a combination of large-money interest trying to get as much of that spending as possible while offering as little value as possible and political ideologues of a very _not_ right-wing persuasion being far more concerned with indoctrination than education. As for the ads monsieurtechnical mentioned proliferating US and UK markets, the far more likely reason is the wealth of those markets and that those countries are the biggest obstacles to the CCP's goals. Edit: I just did a quick look-up. According to the National Center for Education Studies, as of 2017, the US was number 4 in the world in spending per student, behind only Luxembourg, Austria and Norway. Wherever it is you're getting your information from, you'd be well-served in finding a new source.

[@michaelathens953]

I have a cordless soldering iron powered by butane. It has a little catalyst in the end which heats up as the gas flows over it. It actually works quite well.

[@FPSAnarchy]

omg i wanted a 510 soldering iron tip so bad in 2018 and nobody made them dream is finally yes

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

I have been waiting for something like this to come out for the last 2 yrs. I have been vaping for around 6 years. It's how I quit smoking👍 Some of these devices can pulsate around 200 watts " they claim" . There are several modes for vaping. Power/ watt mode. You can use nichrome or Kanthal wire . Temp control mode, using nickel or titanium wire. Some of the devices can go into real depth on the settings. You can build your own coils, take them for emergency fire starters. I thought it would be a good idea to have LED lights with resistors that you could screw into this. You should make a LED set big Clive, just to see if it could be done!👍😎

[@tacmonkey]

Another fun use for nichrome/kanthal coils and the power units used for making them glow is making electric triggers for pyrotechnics, and even more fun; placed in the sealed end of a small metal tube, that is stuffed with some rolled up magician's flash paper. Made a few of these, they can be made so the fit in your sleeve, and connected via a breaker to a battery. Makes for a great party trick to be able to shoot balls of fire from seemingly empty hands.

[@tacmonkey]

The connector type for the solder tip to the power/vape unit is called a 510 interface (has to do with the threaded part being 5mm and the number of turns to make a connection). Good to know when hunting for these soldering tips..

[@stepheneyles2198]

Nice little soldering iron! But I've already got a gas iron in my van kit so don't need this... But 'need' is often overridden by 'want', so thanks for the link!! Oooohhhh you can get a pink one as well!!

[@sparkyprojects]

The knife bit can be used as a hot knife if you want to cut a square hole in a plastic box for a switch for instance, or to weld 2 bita of plastic together, or to melt hotglue ;)

[@phantomkate6]

Nice.

[@Antony_Jenner]

Speaking of Aliexpress! Bought 2 amps from my Valve Amp parts supplier at the same time received one and a month later the other one had not turned up and it takes a month to get here to Australia. Sent them a stern message asking where it is and I couldn't believe it they rang me to explain that it's still in China. I've never had a supplier ring me before they normally just message you back with "You no worry all good you will get soon relax have a good week". Sorry for the rant! Nice handy little iron Clive.

[@gs425]

Clive the knife bits are for slicing rope cleanly. They are they best part of these devices !!! Very useful

[@hadibq]

pretty neat use of vaping power unit!! Thanks BC for the excellent videos as usual!

[@JakHart]

Wow. I was just looking up wireless soldering irons earlier today, and I saw this one, or one similar, and I was intrigued. I live in a van, and while I try to not use the van as power. (I do have an inverter.) I've got lots of non-electric projects I need to get working on, and this might be exactly what I need.

[@oljobo]

Thanks! I did not know this existed. I found and ordered a single chisel tip for my ..eh.. "vapor device battery" for almost nothing 👍😊

[@CasperInkyMagoo]

I need this for pinball repairs. Thanks for spending my money, Clive!

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

My Pinecil just arrived in the post. I'm actually stoked to use it, the USB-PD battery brick I have at work registered 15 volts.

[@pakiw2]

Bought those tips. I use them with vape, but not all mods can drive theese 3 ohm tips. Had to reduce power in vape to 15 watts. First time launched on 50 watts, tip got red hot, around 600-700 degrees, judging by red glow. Had to fix wire for my main soldering iron, became very handy. Used it to solder in guitar cavities, very comfy to use, small size. But tips burnout quickly if not careful, especially pointy tip.

[@PlayMoro2013]

This is a fantastic idea , I really wanted to do this because I already have two vap which i am not using any more . The problem is that the bits alone cost close to the whole kit so I just bought the kit you listed . A portable soldering iron is really handy for quick work . I hope you would figure a way in the future so we can make owner own bits . Thank you

[@Nono-hk3is]

Adafruit sells those soft zippable cases in several colors.

[@twoshirts1842]

Thanks for that

[@lastborn8s]

Timely subject matter: I surfed past one of the local Spanish language tv channels today and saw the bold headline (loose translation) e-cigs clinically linked to ED … so glad to know there is dual use to these devices … you know something to do while the ED Meds finally kick in!!

[@LargeAlbatross]

Knife tip is useful for cutting PET sleeving, paracord, and other stuff where you need to "cauterize" the end to keep it from splitting apart.

[@Dingomush]

I have one in the pen style and keep it in my bag of repair stuff for band equipment. It’s great for quick repairs of cable ends and guitar 1/4” output jacks and such. Gotta watch how long you heat it though, on mine the tip will glow red if you don’t regulate it a bit…

[@homebody0089]

You could technically call those batteries "miniature hand-held fog machines" if other terms are too hot for this platform. And as others have said, just make sure you've got the correct attachment on them or you'll have a bad time😅 Thank you for the videos and information you share with us.✌

[@tacmonkey]

Have an ongoing project making an actual miniature hand-held smoke machine (for my portable effect laser setup) using bits from the same tech..

[@SianaGearz]

I ordered one of those tips because i found it for like $2 a few months ago. I have a whole fleet of personal fog device base units to use them with, nice-ish ones too with voltage boost and power adjustment.

[@SkylerLinux]

Depending on how compatible it is with the 510 connection most Vape Mods have, and what the tip is made of. You can get temperature control pretty precisely

[@waldevv]

I used to love these little rechargeable irons until I got a butane one. Never would've thought they would work so well with the regular soldering tips but it does Then you can just change to an air tip to blow hot air for SMD stuff or heat shrink, or to the flame tip if you want something real hot like pipe joints

[@SkyTheLeafeon]

What an interesting (and practical) little gizmo! I'll definitely be investing in one of these sometime soon.

[@Blitterbug]

I was saving for a TS-80, but after this I followed the link and bought one! There was a $3 coupon on the page, so that basically paid the postage and the whole amount was under £20!

[@skylined5534]

KZbin are OK with compilations of incidents like industrial accidents and road accents which lead to fatalities but the device here needs to remain nameless? Madness. They'll want a shrubbery next. Great video! That is an excellent little emergency soldering iron!

[@ShayBlez]

I had wondered when I could pickup a vape battery solder iron tip. Makes sense to make, and use, for me, especially since I have a handful of these batteries and their chargers around in use already, glad to see we're here already. :) Pleasantly surprised at how well this works. :]

[@Frz45]

I have that mod box, have done for about 8 years or something, its a Jomotech Lite40, still works although I don’t use it anymore.

[@jimphillips3992]

Got one of these after their last feature somewhere on your bench. Handy little soldering iron for a couple of quid.

[@lepus6511]

Woohoo I was one of the many who asked. Thanks Clive!

[@FatNorthernBigot]

This fascinating... When I was a child, soldering irons were huge, spring-attached, main's powered behemoths. (or, maybe I was a lot smaller, at the time)

[@stevefox3763]

After seeing this video I had to try one and ordered just the element as I have a decent vapes with the right controls to set it for the element, I'm very impressed with how well the thing works and is more than good enough for a in the field repair tool which I'll keep in my backpack that I have for all my Rc gear :)

[@klazzera]

lately i made myself one by making a base screw fitting for a usb soldering iron tip and putting it on a variable wattage VAPOR PRODUCING DEVICE. it's pretty useful it heats up in 10 seconds, better than most irons i had. my base unit can stay on for 1 minute and everything about it is adjustable by firmware

[@rtechlab6254]

I was just thinking of one in my carry kit. Normally I have an old WTCP in the bag which is heavy and needs mains

[@goofybrained6929]

Thanks for info. TRYING to put outdoor lantern (with some pixies) and need to solder out there.. my old wahl has given up and was looking. Good video and thanks for watching comments to pickup on interest.

[@TechGorilla1987]

My "vapor" device is for dabbing. It has a "sesh" mode if you press the button 3 times in a row. It pre-heats, them heats for a specific period before shutting off.

[@hamiltonjames4]

one moment please i wait for it every episode

[@TATICMOOR]

This would be handy for small quick soldering jobs without having your main all dancing desktop unit at hand. Also, great for any jobs that are in awkward places like under a model railway baseboard. I could find a use for one of these myself, as my aging gas filled portable soldering unit is now leaking the gas from the regulator leveller... dan-ger-ous flame escapes or blow outs have occurred from the lever, ouch.

[@Mad_Scientist2052]

Hmm, Reverse engineering that black "device" would make for a very interesting video. If that one is unavailable for "study" let me know and I'll.send you one for that purpose. Great video Clive!

[@djruido1]

See now this is something I like vs the 5v version one. 15w is so low for a solder iron. 👍🏼 thank you

[@R.Daneel]

Unpacking that iron near the start reminded me of a scene in Train Spotting. As for the mail - similar delays in Canada, but they were pretty open about it. eBay (et al) packages of this sort basically have to be delivered for free. No money exchanges hands (or laughably little). Canada just said, "Yeah, they have zero priority. Expect 3-6 months." And, you know what? Fair enough.

[@esracoon]

i had no idea those 510 soldering tips existed. neat! i just ordered some for my older unused devices. 👍

[@3rdpig]

I don't vape but I've got a vape mod that I bought to use as an experiment for something else that didn't work. I'll have to see if the tips are available by themselves. It uses 2 batteries so I'll take your advice to heart and make sure I start at a low setting.

[@brendanrandle]

510 soldering tip seems to be the right keywords for aliexpress, also seems you could defeat the time limit on that device with a jumper between the switch and the gate of the mosfet

[@wolfierarar9652]

I bought one of these after watching your video.... and I must say they are pretty damn cool

[@Slikx666]

Good night Clive. 👋😀 It's 8:30 and indeed sleeeeeep. 😴👍

[@SteveHodge]

Lite 40 is indeed the name of the original product for vapour.

[@lappy65]

this is a bit reminiscent of using my dad's old Scope iron back in the 70's, having to push the heating ring every time you wanted to heat the tip. From memory it used a transformer with about a 3V secondary and pushing the heater ring closed the circuit through a graphite heating element onto the back of the copper tip.

[@martynhodge6164]

I had a vape mod that was temperature controlled and allowed you to create your own coil profile and set the coefficient. I'm wondering if you could rough guess the values for the tip to create a temperature controlled iron that way 🤔

[@Gin-toki]

In Denmark, where I'm from, it is not unusual for packages from outside the EU to spend way longer in customs and subsequent transport within the country, than they take to arrive at the border in the first place :P I have had packages that only took a couple of days to arrive to denmark from china, but after that to almost 4 weeks to get to my doorstep.

[@markfergerson2145]

Postal services in a lot of countries seem to be going out of their way to annoy their customers. I remember when private companies started doing package deliveries and the USPS (United States Postal Service) went up in figurative arms whining they would lose revenue (not that it's ever operated anywhere near breaking even much less making a profit) and actually lobbied to have them prohibited inside US borders but lost. They promised to improve efficiency but instead got a lot slower. Services like UPS, DHL and Amazon are making money hand over fist because government-operated services are not even trying to be competitive. I try to avoid using government mail services if at all possible.

[@tacmonkey]

Yeah, at all went downhill fast when Postnord merged with the Danish postal service, which was already in dire straits. Services in both Denmark and Sweden became ludicrously dysfunctional.. It really seems like Postnord rather just sit on their hands and let the freight and delivery companies take all the work from them. They'll just downsize and blame change in habits and market, while still taking taxfunded aid for being a vital part of society.

[@Gin-toki]

@@tacmonkey Funny thing is, when postnord delivers for buisnesses they function fine. If I order stuff as a company from somewhere outside EU, I can get it delivered for free within 24-48 hours by postnord. So it is not that they don't function or have the capabillities, it's just that in regards to the public, they might aswell not exist at all.

[@stealthbanana]

I bought one of these with a variable power output and a wee OLED screen, think I says it will put out up to 80W. First time I used it, the bit was glowing red, scary! Next time I needed to use it was a month or so later and I realised I had no idea how to turn the bloody thing on, five presses, who knew? Last time I went to use it, bloody thing needed charged. Potentially useful, but only when you have a clue.

[@mikecummings7054]

Don't blame you for not liking lead free solder, it seldom adheers to components, when it does after numerous attempts it can cause dry joints. Leaded solder is by far the best, I get mine from car boot sales as sometimes I find old reels of it.

[@brucedubois9200]

Not going to lie I’ve been avoided those but now I want one as a backup thanks

[@andyfinlay9776]

Crack pipe soldering iron?! I had no idea these existed. And as a vaping (no, not vapid!) live audio engineer, a set of tips will be a welcome and small addition to the toolbox. Thank you sir!

[@_f355]

there are vapor-producing devices that can control the temperature of the heating element, if it is made out of material that changes its resistance with the temperature, e.g. stainless steel. there are also very capable firmwares for certain devices that can do all kinds of weird things like play flappy bird and tetris on the OLED screen or adjust the voltage/current/temperature over time. I should get myself a couple of those tips and play with them in my good ol' Wismec Releaux RX200s, but judging by the resistance of 1.5 Ohms the heater is likely kanthal, which has a flat temperature/resistance curve, so it's not going to work with the temperature control.

[@Zerbey]

OK I am sold, that is a surprisingly good device considering how cheaply it's made.

[@teknikal6969]

makes a good bit of sense to me as most vape devices are just variable batteries with a power switch. Really quite a ton of potential there for other uses besides atomizer's.

[@heyarno]

I retired my soldering station, since I have a TS-100. I'll either get a second one, or a pinecil for on the go use.

[@stevenmiller279]

These look like they'd be pretty cool to have in a kit bag. I've recently created a battery adapter and cable to run a TS100 soldering iron off of a drill battery in the field. It works fine but it's a bit bulky for a quick job. I've been thinking about maybe possibly building something from scratch.

[@Rapper_skull]

Maybe the CE pin is internally pulled high, and the microcontroller pulls it low when the unit is on to prevent charging during usage?