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Review by Tim Blythman Cordless Soldering Iron & Heatshrink kit It’s remarkable how far battery technology has come over the years. More and more devices that previously would have used some other power source have now become practical to run from battery power. W agner Electronics loaned us their new Cordless Soldering Iron Kit, and we found it to be a handy item that could well replace a gas-powered soldering iron. The Cordless Soldering Iron comes as a Soldering Iron and Heatshrink kit, available as Cat SI50HSK from www. wagneronline.com.au, with a current RRP of $139. There are also numerous different tips available, in addition to those that come in the kit. The kit gives you a good set of mid-level tools, and would make an excellent portable standby kit. But it would also be quite adequate as a primary soldering tool. The Iron itself measures 160mm long and 28mm in diameter. Roughly cylindrical, the grip is moulded rubber and quite comfortable to hold. The kit includes three interchangeable tips. There is a 30W 4mm conical tip, a 50W 6mm conical tip and 30W radiant heatshrink tip. An assortment of smaller diameter pieces of heatshrink is included. The kit comes with a protective cap for the Iron (which fits even with a tip installed), a USB-A to micro-USB charging cable and a small punched metal stand. All the parts are supplied in a simple plastic case with internal dividers. A micro-USB socket at one end of the tool is used for charging, with a clearly marked ON-OFF switch at the other end near the grip. The switch needs to be slid and a button held in to turn the Iron on, so there’s little chance of it being left on inadvertently, even when resting on the button. The cap also forces the switch off when it is fitted – a thoughtful design touch. There is a small white LED near the tip which lights up whenever the button is pressed. It doesn’t quite illuminate the tip, so it is not very useful. You would be in a tough situation if you had to rely on this light to illuminate your work. While the Iron’s hot! With a prototype PCB to be assembled, we dove in to try it out. The PCB in question measures 123mm x 58mm and hosts nearly all throughhole parts; around 100 joints to solder. We didn’t try the Iron on the surface-mounted parts as the smallest included tip is too large. We used the smaller 30W tip, and as specified, the Iron takes about 10 seconds to come up to working temperature and holds the heat quite well. For most parts, it was sufficient to simply give the Iron a short burst of power while applying solder. Apart from the heat-up time after leaving the Iron idle, it felt no different to using a regular iron. The large tip is probably overkill for this sort of work; there is also a smaller 12W tip Inside the SI50HSK Iron is a single 2400mAh Li-ion cell which will give up to 45 minutes of continuous use. For normal (intermittent) soldering use you could expect several hours of operation. 100 Silicon Chip Australia’s electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au (Right): this kit includes a storage case, main heating tool body with two cone-shaped soldering tips, a heat radiator tip with focusing sleeve for heatshrink and a micro-USB charging cable (charger itself is optional). In addition, there are 200 pieces of 45mm long, red, blue, yellow and black heatshrink tube in diameters of 2.2mm, 3.5mm, 4.5mm and 7mm. The SI50HSK can be recharged from an USB outlet with the USB cord included, but Wagner also offer an optional mains USB charger if required. available and a finer 30W tip. If we were purchasing this kit for our own use, we would undoubtedly pick up those two as well. The shape is well-thought-out. It’s uniformly cylindrical enough that whichever way it sits, the tip won’t touch a flat work surface, while the moulded grip means that it won’t roll away. In short, we had no problem simply putting it down between uses. In use, the Iron feels well-balanced and sturdy. We tried the small stand, and though simple, it was effective. But we didn’t find it necessary. The battery life is listed at 45 minutes of continuous operation, so it could be expected to last for hours with intermittent use. We certainly didn’t have any trouble with it going flat during our testing. Each tip has a good-sized plastic collar which allows the tip to be handled, even while hot. The collar is wide enough that the tip can balance on it, so there’s no need to worry about where to rest it. We also tried the heatshrink tip. Those readers of a certain age might be reminded of an item that was once a feature of most cars; the electric cigarette lighter. The heatshrink tip is much like one of these, glowing red when turned on. The heatshrink tip worked well on small pieces of heatshrink, but it was not as quick as something like a hotair gun would be. This tip’s radiant nature means it’s not quite as easy to aim and use as a hot-air gun. We did get that sense of something smelling a bit burnt, so the heat appears to be quite concentrated too. A small shroud that fits on the heatshrink tip is included. Working with heatshrink is probably where a gas iron would win out, although the battery Iron is certainly adequate. Accessories A range of fourteen spare tips is available; they are each around $20. There are six different soldering tips (including the two included in the Iron kit) and tips for cutting plastic, pyrography (wood-burning) and styrofoam forming. The heatshrink tip is also available as a spare part. Wagner Electronics also offers a suitable AC-USB adapter for charging purposes. Verdict As the kit comes, it is well-suited to replacing a gas soldering iron. There’s certainly enough heat and runtime to handle most of those jobs you would use a gas iron for. And USB power is convenient and ubiquitous enough to allow the Iron to be topped up as needed. It would make a good emergency standby tool. It’s handy enough that it could become a replacement for a mains-powered iron if space is at a premium, unless you’re the type who is running the iron for hours on end. It does end up being a bit more expensive than similar gas irons, but has the advantage of being usable where flames or flammable substances are prohibited. And you avoid the fiddly refilling process that gas irons require. For more information, or to purchase the kit and possibly some extra tips, go to http://siliconchip.com.au/ link/ab71 (Wagner’s online shop page for this product). SC In addition to the seven soldering iron tips, Wagner also offer a range of tips for other hobby applications (as shown here). siliconchip.com.au Australia’s electronics magazine April 2021  101