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Pinecil is 26$ and has a screen.
I use a pinecil and it’s great. Tips are cheap and a standard size, it takes usb-c power and has a good user interface.
Not really sure what ifixit is trying to accomplish with this overpriced iron.
Tying a rechargeable battery to a single function device seems off-brand for iFixit.
- edit, I am wrong. I didn’t RTFM. Humble pie is good sometimes.
It’s a multi-use battery.
The battery can be used to charge whatever you want. A phone, laptop, headphones, or anything else with USB. Also, the battery is user replaceable and the product repair diagrams are posted online.
IMHO, it looks like they’re practicing what they preach, and it’s all designed for longevity and right to repair.
I edited my original post. Thanks for bringing the pie!
What I want from a battery soldering iron is a field-replaceable 18650 in the handle, not Webserial.
Build a 18650 battery bank and plug in a pinecil or ts100. A solder iron with a 18650 would be heavy and uncomfortable for soldering.
I would accept a bit of an awkward balance for being self-contained.
If you need to not have a cable, the butane ones would be a better fit.
Having used a butane iron before, I don’t think it would. They don’t have the temperature control modern digital irons can, and they’re forbidden on flights.
The Smart Soldering Iron will set you back $80, while the Soldering Station, which includes the soldering iron and the battery pack, costs $250.
Most interesting to me is that they put the display on the soldering station/battery pack thingy instead of the iron itself.
I bought my soldering station with air solderer and iron solderer for about 40$ from AliExpress, the ones with IR bottom heater cost around 90-100$
I’ll give it a shot. Seems interesting to have something USB powered that can solder.
I’ve been using a Pinecil which is USB-C powered. It heats up in seconds and the temp can be adjusted easily. The big plus to me is how small it is. It’s so much easier to handle than a standard iron, and the tips are push-in and can be locked with a screw so they’re easy to swap.
Let us know how it works. It sounds pretty cool, but ive been disappointed with battery powered soldering irons.
pinecil can be battery powered too and I’ve had a good time with mine. granted the battery is either a laptop power bank or a drill battery, but it’s still portable enough for me
I always thought the “fix” to a traditional soldiering iron was a hot air pencil.
Do those exist?
Yep, for decades. They used to be much larger consuming the space of a large table. Now they are small units like this:
Just search for “surface mount rework” or the nickname “hot air pencil”.
I have one of these https://webcat.cornwelltools.com/JP213123-Cornwell®-Cordless-Soldering-Iron-p371692246 as well as a traditional wired soldering iron. While I like the cordless soldering iron’s portability and it’s fine for solder cups or solder splicing wire, it’s not adaptable enough for me to use on a PCB or for micro solder and if I’m honest I’d want a micro solder setup for that anyway. I’ve owned expensive soldering irons and cheap ones (my current corded model I believe is one of ifixit’s), the general problem is that I have too many random tips lying around that I don’t know which iron they go to. Some are junk (because the iron broke etc). Some probably could be used interchangeably.
At least with the cordless one the tips are replaceable, and pretty unique in appearance so I know exactly which iron they go to.
The problem with the cordless one is the heat it can generate and the fact that it’s not adjustable. The problem with the corded one is that I have to lug a 50’ extension cord up to every plane to use it, and often there’s not a safe place to put it down while it’s hot so I have to prep every solder cup, joint, splice etc and then plug it in and turn it on. I’ve got stands galore and none of them is the safest.
I’d be willing to try this out just for the sake of the added protections it provides.
Spam.
This looks like a heavy rebrand of the Pine64’s Pinecil soldering iron.
