gas solder irons, r they all c**p ?

Can you just buy another gas mantle for the Maplins one? I think they used to sell them as spares. I had a Draper one that was good for a year or so and then went the way you describe but a new gas mantle put it right.
 
Hi Simon,

I have a good one, it came in a metal box with a hot knife attachment and a mini blowtorch as well as the solder tip. Need to check the make but believe it was a Vulkan something or other. Will get back to you.

Regards, Stefan
 
I have had a problem with the flamemaster as well. - replaced it completely once, used it for soldering for about an hour and the next time I came to use it, the catalytic solder head had failed.

I whimpered at Maplins and they sent me a replacement head (should cost £5 + vat) I havent used it, cause at the same time I bought a 150watt inverter (on offer at £9), and I now use a normal 240 volt soldering iron. - problem solved!
 
Don't give up on it yet.

I had two of the things and, like you, I found that they didn't seem to last long. They ended up in my shed and I bought one of the 12 volt ones which, in answer to SvenglishTommy, works well and seems to last.

However, I was reading something a while ago about car catalytic converters. The article said that when the converters get damaged they can sometimes be bought back to life by running them very hot for a while.
On the basis that the things weren't working anyhow, I thought I would try this on the soldering irons. I used the "blow lamp" head to really heat up the catalyst in the soldering iron head....and it worked.

By coincidence I only did this a couple of days ago. Today I used my gas soldering iron for a job without any problem.

I now have two functioning gas irons and one 12 volt one!

FWIW I like the gas irons because of their ability to be used anywhere. The knife heads are also excellent for cutting synthetic rope.
 
My gas heated soldering iron is never any trouble. It consists of a copper bit mounted on a wooden handle and I heat it on the gas ring. If I needed it away from the gas ring then it will heat up equally well on a small camping stove. I also have a sodering iron bit attachment for a camping gas blowlamp but I don't think I have ever used it.

Re 12 volt electric soldering irons. They work much better if the engine is running to boost the volts to 14v . Since watts is proportional to volts squared it means the effective power is boosted a bit more than you might at first expect. By more than a third in fact.
 
Try a company called RS COMPONANTS, I bought a gas soldering kit from them about 6yrs ago and never had any problems, infact it is identical to the one that Snap On tools sell as their own make, except it is blue in colour and half the price.
 
My gas iron is 5 years old and running strong, I guess the old adage about blaming tools comes in here.

<u><span class="small">Rules</span></u> er hints to extend life,

do not light fags off the mantel
do not dip in water to cool down
do run at the correct temperature, whacking the gas up full will shorten the tip life considerably.
keep the tip clean by wiping it on a damp sponge, do not feel the urge to take a file to it, ever!
Tips do not last forever, when I was working full time a weller electric tip would last about 2-3 weeks. Gas tips for hobby use should last 6 months if you are using it fairly regularly.


You could describe an iron as a precision instrument in that it needs taking care of. From what I have read, it has helped me realise that I will never lend my iron to anyone! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Bought mine about 10 years ago from, yes, Snap On (see post on cheap tools). Cost about £20 So that about £2 per year, good value!

Also have the attachments and use it to cut rope and shrink cable insulators.

I have never replaced any tips, it only once in a while has the tip cleaned (wipe it quickly when hot with a well wrapped paper towel) and it is always run, full on!
 
We supply a gas iron as part of our kit as they are the only practical ones for working up ships masts. They seem very reliable, and I've had one onboard for the past 6 years or so. Can take a bit of lighting, but once going they are good

The model we used to supply was RS 433-6016 which costs £35. Recently, we've supplied a cheaper version (it comes as part of a toolkit so we didn't have much choice) which is RS 433-6038 £20.79. Both branded Antex and would recommend the more expensive

see rswww.com and type in the part numbers
 
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