Isn’t this the same as those “Cold Heat” soldering irons which pretty much suck for real soldering?

Posted at 11:40 pm on Oct 9th, 2007 by FlyingAvatar

uuhh id keep it away from pretty much anything but resistors since its not grounded

Posted at 11:47 pm on Oct 9th, 2007 by deadfool

i’d assume that ‘delicate electronics’ covers anything that is static sensitive…

Posted at 12:17 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by n3rrd

am i the only one that would be afraid to use that thing

something about holding a homemade 100w transformer in your hand

Posted at 12:38 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by digidelia

Cosmetics: “coating PCB with painting in order to prevent short-circuit (anyway you’ll be holding device in your hands).”

Don’t worry, if it not go good, your body act as a ground. No trouble! I am actually scared of this guy: one of the few hackers that I would probably avoid meeting in public. (Images of bare wires going into 120v wall sockets come to mind around now)

Posted at 12:53 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by atrain

ummm…..eek?

Posted at 2:28 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by luigi

interesting concept… no way in hell im using that thing

Posted at 2:29 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by abbott

Deadfool, all the soldering Irons I’ve worked with aren’t grounded… whats your point? When soldering electronics, you should use a ground strap. Soldering irons are not a source of ground, in fact, can be isolated with transformers.

Posted at 2:38 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by frodus

ok, i am honestly scared now, can we remove this or somthing?

this is so scary.. it makes me think of the early electronics, you know, paper covered lead wire, all sparking and red hot? like in the movies

i suddenly feel cold

*shivers*

Posted at 4:00 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by Spongy

Hey, my parents house still has some knob and tube wiring in it, and it hasn’t burned down yet :)

Yeah, neat idea and I might build one because it looks horifying in a good way, but use it for anything important, heck no.

Posted at 6:01 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by Zengar

its not the temperature that scares me, its that the heating element isn’t grounded. and will is taking about keeping it away because the temp isnt stable.

Posted at 7:59 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by Bird603568

awe shit i posted my first post under the wrong name. the 9# post, im referring to the 1st post

Posted at 8:02 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by Bird603568

I’m assuming that he either

A: Forgot to show the ground on schematic

B: Is an idiot

All euro outlets are grounded (FOR A GOOD 220v reason), I was also under the impression that most (if not all) european plugs came with the ground connector.

Heh, I was laughing at all of you freaking out about 120v being ungrounded and not thinking about his 220v connection where he lives.

But just to freak you out more, when I was REAL young I did pretty much the same thing….and yes, wires will explode in your hands (MYTH CONFIRMED).

Posted at 8:43 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by Morden

don’t even need to use it… just build the thing for freaking out your friends by making your workbench look even more mad scientist… muhahahahahahaha!

Posted at 8:48 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by sly

Its really no different than this:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062752

Which has its uses. Note that anything you make and plug into an electrical outlet will be inherently dangerous without adequate testing. Use common sense.

Posted at 9:20 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by Dave

dave, ive been told by at a few people not to use the guns because they run current through the tips to heat them up. same thing with the cold heat POS. personally i use this http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=15140+TL which has a grounded tip so there shouldnt be any static and what not.

Posted at 10:23 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by Bird603568

best thing i ever did was chuck my radio shack fire starter and get an aoyue soldering station

Posted at 10:38 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by chupa

Somebody send this guy a 9.00 soldering kit from Radio Shack before he burns the house down please!

Posted at 11:31 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by strider_mt2k

frodus, the point of a grounded iron is so that it doesnt build up a charge on the iron. the point of a grounded tip isnt so you dont get shocked or you spark on them its so the iron doesnt. and using an anti static band wont do shit for the iron since 99% of irons are plastic (insulator) handles. so unless you are holding it by the shaft its doesnt help the iron

Posted at 11:44 am on Oct 10th, 2007 by Bird603568

I’ll stick with butane soldering irons for now. But this is cheaper to do than the “DIY” Car kit from yesterday

Posted at 1:29 pm on Oct 10th, 2007 by jeicrash

In Soviet Russia, iron solders YOU!

Posted at 3:13 pm on Oct 10th, 2007 by n00nen0se

wow! a dim little light to help you see better.. i wonder what kind of dark little Soviet lab he works in?

cant say i understand exactly what the chip does in this circet. if 100hz is to high a frequence then he made some mistakes in his memtal arithmatic.

i dont see what the problem is with the ungrounded tip unless it gets shorted to 220v somehow. realy you could use this for working on live circets.
also 220v rectified and smoothed looks more like 310v…. i wonder what kind of paint he used? not anything they have in shops in australia!!

much better that the car building they had yesterday. were was the design download? i wanted to read about how the suspention system was engineered!

Posted at 8:09 pm on Oct 10th, 2007 by HeBD

zengar: I trust knob+tube better than what came after it. While the insulation may be paper, at least the wires were usually suspended. I’ve seen houses that were built after knob+tube era was over, but still with paper insulation. Difference is, if loose dry plaster and stuff is at the bottom of the wall where the old burnt wire is lying, better chance of that catching fire then a wire suspended in the air, wrapped in old burnt paper. Both are troublesome, but I think knob+tube has some advantages.

Posted at 9:32 pm on Oct 10th, 2007 by atrain

Post apocalyptic electrical engineering at it’s finest.

Posted at 9:54 pm on Oct 10th, 2007 by TJhooker

Up next, a matching defibrillator for when you inevitably slip with that thing.

On a separate note, reminds me of these:

http://www.afrigadget.com/2007/06/03/home-made-welding-machine/

Posted at 11:26 pm on Oct 10th, 2007 by Wolf

Bird603568,

Good point- and you are correct. Any fet input is bound to be extra sensitive to something like this. However, if you need to solder lugs onto #0 or 2/0 jumper cables, then something this thing comes in handy!

Posted at 8:30 am on Oct 11th, 2007 by dave

I don’t see how it’s a hack or any sort of innovation.I had my first weller soldering gun when I was 10 and it still works fine. This might have been a breakthrough in the 1930’s but it’s just a dangerous thing to have around now.

Posted at 12:19 pm on Oct 11th, 2007 by DrFel

I know most of you know this already but.
Soldering can be used for a lot besides electronics.You can repair glasses and jewelry.I like my soldering gun instead of the iron for anythiung big enough because it heats up so fast.I only use the iron for very small pieces .A propane torch can be used for bigger stuff .You can solder steel with the type of solder they use for car radiators.You have to have the right solder and flux for the right material.For a stronger bond you can move up to brazing ,which requires a hotter gas than propane ,like map gas. For anything stronger you can weld .I’m looking into modifying a 105 amp GM alternator to weld with it. If it works it will save a bunch.

Posted at 4:28 pm on Oct 11th, 2007 by me