It seems I have to crack out my dusty old soldering iron less and less these days, but the one thing that really bugs me about having to use it is that it has to be plugged in; I have to create a work space and move what ever I am doing to a suitable area to use the soldering iron.
The Solderdoodle looks set to solve this problem by offering up a simple, open source device that can be part-made from a 3D printer, is USB rechargeable, doesn’t require mains power and can be easily transported for use on the go. The 18.8cm device runs from a USB rechargeable lithium Ion battery which can charge from a standard USB port on a laptop, desktop computer, mains adapter or similar device that have a USB 2.0 Type A connection. It takes three hours to charge and is said to last “hours” on a single charge.
Personally I think the best part is that it uses a standard soldering tip, so you can go down to your local hardware store and pick up replacement tips, no need for propitiatory hardware! The only downside is that it’ll only reach 500f (260c), which means it can’t handle non-leaded solder, but for something this portable I don’t really care, as it looks idea for those little electronic patch jobs that were just impractical with a wired soldering iron.
Thank you Instructables for providing us with this information.
Image courtesy of Instructables.
Now where was this when I was a techie?