12v inverter wanted

[yellowshark]

I have decided to give up on my 50w 12v soldering iron and want to use my 100w mains powered one.

Primary job in tyhe pits is soldering motor connections.

Maplins have a range of inverters; any reason why the 300w continuous load at £30 or indeed the 150w continuous load at £25 would not do the job?



And if anyone has one for sale send me a PM

[ianlloyd]

From what I have seen Pete most people use the 7.4 volt soldering iron and run it off the 12 volt. Gets very hot very quickly and as I have had mine for many years now I can vouch for it's longevity if used properly. Saves a lot of faffing around.

[Reality Racer]

Thats what I use Ian. ;D

In stock at Reality Racing

[martinchallis]

I won an MRT soldering iron in the RRC raffle a few years back - best blooming iron in the world (perfect size tip for motors) and like ian said it gets super hot in moments - (unless it is -5 and there is a high wind speed)

[yellowshark]

What wattage is it Ian? Thinking that I probably bought mine from Phil and wondering if it is the same as yours; if so mine certainly does not get hot quickly! (or as far as the weekend was concerned, slowly)

[yellowshark]

my 12v is an MRT. Would a new tip help? Can they be got anywhere - thought I saw on google that MRT no longer do them.

[ianlloyd]

Pete it is a 30 watt 7.2 volt. Gets hot REALLY quickly so you don't keep it on for long. Is the best thing I have ever had for soldering motors in trackside. Have tried several 12 volt irons and they are just too slow and don't seem to hold the heat.

Could not be bothered with inverters etc, too much stuff to organise as it is.

[Reuben]

Your other option is the Gas powered ones from Maplin. its great and gets hot enough to do the wires. But the tips seem a bit fragile and replacement tips are expensive... it almost starts BBQ's to with its blow-torch adapter - but not in the wet.

[martinchallis]

the operative word there was almost

[yellowshark]

Thanks for all your comments, ideas etc guys, keep them coming!

Interestingly, as often happens on threads, the actual question gets lost. it was aimed at the electricans amongst you, ie

Can I use a mains 100w iron in the field by getting an inverter with a continuous rating of 150w or 300w. The adverts talk about charging computer equipment, mobiles etc but to my untrained eyes and electrical ignorance, none of these compare to heating up and using a soldering iron!

[wessex88]

Can I use a mains 100w iron in the field by getting an inverter with a continuous rating of 150w or 300w.

I can`t see why not.The spec says 150W continuous with 450W surge.Should be ok with Your 100W iron.

Why do You need so much power, 48W irons are all we use at work soldering larger conections than motor wires?

[yellowshark]

I don't actually need it Paul I agree but it is what I have. I had an MRT which I used most of the time but found that it would not hack it with NiHm cells so I bought a mains 100w for that.

I had to change a motor on Sunday and the MRT refused to desolder the wires. Maybe if I had waited an hour it might have done. Anyway it peed me off so I figured I need my 100 watter on hand to do the job as it will become a regular occurrence as, after years, I have dispensed with the Corally connectors (God knows why) and decided to connect direct to the motor terminals.

The more I look at it though the more I fancy one of the digital soldering stations. I am homing in on the Toolcraft sold by Conrad Electronics ; most of the ones in Maplins seem to suffer from not being able to get a reasonable selection of bits or being able to replace the iron or heating element if it goes awol.

Or the Aoyue 2900 where the element is actually part of the bit which is neat from some perspectives but of course makes the bits pricey.

[yellowshark]

Interesting...

The tip on my old MRT iron is 4.5mm. The tip on my old 100w iron is considerably bigger.

Trawling the Internet for days on end to arrive at my fasvoured solution I noticed that it is nigh on impossible to get a tip in the 3mm range let alone the 4mm range.

I am therefore assuming that as modern temp. controlled irons do a good job at retaining the required heat, ie with bursts of high wattage when the iron is applied and heat drawn from it, one does not need so much mass in the tip to retain the heat on application. Pure guesswork mind.

The one I am going for, from a standing start, reaches 450 degrees in a little under 10 seconds. I suspect the Aoyue unit where the tip and temperature controller are one unit does it even faster.

If I can get XRAY to redesign the '012 top deck and Ackerman adjustment, that will be a heap of time saved in the pits ;D

[ianlloyd]

Pete do you ever get the feeling you are over complicating everything?

K.I.S.S.

[yellowshark]

Best tactic Ian. Conveying an aura of complexity provides the perfect excuse for not understanding.

Also it is self satisfying to contribute to peoples' education.

And..., no I will stop there before it gets too complicated

[yellowshark]

Oh for the days when you went to buy a TV and there were two manufacturers, Bush and Grundig, and one type of TV - Black and White.

Choice is the architect of complexity/procrastination

[justchris]

Mar 23, 2012 15:33:26 GMT yellowshark said:

Oh for the days when you went to buy a TV and there were two manufacturers, Bush and Grundig, and one type of TV - Black and White.

Choice is the architect of complexity/procrastination

Gaia has much to answer for.
Work on the principle of Occam's Razor (all ways works)

[yellowshark]

Good idea Chris - so the answer issimply that...

Due to the fundamental interconnectedness of all things large solder bits are not required.

Much simpler innit; I'm sure Ian will apprecate ;D

[justchris]

Pete your a mad man !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil
Sets off a tornado in Texas (Merilees 1972)
All is chaos why worry !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[yellowshark]

Yeah and that tornado has been hanging around for 40 years and caused Craig not to drive to Waitrose last night which caused me to drive instead which caused the Corvette to have an argument with a wooden post in the Car Park.

d**n butterflies

[ianlloyd]

Were Bush and Grundig a 60's pop band Pete? I don,t recognise the names but then maybe I am not as old as you?

[yellowshark]

LOL very funny Ian

Bush

The company was founded in 1932 as Bush Radio, from the remains of the Graham Amplion company that made horn loudspeakers, as a subsidiary of the Gaumont British Picture Corporation.

The brand name comes from their Shepherd's Bush studios.[1] The company expanded rapidly moving to a new factory at Power Road, Chiswick in 1936.
Bush became part of the Rank empire in 1945 and a brand new factory was opened at Ernesettle, Plymouth in 1949.[2] In 1950 the popular DAC90A and DAC10 radios were launched, along with the distinctive TV22 television.

The Bush TR82 transistor radio, designed by Ogle Design, and launched in 1959, is regarded as an icon of early radio design. Although the first radio to use the Ogle cabinet design was actually the MB60, a battery/mains valve set from 1957-59.
The original Bush Radio company merged with Murphy Radio on 4 June 1962[3], and a new company was formed called Rank Bush Murphy Ltd.

Rank formed an alliance with Toshiba in 1978. The joint venture was called Rank Toshiba and manufactured Toshiba designed televisions in the UK. In 1980 Rank terminated its agreement with Toshiba and the joint company was wound up. Toshiba took over the Ernesettle factory and continued to manufacture television sets alone.[2]

The Bush brandname disappeared from the British market during the 1980s. However, since the purchase of the brand by Alba in 1986, it once again became common,[4] being used primarily on electronic goods produced in China and some televisions made in Turkey.

A range known as Bush iD was used to brand items such as digital radios and set-top boxes under the Bush name. Since purchase by Home Retail Group, the Bush iD branding is no longer used.

In November 2008, the Bush brand name, along with Alba, were purchased by Home Retail Group, the parent company of Homebase and Argos, for £15.25 million. As a result the former Alba Group has now been renamed to Harvard International. Harvard International still owns the Bush brand in Oceania.

Grundig

Grundig AG is a formerly German manufacturer of consumer electronics for home entertainment which transferred to Turkish control in 2004-2007.

Early history

The company began in 1930 with the establishment of a store named Fuerth, Grundig & Wurzer (RVF), which sold radios. After WWII Max Grundig recognized the need for radios in Germany, and in 1947 produced a kit, while a factory and administration centre were built at Fürth. In 1951 the first televisions were manufactured at the new facility. At the time Grundig was the largest radio manufacturer in Europe. Divisions in Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Karlsruhe were established.

Grundig in Belfast

A plant was opened in 1960 to manufacture tape recorders in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the first production by Grundig outside Germany. The managing director of the plant Thomas Niedermayer, was kidnapped and later killed by the Provisional IRA in December 1973.[3] The factory was closed with the loss of around 1000 jobs in 1980.[4]

[ianlloyd]

I guess they were not a pop band then Pete!

I always thought grundig was something you did in a bush but that's a different story.....

[yellowshark]

Wouldn't know Ian, but it sounds good fun