12 Jan
2005
12 Jan
'05
3:37 a.m.
I'd seen the commercials for this instant-on battery-powered
soldering iron and wondered if I should add it to my tool box.
I saw this FAQ on Thinkgeek:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/files/FAQ040504.pdf
which made me think twice:
Q: What kind of soldering projects is this tool recommended for?
A: Based on the specifications mentioned above, we recommend this
tool for most electrical projects (such as wires 18-24 AWG), small
jewelry repair, and larger electronic projects. We do not recommend
it for soldering of large metallic components that require a lot
of heat transfer or for soldering sensitive electronic components
that may be damaged by fast-rising temperatures or high electrical
current. (Momentary high-amperage current will be created during
active soldering.)
Q: What is the spark I see sometimes during soldering?
A: The spark (arc) is caused by the passing of electrical current from
one half of the tip to the other. Although in testing the tool’s spark
did not damage any electrical or electronic components, we recommend
caution when soldering sensitive components. Also, ensure that the
tool is not used in flammable or explosive environments.
- John
12 Jan
12 Jan
3:46 a.m.
On Wed, 12 Jan 2005, John Foust wrote:
I'd seen the commercials for this instant-on battery-powered
soldering iron and wondered if I should add it to my tool box.
I saw this FAQ on Thinkgeek:
I fucking thought so. I've been trying to figger out how it works and the
only answer I could come up with is that there is no heat, just a dead
short that makes the object-to-be-soldered get hot.
3:50 a.m.
On Wed, 12 Jan 2005, James wrote:
On Wed, 12 Jan 2005, John Foust wrote:
I appologize for my language, I thought I was replying to a different list
where such language isn't uncommon.
I'd seen the commercials for this instant-on battery-powered
soldering iron and wondered if I should add it to my tool box.
I saw this FAQ on Thinkgeek:
I fucking thought so. I've been trying to figger out how it works and the
only answer I could come up with is that there is no heat, just a dead
short that makes the object-to-be-soldered get hot. 
4:38 a.m.
On Wed, 12 Jan 2005, James wrote:
On Wed, 12 Jan 2005, James wrote:
Don't worry, the Puritans here will somehow manage to maintain.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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On Wed, 12 Jan 2005, John Foust wrote:
I appologize for my language, I thought I was replying to a different list
where such language isn't uncommon.
I'd seen the commercials for this instant-on battery-powered
soldering iron and wondered if I should add it to my tool box.
I saw this FAQ on Thinkgeek:
I fucking thought so. I've been trying to figger out how it works and the
only answer I could come up with is that there is no heat, just a dead
short that makes the object-to-be-soldered get hot. 
12:26 p.m.
James wrote:
On Wed, 12 Jan 2005, James wrote:
Ooops! 8-)
Doc
On Wed, 12 Jan 2005, John Foust wrote:
I appologize for my language, I thought I was replying to a different list
where such language isn't uncommon. I'd seen the commercials for this instant-on
battery-powered
soldering iron and wondered if I should add it to my tool box.
I saw this FAQ on Thinkgeek:
I fucking thought so. I've been trying to figger out how it works and the
only answer I could come up with is that there is no heat, just a dead
short that makes the object-to-be-soldered get hot.
4:33 a.m.
On Wed, 12 Jan 2005, James wrote:
On Wed, 12 Jan 2005, John Foust wrote:
Well, aside from the fact that these fuckers employed spam to first get
out the word on their product I would never buy one.
The commercials on TV that I was seeing a few weeks ago seemed to think
that ordinary people like housewives and weekend fix it up schlubs would
somehow find a use for a soldering iron. They showed the hands of a lady
soldering some piece of kitchen ware and some doofus doing some very light
repair (broken battery wire or something equally lame) on some gadget.
And I'm like, yeah right. Who fixes anything these days (I'm being
rhetorical, Tony) and what of anything that's made today is conducive to
being repaired in the home with a soldering iron?
Still, they seem to be selling like mad, but if they're no good for
electronics then what's the attraction?
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
I'd seen the commercials for this instant-on battery-powered
soldering iron and wondered if I should add it to my tool box.
I saw this FAQ on Thinkgeek:
I fucking thought so. I've been trying to figger out how it works and the
only answer I could come up with is that there is no heat, just a dead
short that makes the object-to-be-soldered get hot. 
2:04 p.m.
The commercials on TV that I was seeing a few weeks
ago seemed to think
that ordinary people like housewives and weekend fix it up schlubs would
somehow find a use for a soldering iron. They showed the hands of a lady
soldering some piece of kitchen ware and some doofus doing some very light
Eeek... I'd not want to trust soft soldering (which is what this must be)
for something like that....
repair (broken battery wire or something equally lame)
on some gadget.
And I'm like, yeah right. Who fixes anything these days (I'm being
rhetorical, Tony) and what of anything that's made today is conducive to
being repaired in the home with a soldering iron?
That depends on the home, and the soldering iron :-)
-tony
3:08 p.m.
At 01:04 AM 1/13/05 +0000, you wrote:
> The commercials on TV that I was seeing a few
weeks ago seemed to think
> that ordinary people like housewives and weekend fix it up schlubs would
> somehow find a use for a soldering iron. They showed the hands of a lady
> soldering some piece of kitchen ware and some doofus doing some very light
I don't know about the rest of you but I'm sick of these commercails
showing some bumbling idiot trying to do something. I wouldn't believe
ANYTHING they say and I'd avoid anything that they're selling like the plague.
Joe
13 Jan
13 Jan
9:50 a.m.
Without a *single* exception I can recall, if it's advertised on
TV it is of utterly no use to me, everything claimed is highly
suspect, etc.
Seriously, there's reason for this. Things advertised (more
accurately, marketed) on TV are rarely 'staples' or things I
decide I want (gadgets, vacations, clothes, sex, whatever) which I
choose through the usual personal criteria. They are literally
corporate fabrications for making money, the problem they solve is
profit, not usefulness. Even or especially things that appear to
be of use, like drugs, I mean really, I'm gonna decide I need a
(heart, diabetes, anxiety) drug from a TV ad?!!!
If it's on TV it has no usefulness and if it appears to you're
probably dazzled by the shiny bauble and overlooking something.
THere may be exceptions (there always is) but I doubt it's better
than 1 in 1000.
"We make buying easier!" yeah it's a real problem figuring out how
to get rid of all this money.
I do watch TV. With a TiVo. Useful and informative shows, like
Super Milk Chan, Venture Brothers, Free Speech TV, ATHF, Simpsons,
movies.
10:35 a.m.
On Thu, 13 Jan 2005, Tom Jennings wrote:
I do watch TV. With a TiVo. Useful and informative
shows, like
Super Milk Chan, Venture Brothers, Free Speech TV, ATHF, Simpsons,
movies.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab 2021 and Harvey Birdman!
And of course, South Park and The Daily Show.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
15 Jan
15 Jan
11:57 p.m.
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
On Thu, 13 Jan 2005, Tom Jennings wrote:
Wow! I guess we do have something in common, Sellam.
You just listed all my favorite shows. Aqua teen rules, My son bought me
the DVD's for my birthday,
Jim Davis
ObInsult: You talked like Shake in the old days. ;-)
I do watch TV. With a TiVo. Useful and informative
shows, like
Super Milk Chan, Venture Brothers, Free Speech TV, ATHF, Simpsons,
movies.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab 2021 and Harvey Birdman!
And of course, South Park and The Daily Show.
16 Jan
16 Jan
4:37 a.m.
On Sun, 16 Jan 2005, JimD wrote:
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
Perhaps, but I do get more and better sex these days.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
On Thu, 13 Jan 2005, Tom Jennings wrote:
Wow! I guess we do have something in common, Sellam.
You just listed all my favorite shows. Aqua teen rules, My son bought me
the DVD's for my birthday,
Jim Davis
ObInsult: You talked like Shake in the old days. ;-) I do watch TV. With a TiVo. Useful and informative
shows, like
Super Milk Chan, Venture Brothers, Free Speech TV, ATHF, Simpsons,
movies.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab 2021 and Harvey Birdman!
And of course, South Park and The Daily Show.
13 Jan
13 Jan
12:22 p.m.
On Thursday 13 January 2005 15:50, Tom Jennings wrote:
I do watch TV. With a TiVo. Useful and informative
shows, like
snipped...
Venture Brothers, ATHF, Simpsons,
Indeed! :)
Pat
--
Purdue University Research Computing -- http://www.itap.purdue.edu/rcac
5:07 a.m.
Tony Duell wrote:
I haven't seen any commercial like this. It must be a UK thing.
Several years back I received an ad for an antenna to improve your
TV reception. It had several intresting bits that I remember. I should
probably add a lot of extra exclimation points to the end to make
it more like the original, but I don't want to make myself too sick...
It's a MARKETING breakthrough!
It doesn't require you to pay fees for cable access because
it doesn't connect to the cable system!
It doesn't require you to pay fees for satellite access because
it doesn't connect to the satellite system!
It got its signal from the air!
It attaches directly to your TV!
It only costs <insert insane price here>!
<insert picture of a set of rabbit ears with a large round UFO
looking ornament stuck to the base>
The commercials
on TV that I was seeing a few weeks ago seemed to think
that ordinary people like housewives and weekend fix it up schlubs would
somehow find a use for a soldering iron. They showed the hands of a lady
soldering some piece of kitchen ware and some doofus doing some very light
Eeek... I'd not want to trust soft soldering (which is what this must be)
for something like that....
repair (broken battery wire or something equally
lame) on some gadget.
And I'm like, yeah right. Who fixes anything these days (I'm being
rhetorical, Tony) and what of anything that's made today is conducive to
being repaired in the home with a soldering iron?
That depends on the home, and the soldering iron :-)
-tony
1:57 p.m.
>>The commercials on TV that I was seeing a few
weeks ago seemed to think
>>that ordinary people like housewives and weekend fix it up schlubs would
>>somehow find a use for a soldering iron. They showed the hands of a lady
>>soldering some piece of kitchen ware and some doofus doing some very light
[...]
12 Jan
12 Jan
6:12 p.m.
My favorite part of the TV ad is where people are gushing about how they
won't get burned by this soldering iron. You know, if you can't use a
freakin' soldering iron without burning your eye out or something, you
shouldn't be using it at all. I have soldered millions of joints and
can count the number of times I've burned myself on one hand. (Of
course, it's the hand I didn't burn off with my trusty "normal"
soldering iron...)
-Tom
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
The commercials on TV that I was seeing a few weeks ago
seemed to think
that ordinary people like housewives and weekend fix it up schlubs would
somehow find a use for a soldering iron. They showed the hands of a lady
soldering some piece of kitchen ware and some doofus doing some very light
repair (broken battery wire or something equally lame) on some gadget.
And I'm like, yeah right. Who fixes anything these days (I'm being
rhetorical, Tony) and what of anything that's made today is conducive to
being repaired in the home with a soldering iron?
--
Thomas Hudson
http://portdistrict5.org -- 5th District Aldermanic Website
http://portev.org -- Electric Vehicles, Solar Power & More
http://portgardenclub.org -- Port Washington Garden Club
http://portlightstation.org -- Light Station Restoration
http://klanky.com -- Animation Projects
13 Jan
13 Jan
3:55 a.m.
My "favorite" part is at the beginning when the idiot can't solder his
item because the power cord is too short. I guess it never occurred to them
that a soldering iron is a PORTABLE device and can be moved! They should
call these things "idiot-mercails". Idiots wrote them, idiots play the part
of real people and only an idiot would believe them!
Joe
At 11:12 PM 1/12/05 -0600, you wrote:
My favorite part of the TV ad is where people are
gushing about how they
won't get burned by this soldering iron. You know, if you can't use a
freakin' soldering iron without burning your eye out or something, you
shouldn't be using it at all. I have soldered millions of joints and
can count the number of times I've burned myself on one hand. (Of
course, it's the hand I didn't burn off with my trusty "normal"
soldering iron...)
-Tom
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
The commercials on TV that I was seeing a few
weeks ago seemed to think
that ordinary people like housewives and weekend fix it up schlubs would
somehow find a use for a soldering iron. They showed the hands of a lady
soldering some piece of kitchen ware and some doofus doing some very light
repair (broken battery wire or something equally lame) on some gadget.
And I'm like, yeah right. Who fixes anything these days (I'm being
rhetorical, Tony) and what of anything that's made today is conducive to
being repaired in the home with a soldering iron?
--
Thomas Hudson
http://portdistrict5.org -- 5th District Aldermanic Website
http://portev.org -- Electric Vehicles, Solar Power & More
http://portgardenclub.org -- Port Washington Garden Club
http://portlightstation.org -- Light Station Restoration
http://klanky.com -- Animation Projects
1:56 p.m.
My "favorite" part is at the beginning when the idiot can't solder his
item because the power cord is too short. I guess it never occurred to them
that a soldering iron is a PORTABLE device and can be moved! They should
I think I've mentioned it before, but one of the first things I made up
when I got some US 234V mains plugs was a short lead with one of those on
one end and a UK 13A socket on the other. This is used to run my
soldering iron from the power controller sockets in my PDP11 systems --
it's a lot easier to take the iron to the machine than vice versa :-)
-tony
12 Jan
12 Jan
2:01 p.m.
I'd seen the commercials for this instant-on battery-powered
soldering iron and wondered if I should add it to my tool box.
From what you quoted below, add it to your toolkit if
you like, but don't
use it on any classic computer, especially not if it's
likely to end up
on my bench,,,,
-tony
7161
days inactive
7165
days old
18 comments
11 participants
participants (11)
-
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
doc＠mdrconsult.com -
james＠jdfogg.com -
jfoust＠threedee.com -
jimmydevice＠verizon.net -
kth＠srv.net -
rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com -
tomhudson＠execpc.com -
tomj＠wps.com -
vax＠purdue.edu -
vcf＠siconic.com