EEVblog #1113 - Is a $5 USB Soldering Iron Useful?

Is a $5 8W USB soldering iron actually useful?

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[Boffin]

New Dave rating: "It doesn't suck as much as I expected"

[iamdarkyoshi]

I own one of these. It has potential, but is let down by a couple issues.

1. The tip runs EXTREMELY hot, 600-700C. I can forgive them for this though, it kinda has to.

2. The USB lead is crap, would like to see it have a mini USB cable so I can use my own beefy lead on it.

2. The touch button is very irritating. Its neat, but irritating.

3. The 15 second timeout is also a bit irritating, but I get why they did it. IIRC they actually used a 555 for it instead of a micro, which could have done an always half power with full power on touch sort of thing.

That said, there are some handy features:

1. Its cheap as hell

2. Heats up bloody quickly

3. You can run it off almost anything. Even my phone's OTG can run it. In fact, all my electronics can, most are happy supplying 10w before they cut off.

I've used it to do quick repairs on stuff in my bedroom, like a fan on my 3D printer.

While not the best tool ever, most people might have a use from time to time, and its cheap, might as well.

[Svixdelux]

I have used this for most of my soldering work for 5-6 months. And I's simpli brilliant! I shortened the USB cord, And uses a 1 cell 18650 power bank. It all tits in my back pocket. After I started using this configuration, I think i have tripled the times I use it, instead of putting it in the to-do-pile. For mounting components to a printboard and likes, this is My new favorite and most used iron. And if the price was 50 times more expensive I'd still prefer this. Brilliant!

[MkmeOrg]

I was floored how well this worked. Not great by ANY evaluation- but better than a paperclip and lighter in the bush- Hells yes it is.

[zyrexgraft]

Have this as my main go to iron for most of my work, its not great but as someone who solders once a month and mostly surface stuff as PCBs with arduinos and ESPs, and does not want to have my big adjustible soldering iron constantly on my desk this does a mighty fine job. Just pop it in and 8 seconds later solder... pop it out cools down in 10 sec. And you are done...

Also i kind of like the crappy touch sensitive part as you can forget it plugged in and it would shut itself off.
And the tip is really sharp and pointy so small joints is a breeze.

If you learn to use it correctly with the limitations it has its very very handy, so have extra tips and also an extra iron if that breaks down.

and if it does not do the job just take out the big boy.

[illustriouschin]

I've actually been to the factory that makes these and they came up with a fairly ingenious solution to the equipment problem. What they did was first borrow a soldering iron from the factory next door and used that to make the first one. Then they gave back the one they borrowed as is the neighborly thing to do, and used the soldering iron they made to make the rest of them. Then after they got done selling them all they sold the first one they made to complete the pure profit business model.

[LiamTronix]

I love seeing 555 timer chips in the wild! Seems like a rare sight these days.

[ManWithBeard]

I have one, it's alright actually. You wouldn't want to use it for a main iron because it's just not that great but for outdoor things combined with a USB power bank it's pretty handy. One of the mods you might want to do is solder in a resistor that bypasses the electronics to make it consume a small amount of power even when it's off, to prevent the power bamk turning off on you.

[tenlittleindians]

I got one from Banggood some time ago and really love the tiny tip for circuit board stuff. The first thing I built to test the iron was a dso shell oscilloscope kit. The scope works as great as the iron and it's really cheap also! While mine looks the same, it's not a German version and the inside components are different. I don't have to touch mine to turn it on. Mine turns on when I'm within an inch of the metal ball! I love how fast it heats up for quick fixes to a quad copter and it cools down just as fast when I set it down. Prevents burn marks where I don't want them.

[andljoy]

You know what, for the price its not bad at all. As a get out of jail free card for fixing a connector or replacing a blown soldered fuse or something its 100% fine.

[tin]

I got one of these to keep in the car for when I'm not home and someone wants me to repair something. Better than I expected for a few dollars.
Mine also was sort of free. I added it to an order to get over the free shipping threshold, so the $6 or so they charged was nothing compared to the $30 shipping they were going to charge.

[tschengtscheng]

Really nice that you tried it out Dave.
I actually have on in my backpack when I go out drone flying (DIY race/freestyle) and it helped me and my friends' out a bunch of times dealing with broken connectors or cables after a crash.. wouldn't ever want to miss it again :)

[PhilXavierSierraJones]

I remember using a gas stove and a paperclip to fix a broken speaker connection. Heat it up on the stove, move to the speaker, solder, etc.

[ricardoespinoza]

The monostable ckt might make sense from a safety and durability perspective... A simple mech switch keeps the power on always (unless manually toggled) so if the user walks away then the crappy tip plating will burn off and the tip will last even less... Also, bad idea to leave an active 500 degree heat source sitting on the table without supervision... So there might be a reasonable design intention.

[twocvbloke]

In its' defence, these USB soldering irons are handy as hell, I use mine more often than I do my mains one, because the soldering jobs I tend to do are quick and dirty, and this thing is the bees knees, no good for ground planes, but for components and wires, brilliant little thing... :P

Only downsides, the auto-shutoff sucks, so I modded mine so it's on as soon as I plug it into my USB powerbank, and of course the lack of tips, but, other than that, I love my USB soldering iron... :D

[ArsenioDev]

Dave, I carry one of these in my on the go hackerpack and man does it WORK fantastically for what it is. Saved my bacon more than once on work field campaigns and was a HUGE hit at DEFCON this year.

[DJignyte]

I've got one of these irons and have used it for around 2-3 years. I did have to mod it to improve the touch sensor, now theres a thin wire that sits right next to the touch sensor and when you touch the wire and the sensor or short the wire to the sensor, it turns on.
Super handy lil thing for quick jobbies. I've soldered up many a LED strips and automotive headunit tons of times over the years.

I like it because its quick and easy. I don't need to worry about having mains power with me, or have to dick about with the Hakko 888D (which I do love using btw). It's always there in my electronics box and as long as I have a powerbank or a usb port somewhere, I'm golden!
As long as it's used within its limitations, it's a perfectly fine and rather handy little portable soldering iron.

[voltlog]

I use this iron occasionally for remote jobs, for hooking wires together, for a small repair. It's compact and it uses usb power that you can get pretty much everywhere. It's value really becomes clear when you consider the price. I know the TS100 is better performance but it's $55 and you need a power brick as well so I don't see any reason why you shouldn't own one of these 5$ soldering irons for the occasional remote job.

[LaurenWeinstein]

Just received one via eBay that purported to be the same -- and looks the same externally with "8w" spec, but turns out to be arguably a bit better. Cap a lot easier to pull off. Instead of a finicky touch sensitive switch there's a positive action on/off push button that looks exactly the same, and (as far as I know so far) there's no automatic turn off after 25-30 seconds, you just push the button again to turn it off. Blue LED. Gray collar instead of yellow. $10 from U.S. shipper (so a bit more than from China with a long wait). Heats within 15 seconds, as promoted. Very nice little tool. Thanks for the review!

[Scrogan]

The one I have also has a spring surrounded by a grounded chassis that hits the side when shaken, and is connected to the touch button. In this way it will trigger when shaken or when the button is touched.