Peter Johansson writes: >Have you considered opening up the Wahl unit, removing the factory >NiCads, and re-wiring the unit for an external power source? That is an excellent idea. I actually own two of these and the newer one still shows 2.5x volts with a tip voltage of about 2.1 so now I know what I am shooting for. I once did do exactly what you suggested until I was able to put a new battery in the gun. The problem was I think I used too small a gauge of wire for the cable between the batteries and the gun so that the tip voltage was never quite high enough to draw the right amount of current. It worked, but not very well. >The unit sure was very convenient for those times when you are >breadboarding and need to solder some leads on a single component >(such as a pot) Absolutely! As I described, I usually put the tip against whatever it is I am going to solder while it is cold, rest the solder against the work, and then push the button. When I feel the solder give, I feed it for maybe a half-inch or less and then remove it. I am usually also smelling the flux and hopefully nothing else burning. I may hold the tip against the work for a fraction of a second longer and then release the button and move away from the work to let it cool. After that, I scratch at the joint with my fingernail and look for a glossy smooth feel like a little hill. I also wiggle the leads if possible to make sure nothing is loose and, if everything went okay, the joint is good. Usually, I can tell a cold joint by either a rough or sticky feel, the solder has not flowed evenly, or the darn thing comes apart in my hand. Always a good indication that I need to revisit that connection. I don't claim to solder to NASA specifications, but I don't have many things fail because of poor soldering so I must not be doing too many things wrong. I see references to the Metcal irons. Are they the usual always-on devices or are they something different, more like the guns? I have actually used a standard soldering iron in a pinch, but it is easy to bump it against stuff you don't want to melt on the way in to the actual soldering objective. I usually use something like that if I am salvaging a board and don't care if I happened to be a little off.:-) If I want to be careful which is usually the case if I am building or fixing something, the cold or relatively-cold tip to start with is the easiest way for me. Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK OSU Information Technology Division Network Operations Group _______________________________________________ http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist