Products > Test Equipment
Portable *professional* soldering iron?
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IDEngineer:
I'm getting tired of lugging my entire Hakko setup on the road. Too many separate pieces, etc. However, the typical Radio Shack-style "heater with a cord" is completely useless junk for real work, and while I've tried the LiPo-powered irons they just don't have decent temperature regulation.

Is there a professional portable iron out there, meant for road warriors who actually need good equipment?
switchabl:
I use an ERSA Multi-Pro for odd jobs which is basically a high-quality version of the heater-with-cord iron. It's better than the cheap ones, the PTC heater sits inside the tip which helps. It works for small stuff but compared to my regular JBC station, it is very slow and it lacks power. However they now have the Multi-TC which is the same form-factor but is supposed to have fast regulation with a sensor at the tip. May be worth a look?

If you don't need to change temperature a lot, you could also look at a soldering iron with a self-regulating (Curie point) tip, like the Weller Magnastat series.
Gyro:
I know it's small, but a TS100 powered by a Power tool battery (or maybe, with lesser power, a TS80 and USB-C supply) will give you a highly portable setup with Hakko type heat output and regulation. Tip choices are adequate rather than extensive.
wraper:
I used TS100 with power brick to work in a field. Can be used with external battery too. Tip to grip distance and grip itself are not great but good enough for portable tool. TS80 is newer and better designed tool, easier to use with power bank. However maximum power is a bit lacking. EDIT: I see there is also TS80P now with more power. Not up to TS100 but IMHO quite acceptable for most cases.
artag:
The TS100 is ann excellent product, but I'd regard it as a hobby device. Not because it's a toy, but because the real distinction between hobby and professional is whether the manufacturers regard commercial use as an excessive duty cycle for their product.

This might take the form of not backing the warranty if it's determined that the tool is being subjected to levels of use that are unreasonable for a hobby device. I have no idea whether Miniware have this attitude, but in most cases we buy their products from vendors who are all but uncontactable if there is a failure. This alone makes them non-professional. If you buy them from Digikey or Farnell the situation might be different .. but do they sell them ? The commercial vendors might have their own policy on whether they're professional tools or not.

I use the TS100 'professionally' (ie for elements of my paid work) but if it breaks I'd regard it as unfortunate and buy another, not expect to be able tom return it. Indeed, on mine the OLED display died after a few months of sparing use. I didn't return it, I bought a replacement display. It was less hassle than trying to return it to a far-east vendor I'd chosen for lowest cost.

Traditionally, portable irons used professionally were usually gas devices such as the Weller Pyropen or the Oryx version. I don't know of a replacement product. The pyropen (which is actually manufactured by the Chinese Engineer company, famous amongst hobbyists for their PA09 crimps) is still available at an ever-increasing price. They're a bit agricultural for modern circuit boards but I do know a guy who used a gas iron to repair SMD boards in the field. Almost literally .. the boards in question were in a visitor attraction at Kew Gardens.
 
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