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Portable Homemade USB Soldering Iron

Fixtures / Instruments
Added 12 comments

Convenient and compact soldering iron do it yourselfpowered by USB. Heats up quickly and cools down. Solder wherever you want by connecting the power bank.

Now online a bunch of different homemade soldering irons. I decided to do something average, easy to execute and take the best of the ones I’ve looked at homemade.

The goal was to make the soldering iron compact, quickly heating, lightweight and most importantly portable.
I decided to abandon the built-in battery to reduce weight and ease of use. The wire does not interfere. You can screw a light bulb to illuminate the work area with a separate button.

For homemade work we need:

1. Wooden block (I took 7cm x 1.5cm x 1.5cm)
2. Copper wire with a diameter of 1 mm and a length of 9 cm (can be longer)
3. Nichrome wire 7cm long (took from an old soldering iron)
4. A bolt or a self-tapping screw with a flat hat (you can put a washer)
5. The switch
6. 2 thin wiring (I took out of twisted pair)
7. USB plug with a wire of the length you need
8. Electrical tape, heat shrink and super glue
9. Fiberglass

From the tools:
1. Soldering iron
2. Pliers
3. Screwdriver for bolt or self-tapping screw

Step 1.
The first step is to prepare a bar. Adjust in length so that it is convenient to hold, grind corners.


Step 2
We take a copper wire with a diameter of 1 mm from 9 cm to 12 cm in length and bend the ring with pliers at one end so that a bolt or a self-tapping screw penetrates.



Step 3
We take a nichrome wire 7 cm long and wind it in a spiral (denser, but not to touch each other) on the straight end of the copper wire, leaving a working place for soldering.

Attention! Do not forget to insulate the copper rod from nichrome wire with fiberglass:


Step 4
Next, we fasten the copper wire to the bar with a bolt or a self-tapping screw.


Step 5
We fasten two copper wires to the nichrome wire as shown in the photo.


Step 6
We glue the switch to the bar, solder the wiring to the switch and wrap the bottom of the bar with electrical tape to fix the wires.



Step 7
Next, take a USB plug with a wire and connect it to the wires. Polarity does not matter. Do not forget to insulate the wires from each other before shrinking the junction of the wires.


Step 8
We wind the tape to the bar with tape and that's all.


Getting to the test of the soldering iron.

I took a 5V 2A power supply, but enough amperage and 1A. Heats up to a working state in 20 - 30 seconds. It was not difficult to pin the wire. Small parts solder well. Large elements, where there is a lot of tin, will not pull.And if it pulls, then you have to warm for a long time)

Video of step-by-step assembly and operation of the device for familiarization.
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12 comments
+1
Reply To quote A complaint
Quote: Mike Ike
I repeat once again. THE CURRENT HAS 2 CHAIRS: A Nichrome Spiral OR 1CM COPPER BAR. In an extreme case, one of the ends of nichrome will burn out, which connects to the wire from the power supply and the circuit breaks.

If the output voltage of the adapter goes through the “1cm copper rod”, the circuit will not break, but a short circuit will occur and “burnout” of the high-voltage part of the adapter. This can lead to the ignition of his body and, as a result, to a fire. This is what I wanted to explain.
Author +3
Reply To quote A complaint
And add a photo in Step 3
Author +1
Reply To quote A complaint
Your panic fear begins to infect me (what to say about others). You do not know me to talk about the lack of my knowledge and lack of brains. Your first comment was justified and thought that my answer clarified some of your concerns. Now I don’t understand why to raise a panic.
I repeat once again. THE CURRENT HAS 2 CHAIRS: A Nichrome Spiral OR 1CM COPPER BAR. In an extreme case, one of the ends of nichrome will burn out, which connects to the wire from the power supply and the circuit breaks. Whoever has something to isolate is isolated, this has already been said.
If any of the described by you happened, then I would not spread this.


Comrade Administrator.
Please add to the list
For homemade work we need
fiberglass item and in
Step 3
insulate the copper rod from nichrome wire with fiberglass.
I don’t want to argue about this anymore. And people will not worry.
-2
Reply To quote A complaint
Quote: Mike Ike
If there was material for work, I would do better.

You had material, and the idea was not bad. You had no brains. To wind nichrome onto a copper base without isolation is an absolute misunderstanding of what you are doing. This is very wrong, unsafe and stupid.
You should read the literature on this subject, and then create such "Portable homemade USB soldering irons" and lay them out for repetition by the same "masters" like you. And THINK about the name of the homemade product, because our Admin does not delve into what it is about, he, I understand, nevermind what the homemade product is called, even if the article is about a life-threatening device where it is wound with nichrome on a copper wire and included in 220V network through the adapter. Do not forget that, first of all, when the output voltage is closed, the adapter itself, which is included in the household power supply, will light up. Further, it is not difficult to imagine what could happen (short circuit, fire, electric shock, etc.).
Dear Admin, do not post such dangerous and stupid information on your site.
Otherwise, tomorrow I will repeat this home-made work, a fire will occur in my apartment as a result of it, (or, God forbid, I will be killed by electric shock) and I will turn to the court that you did not warn me that everything that is published on your site safe during repetition and you personally do not bear responsibility for the safety of repetition of homemade products.
Author 0
Reply To quote A complaint
I am glad that they came to understand) If there was material for work, I would have done better. In the meantime, you have to work with what is.
+1
Reply To quote A complaint
Quote: Mike Ike
I repeat
A simple soldering iron design in action is shown.

I did this specifically for my needs. Sometimes you have to solder a couple of fallen off wires, a small switch, a diode, every little thing. Each time, getting out and waiting for a large soldering iron to boil (there is no other yet) is boring for a second matter. And the sting is too big.
.

Well, that's what I asked ... I don’t have such situations, therefore I didn’t understand ...
By the way (I remembered), in his youth he made a soldering iron, in which a pencil lead was used as a heating element. And he fed me from the power supply of the Gnome burner. I did it in order to solder and not overheat the microcircuit. (then they were a centimeter wide and up to five cm long)))). But soldering irons were 40-watt, with a thick sting - these are the weakest ...)))
At the expense of outlets. Interruptions in electricity have not been canceled

In theory, yes. But in practice, by no means every three to five years (!!!) it now disappears for half an hour at most ...))))
Author 0
Reply To quote A complaint
I repeat
A simple soldering iron design in action is shown.

I did this specifically for my needs. Sometimes you have to solder a couple of fallen off wires, a small switch, a diode, every little thing. Each time, getting out and waiting for a large soldering iron to boil (there is no other yet) is boring for a second matter. And the sting is too big.
At the expense of outlets. Power outages have not been canceled.
+1
Reply To quote A complaint
Ek-ko you worked "protection mechanism" !!!! smile Quiet, Quiet! No one is attacking! dance3
... I just expressed my thoughts ... And, first of all, it’s just not clear to me about this:
Everyone needs their own needs and purpose.

I seriously do not see the scope of its application! (Maybe I’m mistaken, explain.). On the street he is no good. For large parts, it is also not suitable. In the rooms, usually, there are sockets.))) You can turn on the weak and powerful, and what he likes.)))))
Author 0
Reply To quote A complaint
I mentioned the power of the soldering iron.
It was not difficult to pin the wire. Small parts solder well. Large elements, where there is a lot of tin, will not pull.

The video shows a soldering iron in action. If you need more power, then you need to finish it.
Goal was
do something average, easy to execute

Nichrome and copper were already mentioned in the previous comment.
About the oxide film correctly noticed, most likely it is. I took nichrome from an old Russian soldering iron.
About
Solder wherever you want by connecting the power bank.
I did not mean to solder in the cold wiring under the hood of a car. And it is clear to a beginner radio amateur that this soldering iron is not capable of this. No need to comment on the obvious things. A simple soldering iron design in action is shown. Everyone needs their own needs and purpose. Need power - modify it!
+1
Reply To quote A complaint
It is commendable, of course, the desire to make a tool with your own hands!
But ... I will express my thoughts:
Firstly, I also somehow do not understand the winding of nichrome on copper! I think the point is in the oxide film on the surface of nichrome (as in rheostats), because otherwise it is not clear why copper will not be short ... If I collected it, I would not have thought to make it without insulation - I would be sure that it would short-circuit ...))))
Secondly ... power !!! Why a soldering iron that will not melt the solder, if you do not first bite off a small piece of it? ))))
... And here is this statement:
Solder wherever you want by connecting the power bank.

"Wherever you want" - implies on the street. (because, most likely, there is a socket in the room))).
So, I had the experience of soldering under the hood of a car. I used a 30-watt soldering iron, connecting it to the car battery through a 12/220 converter .... So - it turned out to be too weak !!! With a light, barely noticeable breeze, the sting was already cooling down! I had to go for a 60-watt one. (It’s been a long time. I don’t remember - maybe I even had to solder a "hundredth".) And this is in the summer !!! ... And in the cold?
... When I had to solder on the street in winter, I did not even think about choosing a tool - I took a gas one bought on Ali ...
And yours, I'm sorry, and you can’t breathe much - it’s cool ...))))
Author 0
Reply To quote A complaint
Your remark is correct. I am aware that according to Feng Shui, isolation between copper and nichrome is necessary.
At that time, I had nothing to isolate.
In my homemade product, a copper rod plays a passive role as a conductor for the two ends of nichrome (which will heat up).

The current has 2 ways: a nichrome spiral or 1 cm of a copper rod (as we know copper is heated well by passing current) on which the spiral is wound. 1 cm of this section (1 mm) is not too much resistance for 5V.There will be no fire and no one is going to pass 220 through this design. Do not scare people.
If you read it carefully, I did not offer to connect it to a computer USB and wrote a current strength from 1A, advising me to use a power bank.
Without testing the design and not making sure that it is working, I would not publish what could harm someone. It still works, and so far I'm not complaining.
I do not recommend isolating asbestos, take pity on your airways.
I read somewhere (I don’t know the truth or not) that after baking on a copper fire, a layer forms on the surface that can act as insulation (this is why I have a dark wire in the photo).
+2
Reply To quote A complaint
With all due respect to you, as a master, I want to tell you this:
1. This “product” cannot be called a USB soldering iron, since the current output from the computer’s USB is not more than 500 Ma (0.5A), SO DO NOT GIVE YOU GOD to plug your soldering iron into the USB computer input.
2. This is your copper wire, on which you wound a nichrome wire, necessarily, it was necessary to isolate from it, i.e. wind a heat-resistant insulator onto a copper wire (mica, asbestos, etc.)
3. This is not a soldering iron, but some kind of "crap" that you can’t repeat (and even publish on this site, because it is very dangerous).
4. I advise you to make, and offer others, more thoughtful "things", especially when you are dealing with voltage, even if 5V and 2A - this is very dangerous when you do not understand what you are doing.
And I would like to wish the admin not to post homemade products where nichrome is wound on a bare copper wire and connected to a voltage of 220V via an adapter (again, and once again think whether the homemade product is safe (you check them only for the number of signs and photos ), because children can repeat it. In the best case, it will burn, in the worst - fire).

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