Do-it-yourself wireless mini soldering iron from usb. Portable homemade USB soldering iron. Making a mini soldering iron

Once, while walking through the expanses of Aliexpress, I saw a USB soldering iron on sale. I was surprised. Can a normal soldering iron be powered from USB, where the supply voltage is only 5 Volts? But out of curiosity, I still ordered this copy.

Convenient small soldering iron. Fits perfectly in the hand.

You can look at this soldering iron for yourself this link.

Weighs only about 20 grams

The kit includes a 1.5 meter cord with the following connectors at the ends:

as well as a stand for the soldering iron itself

All assembled it looks like this:

USB power supply: take a power supply so that it produces a current of at least 2 Amps

Soldering iron energy consumption

In order to find out the power consumption of USB consumers, I have this device

I connect the soldering iron to the block through this device

When you turn on the soldering iron, the red LED on it lights up

So, the voltage supplied to the soldering iron is 4.9 Volts

The current consumed by the soldering iron is 1.44 Amperes

Therefore, the power consumption of the soldering iron is: P = IU = 1.44 x 4.9 = 7 Watt with kopecks.

Checking the soldering iron in operation

This soldering iron heats up very quickly due to its small dimensions. The fireproof thin nickel tip will serve you faithfully for a long time. As a last resort, you can buy it on Aliexpress without any problems.

The solder melts in no time!

And of course, the best part: automatic shutdown. If you do not touch the soldering iron, it will automatically turn off after 25 seconds! As soon as we want to pick it up, the contactless sensor on it is triggered, and the soldering iron is ready for battle again. Well, honestly, I didn’t expect this from the Chinese.

Conclusion

Well, what else can you say about this soldering iron? It is unlikely that you will be able to solder large parts, but various small things will work just fine. Is it possible to power it from Computer USB or laptop? Mmm... Well, I plugged it into a laptop and it worked fine for me, but I strongly do not recommend doing this! Still, it is better NOT to use the USB ports of your computers to power the soldering iron. As you remember, they are intended for other purposes. If you buy a Power Bank in addition to it, you can solder even in an open field. This is much more convenient than using a bulky and smelly gas soldering iron.

Such a soldering iron will be an excellent purchase for young radio amateurs, since many of them forget to unplug the soldering iron from the outlet, and also in such a USB soldering iron there is no voltage of 220 Volts, which in itself is considered unsafe. So, parents, if you still want to buy a good soldering iron for your child, take a closer look at this USB soldering iron. I've been using it periodically for a month now. He showed himself with the best side. Reviews on the Internet about it are also good. Further use will show what this soldering iron is capable of in terms of longevity;-)

A tool such as a soldering iron is indispensable for radio amateurs, but people who are far from electronic equipment and components do not consider it an essential item. Sometimes situations happen that can only be corrected with the help of this tool, and if it is not there, then what to do? If the problem is one-time in nature, then there is no need to go to the nearest store and purchase an expensive product. You can put in a little effort and use some simple components to assemble a homemade soldering iron. There are many options for assembling this device - let's look at some of them.

Resistor device

It's very simple but extraordinary reliable device. At home it can be used in different ways. Depending on the design and power, they can solder microelectronics up to laptops. The large device even allows you to seal a tank or any other large product. Let's look at how to make a soldering iron with your own hands.

The circuit is interesting in that a resistor of suitable power is used as a heater. It can be PE or PEV. The heater is powered from household network. These damping resistances make it possible to solve problems of various scales.

We carry out calculations

Before moving on to assembly, there are some calculations you should do. So, to manufacture devices with resistors, it is enough to recall Ohm’s law from school course physics and power formula.

For example, you have a suitable part of the PEVZO type with a nominal value of 100 Ohms. You are going to use it to create a tool for use in household electrical networks. Using the form you can easily calculate the parameters. So, at a current of 2.2 A, a homemade soldering iron will consume 484 W of power. That's a lot. Therefore, with the help of resistance-damping elements, it is necessary to reduce the current by four times. After this, the indicator will decrease to 0.55 A. The voltage across our resistor will be within 55 V, and home network- 220 V. The damping resistance rating should be 300 Ohms. A capacitor for voltages up to 300 V is suitable for this element. Its capacitance should be 10 μF.

Soldering iron 220V: assembly

It is possible that the glue will slightly impair the heat transfer, but it will dampen the system of the rod and the heating coil. This will protect the ceramic base of the resistor from possible cracks.

Another layer of glue will protect against play in this important unit. The wire strands will be brought out through the hole in the rod tube. This diagram will help you understand how to make a soldering iron that is reliable, efficient, inexpensive, and safe.

To avoid troubles, it is better to strengthen the insulation where the conductors will be connected to the heater. An asbestos thread is suitable for this, as well as a ceramic sleeve on the body. Additionally, you can use elastic rubber in the place where the electrical cord enters the handle.

This is how easy it is to make a soldering iron with your own hands. Its power may vary. To do this, you simply need to replace the capacitor in the circuit.

Mini soldering iron

This is another one simple circuit. This tool can be used to work with various miniature devices or parts. With it, you can easily dismantle and solder small radio components and microcontrollers. Every craftsman has the materials to create this product. You will learn how to make a soldering iron, and then you can easily assemble it from scrap materials. Power will be provided from a household transformer - any frame scan from an old TV will do. A piece of 1.5 mm copper wire is used as a tip. The 30 mm piece is simply inserted into the heating element.

Making a base tube

This will not be just a tube, but the base of the heating element. It can be rolled from copper foil. Then it is covered with a thin layer of a special electrical insulating composition. This composition is also very simple and easy to make. It is enough to mix talc and silicate glue, lubricate the tube and dry it over gas.

Making a heater

In order for our DIY soldering iron to adequately perform its functions, we need to wind a heater for it. We will do this from a piece of nichrome wire. To solve the problem, take 350 mm of material with a thickness of 0.2 mm and wind it onto the prepared tube. When you wind the wire, lay the turns very tightly together. Don't forget to leave straight ends. After winding, lubricate the spiral with a mixture of talcum powder and glue and let it dry until completely baked.

We are finishing the project

The third stage involves additional insulation and installation of the heater in a tin casing.

This work must be done very carefully. The ends that come out of our heater should also be treated with insulating material. In addition, use the mixture to treat any cavities that may have arisen due to lack of care.

The manufacturing process of this tool involves protecting the heater leads with heat-resistant insulating material and pulling the cord through a hole in the soldering iron handle. Screw the ends of the power wire to the heater terminals, then carefully insulate everything.

All that remains is to pack the heating element into a tin casing, and then place it evenly in place.

Now you can use this product. If you did everything correctly, you will get an excellent soldering iron, assembled with your own hands. With its help you can solder many interesting circuits.

Miniature wire-wound resistor design

This tool is suitable for small work. It is very convenient to solder various microcircuits and SMD parts. The design of the product is simple; assembly will not be difficult.

We will need an MLT type resistor from 8 to 12 ohms. The dissipation power should be up to 0.75 W. Also select a suitable body from the automatic pen, copper wire with a cross section of 1 mm, a piece of steel wire 0.75 mm thick, a piece of textolite, a wire with heat-resistant insulation.

Before assembling this soldering iron with your own hands, remove the paint from the resistor body.

This is easily done with a knife or liquid with acetone. Now you can safely cut off one of the resistor leads. Where the cut was made, drill a hole and then process it with a countersink. The tip will be mounted there.

At the very beginning, the hole diameter can be 1 mm. After processing it with a countersink, the tip should not come into contact with the cup. It should be located in the resistor housing. Make a special groove on the outside of the cup. It will hold a current conductor, which will also hold the heater.

Now we make the board. It will consist of three small parts.

On the wide side, connect a steel current conductor to it; in the middle part, the housing from the handle will be fixed. The second remaining resistor terminal is installed on the narrow part.

Before using this tool, wrap the tip in a thin layer of insulating material. So simply and easily you got a low-power 40 W mini soldering iron.

Naturally, today serious and hot-air hair dryers are offered for professionals, but these devices are very expensive and are available only to professionals from service centers repair of computers, laptops and mobile devices. For the home handyman This equipment is not readily available due to its cost. We hope this article will tell you how to make a soldering iron with your own hands quickly and easily.

A soldering iron is an attribute of any radio amateur, from a professional to someone who has just started. Today you can find soldering irons or even soldering stations of any size on sale. But they all have one big drawback - they are quite rough and have a long distance from the end of the tip to the edge of the handle. Such dimensions are convenient when soldering large parts, but when working with small elements, such devices are inconvenient due to the fact that they are very heavy position. Having looked at the diagrams of miniature soldering irons on the Internet, I discovered that many of them have some design flaws: a non-replaceable tip, lack of grounding, and much more. So I decided to try to create more modernized“assistant” for a beginning radio amateur based on several instructions. The features of our future soldering iron include: a short distance from the end of the tip to the edge of the handle (~30–40 mm), handle diameter (~15 mm), the ability to replace the tip and heating elements (spare), ease of manufacture, which will not require any special knowledge.

Homemade miniature low-voltage soldering iron - drawing

An ordinary brush was used as a handle, which was previously sanded and varnished.
To secure the wires in the handle well, I used this homemade unit: I made a thread in a hollow rivet and glued it into the handle. Here you can easily fix the cable using a locking screw.
Next I moved on to making mounts for the heat shield. They were also made from hollow rivets, but with a smaller diameter. An M1.6 thread was created in them and the handles were glued into the holes.

The heating element was taken from an ordinary inexpensive Chinese soldering iron; after some manipulations with the dimensions, it fit our device perfectly.

This element has a power of 7 watts and a length of 6.5 mm. Power supply is provided by an adjustable power supply - from 0...18 Volts. In this case, the heating temperature can reach 280 degrees
An ordinary spring was glued into the back of the pen, which can be borrowed from an ordinary ballpoint pen. This part is necessary to protect the power cable from breaking.
The grounding and power wires are threaded into the cambric. A grounding socket is pressed into the main hole of the plug, which is intended for the cable, and power cables brought out through an additional hole.
As you can see in the picture, the resulting homemade miniature low-voltage soldering iron is barely the same size as an ordinary fountain pen.

Sometimes there are situations when the owner simply cannot do without a simple soldering iron. For example, you need a multi-core cable for an outlet, or from a burnt-out appliance. At such moments, you have to either borrow a tool or postpone the matter indefinitely. After all, not everyone wants to buy an expensive soldering iron or soldering station, unless he is a repairman. However, there is a simple way out of this situation - to assemble a small soldering iron yourself; it is just right for small work. The manufacturing process will not take much time and effort, but you will be able to save some money and gain invaluable experience. Next, we will tell you how to make a soldering iron with your own hands at home. You will be offered several designs, and you can choose the one that suits you best.

Idea No. 1 – Use a resistor

First and most simple technology manufacturing electric soldering iron do it yourself - using a powerful resistor. The device will be designed to operate at voltages from 6 to 24 Volts, which will allow it to be powered from various current sources, and even make a portable version powered by car battery. In order to make your own instrument, you will need the following materials:

To make your own soldering iron from a resistor at home, you must complete the following steps:

1. You need to drill a hole in the end of a thick copper rod and drive the thread under the screw using a tap. It is also necessary to cut a groove for the retainer, which in our case is the spring ring. This can be done using a triangular file or a hacksaw for metal.
   
   
2. From the second end, drill a hole with a diameter similar to that of a thin rod, which will act as the tip of a mini soldering iron.
3. All elements of the rod must be assembled into one whole, as shown in the photo.
   
4. The resistor is prepared for attaching the soldering iron tip, which must be inserted and secured at the back with a screw and washer.
   
5. From a textolite or plywood plate you need to make a comfortable handle with your own hands with a seat for a resistor and wire. To do this, use a jigsaw to cut out two identical halves of the handle and make holes and recesses for screws and nuts.
   
   
6. A power cord must be connected to the heater terminals. It must be screwed to ensure reliable contact.
   
7. The finished homemade soldering iron is twisted and tested.
   

We draw your attention to the fact that with such a portable gun you can easily solder microcircuits, even with your own hands. It can work not only from a power supply, but also from a battery. On the forums we came across many reviews where this option homemade products were connected from a 12 Volt cigarette lighter, this is also very convenient!

Please note that when first turned on, all soldering irons may smoke and stink for a while. This is normal for any model, as some elements burn out paint coating. This will stop later.

Video instructions for making a simple electrical appliance

Idea No. 2 – Second life for a ballpoint pen

There is another unusual one, but at the same time simple idea how to make a soldering iron with your own hands from scrap materials for soldering small parts or smd components. In this case, it will again be useful to us, but now not SEV (as in the previous version), but MLT, with a power of 0.5 to 2 Watts.

So, first you must prepare the following materials:

• Ballpoint pen of the simplest design.
• Resistor with characteristics: resistance 10 Ohm, power 0.5 W.
• Double-sided textolite.
• Copper wire with a diameter of 1 mm, you can wind it from an old inductor or buy a single-core copper wire insulated at an electrical store and carefully remove it with a stationery knife
• Steel or copper wire with a diameter of no more than 0.8 mm.
• Wires for connecting to the network.

Making a soldering iron from a pen at home is quite simple, you just need to follow these steps:

1. Remove the paint layer from the surface of the resistor. This operation can be carried out using sandpaper, a needle file or a file, or, in extreme cases, a knife. The main thing is not to overdo it, so as not to damage the resistor. If the paint is difficult to remove, connect the product to a regulated power source and heat it up a little.
2. There are 2 wires coming out of the barrel, cut one of them and drill a hole in this place for the copper wire (diameter 1 mm). To prevent the wire from coming into contact with the cup (this must be avoided), make a countersink with a thicker drill, as shown in the photo below. In addition, you need to make a small cut for the wire directly on the resistor cup. A triangular file will help you with this again.
   
3. Bend the steel wire into the shape of a handle with a fastening in the form of a ring, with a diameter similar to that of a drink on a cup. If you have copper wire, then you need to clamp the cup in it and twist it using pliers so that the contact is reliable, but do not overdo it, otherwise you will wrinkle the body. Remember that the wire must be without varnish insulation.
   
4. Carefully cut out a board from a double-sided PCB with your own hands, exactly the same as shown in the example in the photo. It is not necessary to buy exactly new leaf textolite. You can use a jigsaw to cut out a suitable piece from any unnecessary double-sided board. Or do without it altogether: twist the wire with wires and attach them to the handle using superglue. The main thing you need to pay attention to is that the distance between the heating element and the handle is more than 5 cm, otherwise the plastic may melt.
   
   
5. Next, you need to assemble a homemade soldering iron from a handle, which should not cause any difficulties.
   
6. All that remains is to install the thin tip into the seat. To prevent the copper wire from burning through the resistor, you need to do protective layer from a piece of mica or ceramic between the back wall and the tip.
   
7. The last thing you need to do is connect the homemade product to a 1 A power supply and a voltage of no more than 15 Volts using wires.
   

That's the whole technology for creating a homemade mini soldering iron at home. As you can see, there is nothing complicated in making this tool, and you can easily cope with it, and all the materials can be found at home by disassembling old equipment or looking for them in bins.

How to make a more complex model of a mini soldering iron at home?

Video review of a device with nichrome wire operating on 12 Volts

Idea #3 – Powerful impulse model

This option is suitable for those who are already more or less familiar with radio engineering and know how to read the corresponding diagrams. A master class on making a homemade pulse soldering iron will be provided following the example of this diagram:

Advantage of this instrument The point is that the tip heats up within 5 seconds after turning on the power, and the heated rod can easily melt tin. At the same time, it can be made from pulse block lamp power daylight, slightly improving the board at home.

As in previous examples, we will first consider the materials from which you can make a soldering iron with your own hands at home. Before assembly, you must prepare the following available tools:

All you need is to connect the tip to the secondary winding, which, in fact, is already part of it. After this, one of the ballast terminals must be connected to the primary winding of the transformer and all circuit elements must be secured in a reliable housing that will protect you from accidental damage electric shock, since the circuit contains a life-threatening voltage of 220 volts!

The principle of operation of this design is that the ballast from the lamp creates an alternating voltage, which is supplied to the primary winding of the transformer and is reduced to low values, while the current increases many times. One turn, which is essentially the tip of the soldering iron, acts as a resistor through which heat is dissipated. When you press the button, current is supplied to the circuit, and rapid heating occurs; after the button is released, the tip quickly cools, which is very convenient, since you do not need to wait long for the instrument to heat up and cool down.

Portable homemade USB soldering iron. Convenient and compact DIY soldering iron, powered by USB. Heats up and cools down quickly. Solder wherever you want by connecting a power bank.

Nowadays there are a lot of different homemade soldering irons. I decided to do something average, simple in execution and take the best of the homemade products I looked at.

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

To make a homemade product we will need:

1. Wood 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 (longer is possible);
3. Nichrome wire 7cm long (taken from an old soldering iron);
4. A bolt or self-tapping screw with a flat head (you can add a washer);
5. Switch;
6. 2 thin wires (I took 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 a bolt or self-tapping screw.

Making a soldering iron

The first step is to prepare the block. Adjust the length so that it is comfortable to hold, grind off the corners.

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

We take a nichrome wire 7cm long and wind it in a spiral (more tightly, but so as not to touch each other) onto the straight end copper wire, leaving workplace for soldering. I took the photo in the article when I didn’t have fiberglass on hand. Keep in mind that there must be insulation, although everything worked fine for me without it.

We screw two copper wires to nichrome wire as shown in the photo.

Glue the switch to the block, solder the wires to the switch and wrap the bottom of the block with electrical tape to secure the wires.

We tape the wire to the block with electrical tape and that’s it.

Let's start the soldering iron test.