Soldering Iron Powered By Phone Charger

[Thayne]

I want to hook two, 5V~ (output) phone chargers in series to get 12V~ to power a soldering iron I am making. I searched this online, but not too satisfied with what I came across. A lot of the posts of advice were by people super concerned about exact voltages and amps. I know I can power the iron with a single 5V charger, but I would like the extra power. I don't need to worry too much about frying the device as it is just copper and steel. I guess my only concern is that the electronics of the charges do not get fried.

Thanks!

 

[barry]

I guess my only concern is that the electronics of the charges do not get fried.

Well, yeah. MAYBE you could get 10 watts out of a phone charger. A 10 watt soldering iron is going to be pretty useless.

1) Why are you making a soldering iron?
2) Why do you want to use phone chargers?

 

[Thayne]

There are lots of "how to" videos on YouTube making 12V soldering irons. I don't have any 12V chargers and I don't have any 12V batteries, but I think 10V will work for me.

I am making the soldering iron to solder small projects like LED lights, speaker wires, and other small projects like that.

I don't really want to make it with the phone charges, but I have over 20 of them sitting in a box collecting dust.

Thanks.

 

[KlausST]

Hi,

I am making the soldering iron to solder small projects like LED lights, speaker wires,

Speaker wires need a lot of power...because copper has good thermal conductivity and thus spreads the heat...A challenge for a low to medium power soldering iron...

But this has to do with watts, volts and amperes... I just recognized you don´t want to spend your time with these values.

***
Back to your question.
In short I can´t help you. This is because a "true" charger usually has no constant output voltage and it controls it´s current according the battery voltage.
But there are so called "chargers" with USB connectors. Indeed this are no true chargers, they are more or less 5V power supplies (except the "USB-PD" devices which can supply up to 20V and 5A) .. often with included current limitation (polyfuse?).

But whether you may connect them in series - nobody of us can tell - without knowing the detailed working principle of the used "chargers".
Imagine:
Two of your 5V chargers in series in series will give 10V.
But as soon as one charger goes in current_limit_state, then the other charger tries (with reversed voltage) to push electrical energy into it.
Nobody can tell how the charger will react on this "reverse energy input".

Klaus

 

[Thayne]

I just want to make something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mROyl0xjT_4

I appreciate help. Thank you.

 

[barry]

I just want to make something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mROyl0xjT_4

I appreciate help. Thank you.

That guy just used a SOLDERING IRON to make a SOLDERING IRON. (And the soldering iron he used had the most uncared for tip on it that I've ever seen.)

But still. USB 3 (NOT A PHONE CHARGER) can supply up to 3A at 5V. I seriously doubt that a 15W soldering iron is going to be good for much of anything, other than maybe setting fire to that crummy piece of wood that he used for a handle.

 

[Thayne]

I think I should add here that I live in a remote area in Brazil. I am not kidding. There are no soldering irons here. There are no stores, no UPS, FedEx, post office, just a small market. There is no Lowe's or Home Depot. There is an agriculture store that sells poison, chickens and bamboo for fishing poles. The other week, I needed a 9V battery and the store told me it was a specialty battery and there are none. It took a month and a half to get the battery (that's when I flew back to the USA for business).

Trust me, I don't want to make a soldering iron like this. If anyone has any suggestions on how I can make a soldering iron out of random electronic parts, I am wide open to suggestions. Luckily, the showers here are built like hair dryers, with water that pours through them heating the water, because now I have a bunch of nichrome wire. The guy at the store even has more, because everyone in all of Brazil has these shower heads -- it is not a specialty item.

Thanks!

 

[barry]

I'm going to build a self-heating shower head! I always thought that was a good idea (other than the intrinsic electrocution danger).

But seriously, you still have the problem of soldering your soldering iron, per the video. But you could also crimp the connections. As others have pointed out, I don't think a charger will work. Maybe an old wall wart or two?

 

[AbleMan]

I'm going to build a self-heating shower head! I always thought that was a good idea (other than the intrinsic electrocution danger).

But seriously, you still have the problem of soldering your soldering iron, per the video. But you could also crimp the connections. As others have pointed out, I don't think a charger will work. Maybe an old wall wart or two?

Hi,

it is better to use 12v SMP to power the DC soldering iron than using a 5v phone charger. and the element of the soldering iron MUST be 12v.

 

[BradtheRad]

Is your nichrome wire thin gauge? There could be a combination of volts and amps you can apply to an inch long piece, so it gets hot enough to melt solder. I don't think you want 5V@ 1A, but maybe 1V@ 5A. The nichrome has low ohm resistance.

You need screw terminals because nichrome does not take solder. Nichrome tends to break after heating it red-hot a few times, so experimentation will be needed.

- - - Updated - - -

And a few times I have heated parts with a candle or propane torch. You could hold a nail in a flame until it is red hot, then touch it to your work just like it's a soldering iron. Again it's merely an idea for experimentation.

 

[Kajunbee]

If you could get your hands on a computer that's headed to the dumpster you might possibly salvage a power supply. But I imagine thoughs aren't laying everywhere either.

 

[Thayne]

I have the nichrome from a broken soldering iron (AC) someone gave me here. It is very thin, like hair, and very long (if unwound). I also have the nichrome from a broken shower head (also AC). It is about 16 gauge I think. I unwound the coil and it is about 15-20 feet? I didn't measure it. I re-wound it around a 4x4 piece of wood. I was planning to plug it into an outlet to see if it lights up like a toaster. I live on the edge a little bit, but...

Funny, I have three, computer power supplies that I picked out of the garbage here (probably from the only computers in this place). Unfortunately, they are trashed. I kept them for the parts.

Do you guys think I can wire the shower coil directly to the AC from the house?

The coils in the showers hard wired right into the house electrical, so I don't see why not. (Some people even use the shower coils to heat water in kettles to make tea and coffee.) The coils look like this:

https://produto.mercadolivre.com.br...istncias-chuveiro-lorenzetti-5400w-220v-_JM#D[S:ADV,L:VQCATCORE_LST,V:1,I:Nlcy1kaXNwYXRjaGVyLTY4fC0yNTU2NjE3Njk0MjgwODk5NjA1,C:0.570000]



The shower heads:

https://lista.mercadolivre.com.br/chuveiro#D[A:chuveiro]


Thanks!

 

[AbleMan]

No you cannot wire the shower coil directly to the AC from the house.
1. you wound it around a 4x4 piece of wood which will burn the wood and the wire.
2. The resistance of the wire will be too low to withstand the AC supply

 

[Kajunbee]

When the coil is in shower head it has water pulling the heat off. And it also has thermal switches to cycle it on and off. Would not last long in free air I'm afraid. I really can't imagine these coils are directly immersed in water though. Water heater elements usually have a shield tube over the wire.

 

[Thayne]

When the coil is in shower head it has water pulling the heat off. And it also has thermal switches to cycle it on and off. Would not last long in free air I'm afraid. I really can't imagine these coils are directly immersed in water though. Water heater elements usually have a shield tube over the wire.

No shields are on these wires. The water goes right over them. The water is what turns them on (makes the connection -- the water is the switch). The more water that passes over the coils, the cooler the water gets. That is how you control the temperature. The crazy part is, no one grounds the shower heads. The ground wire is always hanging out.

I opened at least 5-6 of them since I moved here and never saw any thermal switches inside. I have an extra one. Tomorrow, I'll take a picture of the inside and post it.

Thanks

 

[BradtheRad]

As a comparison this coil heats water in a mug, powered from 12V @ 120W. (Cost 1-2 dollars on Ebay.) I had a similar one powered by house voltage, that developed a hole, allowing me to see the red glowing element inside. Deciding it was a hazard I bought a new one.

 

[Thayne]

That's basically it, except the shower has the coil directly touching the water.

Here is a video showing it:

https://youtu.be/2rpUxGfKWp0?t=48

I fast forward 1 minute to where he pulls the coils out (you can start at 0 if you like).

After seeing the video, you will see why I was thinking to plug the coil I have directly into the outlet. But like Kajunbee said, "When the coil is in shower head it has water pulling the heat off". Without the water, I do not know what will happen to the coil. Maybe it lasts as long as a toaster? Maybe it burns out in a couple minutes? Maybe I will make the soldering iron liquid cooled? Use the hot water to make coffee while soldering.

 

[Thayne]

It is impossible to make a soldering iron with a 5V 2A phone charger. I am 100% convinced all the videos on YouTube are fake.

 

[d123]

Hi,

The numbers just don't seem to look viable, do they? 2 x 5 just can't make > 30W, can it? (If so, tell me how.) Free energy and all that. Do you have access to something like a motorbike battery and the vague possibility of buying a switching IC or salvaging something from some device or other? I don't see why a real soldering iron connected to a step-up circuit like that would be dangerous with a fuse.

I think to be honest with you, by the theme of the thread, and I am loathe to say this, unless a vitally urgent need and the A-Team are in your area, it may be best to unfortunately tolerate a temporary defeat on this one (I empathise) until you can get back to "civilisation" or a friend/family/acquaintance can visit you and bring a soldering iron (and some kind of suitable power supply - which shouldn't be necessary for a normal AC plug-in soldering iron). Another option is a car battery, a portable inverter, some kind of protection circuitry/device if need be, and the soldering iron.

 

[Thayne]

I got a condo in a high-rise in Salvador, five minute walk to the beach. I bought a 30W iron (only kind they have in the entire city) yesterday to celebrate. Problem solved.