As I am sure many of you reading this know, we’ve proven to make the best cordless soldering iron. Many of you also know that we do what we can to make you the best soldering iron available. From hand making cordless irons and tips here in America to testing absolutely every tip we send out. We here at Iso-Tip strive for perfection. Yet, a review from grayfurnaceman on YouTube raised a question that many people ask, why doesn’t Iso-Tip make use of an LED soldering iron bulb? That brings us to the question at hand. Why use an incandescent soldering iron bulb with all of the benefits of an LED bulb? The answer is kind of simple yet some of you may question it. The cost efficiency just isn’t there. The cost of a micro LED soldering iron bulb is significantly higher than just a simple incandescent.
Click here to purchase our standard replacement bulb!
LED Soldering Iron Bulb Options
We had a couple of choices when it came to our bulb choices. We chose rather than passing on the price to you, we have left the decision up to you. For many of our customers the incandescent does the job well enough. Many people are using our iron in places with more than adequate ambient light. So rather than charge every customer for the LED soldering iron bulb we placed the ball in you court. Finding an Led replacement is easy and we have the instructions on how to convert to an LED soldering iron bulb. You can find that video here. But we want to let you choose if that is something you need and would like to spend the money on.
We are currently working toward an all new model of portable soldering iron designed to become the best of the best. The industry standard of portable soldering irons. With a beefed up battery and a LED bulb this Iron will last longer, work stronger and shine brighter. Making this better than any other iron on the market. While still in development we hope that this iron will be come the flagship of the Iso-Tip portable soldering iron line.
If you would like to watch grayfurnaceman’s full product review it is posted below. In his review he states the soldering iron is a “neat little tool” and one that can be taken out to solder where there is no power. Thanks grayfurnaceman for a great review.
For more information about the Iso-Tip soldering irons, click here to visit our online store.
My bulb went out and I need a new one. Where can I get one?
Hi Larry. You can purchase a replacement bulb directly in our shop, part #1168-001. I am going to give you a heads up, you will be paying more for shipping then the part itself. The best way to ship this is USPS Priority mail small box. This is a fixed rate for whatever can fit into that box, so I typically recommend customers to purchase tips, batteries, etc. if you feel you will need any of these components in the near future. Here’s a link to the product page.
Thanks Larry!
Hi I purchased a battery powered soldering unit several months ago from a promo you were running ( the 7700 series I believe) at a very cheap price but never received the unit. I did receive the receipt where the money was taken from my credit card and confirmation that the unit was shipped but now several months later nothing has ever arrived.
Dear Mr. Cooper,
Iso-Tip would like to extend our apologizes. It seems that there was a Website Error, this was not a promotional deal, it was a website test that was not suppose to be open to the public. We are sorry but we are unable to sell this product at this cost, your .01 cent has been refunded.
To make up for your inconvenience, we would like to offer you this product the 7904 soldering iron, at a discounted price of $54.96 with shipping cost included. Regularly priced $71.25 plus shipping. Again our apologizes
I thought you would like to know that I still use an Iso-Tip iron bought nearly 40 years ago when I was a student. I have just changed the ni-cd pack for probably the 3rd time (not complaining), and I have changed the tip. I have occasionally used gas-powered irons (hard to control heat) and AA-cell powered ones (feeble heating) but the Iso Tip cannot be beaten for convenience. Brilliant design – my only suggested upgrade would be to go for lithium cell power for lower self-discharge.
While NiCd batteries may be considered outdated when it comes to lithium and even NiMh batteries, they’re still capable of pumping out an ENORMOUS amount of current (we’re talking 20 amps here), which is why they’re still being used. They’re extremely cost-effective too, and very rugged. If you switched to lithium, it would take far longer to heat up, and would require much more fiddly circuitry inside to regulate the power output and charging. Not to mention the cost of all those changes would make it astronomically more expensive, and it would seriously cut down on the user-serviceability. As the saying goes: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
I have two of the model S1 cordless soldering irons. unfortunately the charging wall wart has died. Is there in existence a replacement wall wart charger or a charging station that will work. If not, can you let me know what I need to create my own charging system?
White LEDs require 3 volts. The isotip battery is 2 x1.2 volt NiCd’s for 2.4 volts. There is not enough voltage to run an LED.That is the real reason they are using an incandescent. LEDs cost pennies, a lot less than an incandescent bulb and a socket.
I bought a used 7700 from a guy I know and I’m dying to try it I charge it with a 1.8 volt AC adapter and everything seems to be working but it’s not getting hot smoke came off it twice now it didn’t come with the screws to tighten down the tip and didn’t come with a tip. I’ve tried making my own with heavy guage copper wire and I tried just running some nichrome wire into the holes for the tip the light lights up unless I use a single piece of copper wire from hole to hole like the tip on a gun if I do that if doesn’t light. Everything looks good inside any idea why it doesn’t work?
My #222 incandescent bulb in an unusual bayonet base burnt out after only 45 minutes of use. I question why you would use that bulb with a 3.6 volt lithium battery in my new 8000 which had to be sent back and rebuilt immediately upon receipt. The #222 would be an ok choice if it did not burn out so easily since it is a 2.25v bulb but all your previous version irons (which I have 3 of the originals -red, orange, and gray -used the screw base for the #222 bulb. I can find the bayonet base 222 lamp only from you (and Newark and some scalpers on Amazon and others).