Toolmonger reader Russell Jones, a mechanical engineering student at the College of New Jersey, took the time to review his new Weller digital solder station.  His verdict: it’s a quality piece of gear for high-end hobbyists and pros — especially if you’re planning on doing any surface-mount work.  Russell also found a $20 rebate from Weller — that’s still available – which brings the station’s price down to $110 or less.  That’s the best deal we’ve seen on it to date.

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Weller announced yesterday the release of two new 80W/24V products desgined to work with their exising power supplies: the WHP80 preheating plate (pictured) and the WSB 80 solder bath.

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I came across Markertek when I was looking to purchase some high-quality XLR connectors for a portable recording rig.  They’re target market is TV and radio stations, but they sell to anyone.  A friend turned me on to them, and I’ve ordered connectors, wire, and such from them a couple of times with good results.  They shipped on time and packaged everything surprisingly well.

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We met these guys at Maker Faire, and finally had the chance to check out their website now that we’re back.  They’ve got all kinds of great stuff, ranging from iPod connectors and breakout boards to electronic components and microprocessors — including all sorts of stuff you’ll never find at your local shop.

At Maker Faire they brought a picture frame Tetris game they built using various components they sell.  It used 16 microcontrollers, 720 LEDs, and 1,300 lines of code, and it worked — as you can see from the video above.

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We have a little cheapie code scanner — actually a couple of them — around the Toolmonger shop, but we aspire to one day pick up a serious unit, like Snap-on’s Ethos.  It’s the real deal, not only handling the standard OBDII codes, but reading pretty much anything a post 1980 car can send.

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Everyone knows to use a soldering iron to make electrical connections, but what to do when they go wrong and you want to start over? That’s when you need a desoldering pump — a small, spring-loaded pump that, when released, quickly vacuums up solder that you’ve softened with your iron. (Of course, we always called ‘em “solder suckers.”)

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If you visit Cyberguys.com and enter the keycode INFRARED today you can get this Infrared Thermometer for $30 (regularly $70).  It measures in both Celsius and Fahrenheit with a temperature range of -4 to 608˚F.  We can’t begin to tell you how handy these are to have around.  We’ve used them for everything from checking grill temperator to determining how much water’s in a steel barrel.

Non-contact Infrared Thermometer [Cyberguys]
Infrared Thermometers [Google Product Search]

From Sears’ weekly circular: a Digital Multi-meter (#82140) with an AC voltage detector (#82174) for $12 – 50% off the regular price.  The multi-meter measures both AC and DC voltage, current, resistance, diodes, and continuity.  It’s also fuse protected, and it comes with two additional fuses.  The AC voltage detector lights up when exposed to 120 or 240V at 50 or 60 Hz.

Multi-Meter and AC Detector [Sears]

Here’s another Toolmonger item from way back that’s a good deal right now: Meritline has the Kill-A-Watt listed for $20 right now — about $2-$3 cheaper than normal – and while we did find it for $18 from one other mail-order-only shop, Meritline beats ‘em out on shipping. 

The Kill-A-Watt not only shows you the voltage and frequency that the power company is delivering to you, it also shows you how much power the appliance it’s connected to is drawing.  It’s a kick-ass (and inexpensive) way to “energy audit” your home, and I’ll bet we all have older power tools around that draw power just from being left plugged in or left in standby mode.  With the Kill-A-Watt we can know.  

The Kill-A-Watt [P3 International]
Kill-A-Watt Model P4400 for $20 [Meritline]
Street Pricing [Froogle]
Via Amazon [What’s this?]

Following last week’s $10 mini-multimeter deal, Sizod sent us this clamp-style for just $12.  From the online description:

“This electrician’s digital multimeter comes with an amperage measuring clamp.  Simply clamp it on one of the wires of a device and it will measure the amount of power being used.”

Other features:

• 500V insulation
• Diode test
• Double-insulated leads
• Resistance: 200k, 20k, 2M ohms
• DC V: 0-1000V
• AC V: 0-750V
• AC Amps: 20-200-1000A

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Sizod writes: “I have to admit that I don’t know much about them of if this is a killer deal or not, but a handheld 10 MHz oscilloscope for $210 seems like a good deal.”

If nothing else, this looks like it’d be handy as hell to have around — the portability factor is high.

What do you electronics wizards say?  Deal or no deal?

Velleman 10 MHz Handheld Oscilloscope [TechToolSupply.com]

Update: Well, it looks like at least someone thought it was a deal — they’re now out of stock.  Keep an eye out for the restock.

Update #2: Looks like there are better deals about.  Mike comments: “Starts at $129 at this site.”  And it’s in stock as of right now.

Sizod writes: “There’s no excuse not to own one now; they’re $9.99 at Sears.”

From Sears.com:

“Craftsman digital mini multimeter. Functions include continuity and diode tests. Measures AC/DC Voltage with 0.5 percent basic DC accuracy. Also measures resistance. Includes Type K thermometer; allows for surface or air temperature measurements. Display is a backlit, extra large 2000 count LCD screen. Also features fuse-protected current input jacks, battery test, tilt stand and a molded rubber holster. Includes test leads and temp. thermocouple. Category II - 600 volt.”

This looks pretty darn useful for the price.  I actually have a multimeter, but at this price I might just pick up another.

Craftsman Digital Mini-Multimeter [Sears]

Eli’s a long-time friend of Toolmonger, and comments pretty regularly hereabouts.  He’s moving to Austrailia soon, and finds himself in a bit of a fix regarding all his beloved power tools, both corded and cordless.

He writes: “Since RIDGID doesn’t make an Oz voltage charger, I’ve checked the Australian site of a certain online bidding service and come to the realization that tools are really pricey there.  It might make sense after all to bring ALL of my tools with me when we move there, even with the hassle of having to use special converters. I’m pretty sure they are 240 volts @ 50 cycles, and we are 120 volts @ 60 cycles.”

“So I’ve been looking at step down transformers, and working out all the wattage of my tools.  I thought maybe there was an electrical engineer or Australian ‘Monger among us that could help me determine safe working loads for the different stuff.  For example, my Makita power planer is 4 amps, which as I understand it translates to about 440 watts (amps x current=watts).  But I’m wondering how high a wattage transformer I should have for safety under load.  A grinder or any saw or a thickness planer would all be different under load.  I don’t mind buying several and hard mounting them right to the tool itself for the big ones, and keeping it with a U.S. extension cord in a bucket or something for the hand tools.”

We’ve contacted some of the manufacturers to see about conversion kits with no luck, but we wondered if some of you might have ideas for alternate solutions to the problem.  To help out, we’ll kick out a Black & Decker AutoWrench to a single commenter of Eli’s selection in this comment thread.  (And if you don’t care about the AutoWrench, we’d appreciate it if you’d offer your wisdom anyway.  Remember, we Toolmongers have to take care of our own!)

Rick writes: “It’s amazing how critical it is to have the right tool for the job.  I recently upgraded my cell phone which had seen better days, but I kept it around as a spare since my wife has the same phone.  Well, her screen flaked out and I decided to salvage some parts from mine since my screen was fine.  When I tried to take it apart to get at the parts – despite having a 100 piece security bit set for electronics – I just didn’t have the Torx T-6 driver I needed.  So, I took a look to see what Home Depot had.  I came across this little number.”

“It has room in the handle underneath the swivel cap for three bits, while the other stays in the tool.  It worked great, and just goes to show that when you’re talking about stuff like that, you need the right tool.  It’s not like taking a switchplate off a light switch where you can use a butter knife in a pinch – or a phillips screw where you probably have phillips bits showing up everywhere you look.  There’s just no way to try and fit a T-8 driver into a T-6 screw.  In any case, now I’m confident that the next time I need to take apart a phone, I’ve got the right tools for the job.”

“At $5.97 it’s well worth it to have the right tool.  I think just to have a nice matching set I may have to go back and get their standard slotted/phillips precision driver that looks just like this.”

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Based on a Toolmonger comment we read a while back, we decided to pick up a set of Irwin’s (semi-)new self-adjusting wire strippers, so we thought we’d give you a look at ‘em as well.  In short: They rock.  They’ve quickly become the wire stripper of choice in the TM shop.

Read on past the jump for our hands-on experience and some detail pictures.

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Deal King Sizod writes: “I wish I’d found these $2.42 cutter/strippers before I bought the $20 at home depot.  It’s made of hardened steel, and the stripper has a plier nose and cutters.  It strips fiber jackets and 10-20 gauge wire.  They’re spring-loaded with a locking mechanism to keep ‘em shut when not in use.”

Wire Cutter/Stripper [MilesTek]

Some months back when Chuck mentioned a Storehouse brand assortment of crimp terminals, I commented that this was one place you really didn’t want to skimp on quality.  We all agreed this would be a good subject to test emperically, and I finally found the time to jump in and give it a shot. 

What follows is a test of three brands: Calterm (found at the local auto parts store), Storehouse (the Harbor Freight house brand), and some ETC terminals (which I can’t seem to find online) that I had in my toolbox from a previous job. 

The conclusion won’t surprise you, but there’s a twist that might.  Read past the jump for the skinny – plus oodles of pictures.

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