The new Weller BP860MP cordless soldering iron is now available at All-Spec. Recently we received notice from Weller’s newsletter that this new soldering iron is being introduced to perhaps “out do” its older brother the BP645MP. Feautures of the BP860MP include:
- More dual heat settings power than the BP645MP
- Temperature range: 850° F/950° F
- An LED worklight, and more
- Heats up to work settings in less than 15 seconds
Update: Looking for more power? Try a butane soldering iron!
This is a piece of crap.
I never used anyting as bad in my life.
My fingers cramped from having to push down the button and it just never got hot enough to solder well.
Compared to this pos, cheapo radioshack iron is a godsend.
Dear Ano, thanks for your input. Your truthful review may be valuable to others. We hope you check back to read more product reviews.
It’s true what Ano sayed.
I have this soldering unit and is the worst product I haved in my electronic life.
Very hard to maintain the finger pushing the button, the temperature is not enough to get in liquid mode the solder. Just make the solder looks like a gum. HORRIBLE PRODUCT!
Please don’t buy this and any other cordless soldering iron.
Medina,
Thanks for the comment. I’ll check with one of our customer service reps to see if your complaint is common with the BP860MP.
i should have read the reviews before i bought the weller bp860mp. the other reviews are correct; it doesn’t not get hot enough to melt the solder, nor does it provide enough heat to establish an adequate flow onto your work. i will be returning this to the store where i bought it for a refund.
Thanks for your comment Jimmy. If you are looking to get another cordless soldering iron, try a butane iron.
Not as bad as the other posters say. The tip doesn’t have enough mass to solder heavy items that would act as a heat sink, for example cabling. But for soldering components into a circuit board, it works fine. You have to let the tip get to full heat. Just holding the button down until it can melt some solder isn’t long enough; you have to keep it turned on until the tip melts solder, then keep the button pressed down for about 5 more seconds after that. Then it’s hot enough to solder (small) items.
This is all you can expect from 4.5 volts. Perhaps making the tip a little heavier would help, although it would make it take longer to heat; might lead to more complaints.
The quality is ok, it’s just the realities of physics that make this a limited tool.
Thanks for clarifying things gearhead!
I thought this would be a better product – four AA cells (vs. 3) would provide slightly more energy and be more convenient for 4-cell recharger, however, very disappointed in the Weller BP680MP – same complaints as others (poor button control ergonomics, slow tip heating, intermittent tip/body contact, poor heat level for all but the very smallest of tasks). The funky “RCA-style” connector joining the tip and body was very poorly chosen and implemented (perhaps poor contact in the outer “shield” I’ve found could have been improved with threads at that point.)
This little unit works great for leaded solder. It liquefies and flows well. I find it useful for doing SMD work. If you are trying to solder the lead-free junk, forget about it. There just aren’t many irons out there that are up to the task. My 140Watt Weller gun barely melts the newer stuff in consumer electronics.
@Paul – Thanks for clarifying with leaded and lead-free solder. That tip is really helpful!
this thing is the biggest piece of garbage i have ever bought or seen. it is the soldering iron equivilent of the ford edsel. i bought it to repair a damaged volume pot on my guitar and it doesent even melt the solder. further more what were they thinking with that stuipid push button activation??? your hand gets tired before the thing gets hot. and who are they trying to fool? 15 seconds-more like 15 minuits, and yes my batteries were brand new. words can not describe how dissapointed i was,am, will continue to be. so dear weller please fire the person or persons involved in making this and selling it to unknowing consumers.
Bought one of these 8 or 9 months ago and never tried to use it till today. It did not work, so I did a search and found out about the RCA type plug for the tip. Pulled it out and it looked clean, plugged it back in and twisted it several times and it worked. I had already finished the job with another iron so can’t tell how good it solders.
I am very disappointed with this product, I figure with it coming from Weller it would be very nice. I have enjoyed using weller products in the past and have had no problems, but this just doesn’t get hot enough to do anything. I even taped the button down for 5 minutes to try to get it to heat up enough and it would melt solder from the roll, but not on circut boards or wires. Now I have to go out and buy another soldering iron, I think I will stick to a cord, or atleast butane.
IMPORTANT: If you are techy enough, this iron can be made into a pretty fine tool. THE FIX: I dismanteled the iron and hardwired the electrinics of the unit, straight through the push button switch which leaves the unit on, anytime the off/low/hi slider switch is positioned to the low/hi possition and off when the slider switch is in the off setting.The iron now “ROCKS above my expectations”. It only took about an hr and re-assemlbly is a little tricky, but I assure you folks that this fix, will give you complete satisfction. GOOD LUCK!!!
FIX: IMPORTANT !!! If you dis-mantle the Weller unit and hardwire the power wire, straight through the push button switch, which will leave the push button switch useless, then the unit will perform “ABOVE YOUR EXPECTATIONS”. The slider switch is then used to power the unit, off and on and to the low and hi settings. I did this and it works better than any battery powered cordless iron that I have EVER used. Takes about an hour if you are techy and will be well worth your investment in the time and tool. GOOD LUCK!!!
the1fatman
The unit is junk. I bought one of these, and it’s the biggest POS iron ever. It will not melt lead or no-lead solder if it is not from the roll. It you are from the roll, it doesn’t get the solder hot enough to make a good, permanent stick. Save your money, and don’t buy this POS.
Butane is so 20th century.. why isn’t there a mobile soldering station with a rechargeable battery like mobile computers have?
My netbook has a 6 cell Li-Ion battery with 7.8Ah @ 11.3V.. that’s roughly 80Wh. Just take 7 such cells @ 3.6V each and you got 24V/2.4Ah (PES51 is rated at 50W@24V)
I can’t see the point of having to hold the energy-cells during soldering all the time – thus these actual battery driven tools are so lousy – you can’t put the needed energy into it as they would get to heavy.
So make it corded.. you can even reuse the already existing soldering pencils like a PES51.
If I had the time I would dismantle a WES51 and mod it with some Li-Ion cells for mobile use..
Damn industry, get going!
The first one to have this in his stock will sell AMOUNTS.
correction.. the 7.8Ah are for 9-cell batteries..
6-cell batteries have roughly 50Wh
I would have to agree with everything I just read. This was my first soldering iron and I was so excited to get started. I thought I was totally ignorant and totally frustrated after trying to use this thing. Now I see it was the iron.
This iron is a total piece of junk. I was worried getting a cordless. My suspicions were dead on. Complete junk. Yes, the push button is a engineering goof. But the thing just doesn’t heat up to do the most basic of guitar work. Throwing this POS in the trash. BTW-Thanks for the advice Fatman, but it not my job to fix something that should have been made right in the first place. It is Weller’s job to hire competent engineers.
Does not work using low temp soder for a small project the iron takes 50 seconds to heat up not 15 on the highest setting the soder cools too fast and the tip can not stay hot forcing to hold the tip to the side to keep in warm between welds hurling you hands. Worked for four times (only two capacitors) before it could not keep the soder hot enough to weld total piece of crap
i am a 11 year old kid the weller cordless sucks . i hat it so much
i got to solder i resistor and that was it. my solder would never melt. too bad i cant return it. but i tell everyone not to buy this
Do I have anything good to say about this iron? No…I wish I hadn’t purchased it…will now look to see if I can get my money back…
Well, I was going to purchase this iron, but after reading the above complaints, I did some research… and I discovered that the Weller WSM1C is a 50 watt BATTERY operated (Li-ion) unit.
… So, Joan ~ I guess Weller was listening to your suggestion after all !
See, YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7qzlvWLPUM&feature=related
Also, ck this out- All-Spec Industries is now stocking the WSM1C:
http://www.all-spec.com/products/WSM1C.html
The Weller WSM1C station, may be a 40 Watt unit, as opposed to the 50W that I first thought it was… but for $500 buckaroos, what do you want…. motion sensing operation /standby feature? OK, will throw that in too, if that will make you happy!
* Rechargeable battery for mobile, cordless service
* Can solder up to 1 hour off of lithium-ion battery, and recharges in 20 minutes
* Special function for customized settings such as auto-off, setback timer, offset,°F/°C, and temperature lockout
* Motion sensor technology initiates power to the pencil after the setback period
Integrated, ergonomically designed 40W micro-soldering pencil
– HAPPY NOW?
Works great! I use it exclusively on my model railroad wiring and HO decoders,circuit boards also.If you ask more than what the package says it will disappoint so go to your next bigger iron that is not as nimble.If the button bothers you put a wire tie on it or a piece of tape.
Junk. Supposed to be capable of reaching 950 degrees. I held it on for over 2 minutes and tested it over and over at close range (almost touching sometimes) with my temperature gun. Highest reading I could get was 137 degrees.
Just bought the Weller BP 850 model. It is bloody awful. Does not work, does not get hot enough to hold the repair and is a complete waste of money. I’d return it but the packaging has to be completely destroyed to unpack the thing. Don ‘t buy this product. It should be removed from sale.
Hello Frustrated,
I am sorry to hear that you have this problem. Unfortunately it seems the Weller BP860 is not something that fits your needs, as it is only meant for soldering very small wires. This wireless soldering iron can only get 8-11 watts of power, which cannot be used on any medium to heavy load applications. If you need a cordless solution for medium load projects then the WSM1C would be your best bet. However, you must keep in mind that it still is only 40 watts, which limits it to light to medium load work.
We checked our history and this wasn’t an item you purchased from All-Spec, but after speaking with the manufacturer we have confirmed they will accept it back. You need to contact whoever sold you your iron and have them talk to Weller about accepting your return, as the iron does not fit your needs. If the iron was recently bought then Weller typically will help you in a situation like as this, even with the packaging damaged. Again, I am sorry for your troubles with the iron, and if you would like to discuss other options to fit your needs, please give us a call at 800-537-0351.
Piece of Shit. 4 sets of batteries and I hold tip in one hand, press button with other hand. I would bet $1000.00 that I can hold the tip for the alleged 180 solders. NO MORE CHINA WELLER. hey them LED lights work good. Stabbing flashlight???
I carried this to work hoping to have something . It is junk. I’ve always used Weller produces. not anymore. I’m smashing this with a hammer from snap on