I recently purchased a Weller WPA2 Pyropen Professional Self-Igniting Cordless Butane Soldering Iron from Amazon for $142:



Bottom line: It is perfect. It heats quickly and cools quickly. (Kind of like how chefs like to cook on a gas burner rather than on an electric burner because it takes an electric burner longer to get up to heat and longer to lose heat while gas heat goes on, up, down, or off quicker and is more easy to adjust.) It is now my go to iron.

There on is a vent on the tip holder (not pictured) to vent the gas fumes (clean burning clear butane). I used that vent to shrink heatshrink tubing. Not as quickly as a Milwaukee 1200w Heat Gun, but good enough for one stop shopping outdoor work! Apparently there is also an optional heat shrink air tip, which replaces the soldering tip, which I have no doubt would shrink tube quickly.

But I will likely use this gun indoors for everything but circuit board work. It is that good. And when you put it down on the bench, it doesn't pivot and burn other stuff on your bench like a corded iron or gun does when the cord is pulled by gravity. And you can even put its sheath on after you have turned off the flame, the sheath is vented and designed so as not to touch the tip.

Some Amazon reviews said it works badly with bad butane. I bought this Master Appliance 11799 Ultratane Butane, 3-3/4-Ounce, 106-Grams - Pack of 4 butane which was recommended and it works great. Period.


Finally, I like this too:

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with this Pyropen Tim! I see there are optional tips which is great---my Weller irons have always been chosen with what tips were/are available.

I have one the Hakko tip cleaner and holder---not 100% convinced it better than the wet sponges but certainly less messy.

The ability to shrink tubing is great---also have the Milwaukee heat gun which can be a bit cumbersome working in the close quarters we deal with around vehicles.

Thanks again!

 

I've got the Power Probe butane kit that I keep in the work truck as it would be a pain in the rear to drag out the extension cord just to hook a 40W iron to it for field repairs. I've been happy with it but for automotive work the big weller gun is still my go-to.

As far as the heat shrink air tip, save your money. I took it off and just used no tip on the unit to shrink the tubing. It seemed to work better than the curved "deflector" tip that is supposed to be for heat shrink tubing.

They certainly are handy to have!

 

MisterCMK: That's the nicest thing you ever said in one of my threads. Looking forward to the new MisterCMK in the New Year!

 

Ack, there is no new MisterCMK, just the same old one that doesn't pull punches.