Things that Work! Home Power tests the Pensol portable gas soldering iron This little soldering iron is the bee's knees. It requires no electricity and is very effective even on heavy wires. How the Pensol works The Pensol is a pencil type soldering iron that is about 7 inches long and 3/4 inches in diameter. It is constructed out of heavy plastic, with a spark ignitor and spare flints in the cap. It will accept four sizes of metal soldering tips, 4.8mm, 3.2mm, 2.4mm and 1.0mm. Pensol is powered by butane gas stored within the soldering pencil. Instead of direct combustion, it uses catalytic combustion- no flame once the unit is fired up. Refueling is accomplished via a standard butane cigarette lighter refueling cartridge. The unit contains an on/off valve and an adjustable metering valve that allows you to set the temperature of the iron. The proof of the puddingÉ I must admit that I was initially skeptical about the Pensol. It looks more like a toy than a serious tool. I was wrong. It a tool. It took me several soldering jobs before I appreciated how well this small wonder works. Test#1 It was a very cold (<28¡F.) February evening on Agate Flat. We were all gathered around the AM radio to hear Gary Starr of Solar Electric Engineering verbally fight it out with a paid oil company apologist on the nationally broadcast Larry King radio show. For us, this means tuning in KFI in Los Angeles CA, some 800 miles away. Our AM radio was delivering nothing but static, obviously something was wrong. A quick check of the system revealed that ice falling from our roof at broken the feedline connecting the radio to its 300 foot long wire antenna. This is a job for Pensol! The Wiz and I quickly got a ladder and soldered a new 16 gauge copper feedline to the 18 gauge steel antenna wire. It was snowing at the time and the wind was blowing an estimated 20 MPH. In short it was a freezing mess. The Pensol fired right up, despite the wind and it stayed lit. I adjusted it for max heat out (about 60 Watts according to the manufacturer) and proceeded to solder. In the very few moments that the Pensol took to make the solder joint, I thought about the extension cord I'd have to use if the Pensol didn't do the job. But it did. In spite of the cold, the falling snow, and the wind, the Pensol heated up the freezing wires and made a good, bright solder joint in about 10 seconds. I was and still am impressed. Not only does the Pensol work, but it works under superÐsevere conditions. We got the radio back in time to hear Gary Starr and I didn't have to break out the 300 watt soldering gun, run an extension cord and use inverter supplied electricity to do the job. Test#2 I was up a ladder making some solder joints on the telephone system we installed at Rancho Chatuco (see HP#10, page 5 ). The day was sunny, the temperature was warm, and the nearest electricity was miles away (we didn't have Victor's system operational yet). The Pensol, with it's output turned down to the minimum 10 watts, made good solder joints on the small wires without turning them into crispy critters. Once again, good solder joints without the extension cord. Test#3 I was working on our radiotelephone hidden in our back room. I soldered two 10 gauge copper wires together with ease. And then I discovered something new. The Pensol also does shrink tubing! For years I have used a butane lighter to shrink the heat shrink tubing used in place of electrical tape. The waste heat from the Pensol shrinks the tubing better than any device I've ever used, and that includes a $200 hot air gun designed specifically for this purpose. Conclusions The Pensol works well and has lasted us in hard service. It's strong points are its adjustability and lack of extension cord. It's truly portable. It has enough heat output to solder large wires (up to 10 ga). It's easy to use and refill. The Pensol has become a standard tool in my toolbox. I use it instead of an electric soldering iron because it works well and is more convenient for jobs where the electricity is some distance from the work. Access You can get a Pensol from Jameco Electronics, 1355 Shoreway Rd, Belmont, CA 94002 for about $20. The same Pensol (under another name) is also available from Radio Shack (RS#64-2161)for $29.95.