[Phil G4SPZ]

Has anyone else seen or got one of these? It was given to me, covered in muck and dust, about a year ago and I've just got round to looking at it. It was made by Scope Laboratories of Melbourne, Australia and its rating is 90 Watts at (wait for it...) 4 volts!

It has no element in the conventional sense. A spring-loaded rod carries a replaceable carbon tip up the tube, and the tip makes contact with the back of the copper bit when the iron is switched on by sliding the collar forwards. Heat-up to soldering temperature takes barely four seconds. Within ten seconds, the bit is glowing red hot. Obviously, the operator is supposed to manage the bit temperature manually! I practiced for a few minutes and it's surprisingly easy to master the technique.

Measuring the AC current into the transformer primary shows 0.4 amps, equivalent to just shy of 100 Watts. The transformer itself may not be the original; it's by the Hinchley Engineering Co of Devizes and its secondary is intermittently rated at 3.5 volts at 150VA.

I had to dismantle the iron to repair a dodgy soldered joint, so I checked the condition of the carbon tip, which was fine. The iron came with two packets containing 15 spare tips, so I should be okay for a while, but if anyone needs a couple of spares, do let me know.

This is a really powerful iron which is likely to displace my Weller gun!

Phil