should i get a butane soldering iron/torch/heat blower

[Maximus96]

i'm trying to decide whether to get this or get this soldering gun and this heatgun

i want to use them to solder wires together and heatshrink a tube over the solder. i bought a cheapo $25 butane torch/soldering gun from homedepot yesterday and don't like it at all. i'm wondering if this Weller butane soldering iron costing twice as much will be any better. Or should i just go with a separate soldering and heat gun? i like the no-cord feature of a butane unit though.

 

[Maximus96]

anybody?

 

[shekondar]

I have a similar butane soldering iron (a RadioShack version) and it works pretty well. It really depends on what you're going to use it for - for small jobs, the butane iron is better because it has a smaller tip (plus it's cordless). The big gun will work better for large jobs.

The heat gun is probably overkill for melting heat shrink tubing - I usually just turn on the stove & hold it over the burner for a few seconds. Or, on the butane iron I have, there's a little exhaust port on the side of the tip that works pretty well for melting heat shrink tubing.