Battery question

Hello! I'm new here and in fact I don't really have any knowladge of electroincs. I would love to learn about it though and hope to pick up alot of information in these forums. Really I would just like you to know that I have a limited understanding of electronics.

Anyway! I bought ones of those Cold Heat soldering irons and it works pretty well. I was however kinda irritated at the fact that it only had battery power. So i decided to hook up an input to accept an AC/DC power transformer. All went well with hooking it up and everything "works", but it dosen't work very well. It it doesn't get very hot. The cold heat soldering iron takes 4 AA batteries. So I had a power pack laying around that was 6V output at 450mA. So in my thinking I don't have enough Amps from my supply to work the iron properly. Could this be the problem? If so, how can I find out how many amps the 4 AA batteries supply so I know what I need? Any help is great!

PS: Sorry if this question is obvious or I show a great deal of ignorance.

You probably need a LOT more current than that - but those 'cool' irons are only a toy, buy yourself a proper soldering iron - you won't regret it, and will be able to solder properly then!.

PS: Sorry if this question is obvious or I show a great deal of ignorance.

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Definitely not. On the contrary your question is clear and meaningful.

The following is taken from the FAQ of the device:

So 25W to 50W at 6V, you are looking for roughly 4A to 8A.

I think a 6V/6A power supply will melt this toy.
Brand new AA alkaline cells have an internal resistance of 0.146 ohms. So 4 in series have 0.584 ohms plus the resistance of the contacts and wiring. 6A through 0.584 ohms equals a voltage drop of 3.5V so you would expect the toy's designer to allow for it, and have the toy operate from about 3V.

With the heater operating at 3V, its resistance will equal the battery's internal resistance. The battery will heat as much as the heater!
The current with a brand new battery is 5.14A and the power in each the heater and the battery is 15.4W.

How long would AA alkaline cells power the thing? Looking at Energizer's curves, only about a half hour. Of course the power would begin dropping immediately and after a few minutes wouldn't be enough to solder anything. Sigh. :lol: