m12 milwaukee soldering iron
 

m12 milwaukee soldering iron 2488-20
good or bad? whats your experience?

750º is a little on the cold side for bit wires but that would be pretty great for a quick and dirty pit tool... it would be better if it was adjustable.. but if you already have a m12 tool like a screwdriver, hell yes good value. if you had all the pitsetup stuff already id prob go for something like the 1up but the only better option that doesn't require supporting shit would be butane.

For a pit bag tool it works well. I have other milwaukee tools as well, so this was a nice add on.
I would've liked it more if the temperature was adjustable though.

It comes with 2 tips, a fine one and a bigger chisel one. It gets more than hot enough to solder 10-14 gauge motor wires as well as battery plug wires. I've soldered both of these types for people at the track. I haven't tried soldering esc connections with it.

I'm really happy with mine. I wouldn't buy it as a primary soldering iron. I've got a gas iron as well and find that every time I need it, its out of gas. I always have a charged battery so this definitely works better for me.

I do see plenty of reviews on Youtube.....

I have one and it works extremely well. I have had zero complaints with it and it gets more than hot enough to solder anything I have thrown at it. I just did a xr8 pro esc last week with it. maintains heat well and doesnt seem to need time to recover.

Jesse

Disagree. If anything, 750 is too hot. If people would use the correct tips (heat transfer), they wouldn't have to bump up temps so high. I've seen hobby shop "techs" trying to solder Castle 6.5mm bullets with a 60watt iron set to max using a pencil tip with laughable results. With my XyTronic 3200 I can solder those same connectors with my 3mm chisel tip @700 but life would be better if XyTronic would release a 4mm or bigger tip as it would make the job MUCH faster without transferring too much heat down the line.

The M12 was a great idea but I couldn't keep mine. First of all, it's intended market is for auto techs and contractors looking to do quick jobs on smaller guage wires. I'm not sure if they fixed the issues with the top plastic collars melting but besides that, any iron that has a simple on/off switch with no temp control isn't for me. The battery drained FAST on mine.

If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy the Pace ADS-200 which was released around the same time I purchased my Xytronic. Much better tip selection and a QUALITY tool (not that my XyTronic hasnt been). If I were that serious about racing, I'd take my full size iron with me because a rinky dink solder iron won't do for big guage wires on RC cars.

I love milwaukee tools and i have a lot of there m12 and m18 tools. I do not have the m12 soldering iron but from my research i believe that it does not get hot enough for rc use. Its more for lite wiring jobs on car that use 16 gauge or smaller wires.

I have had one of these and they do work good. The temperature of the m12 iron is regulated at 750F and opinions are randomanomus.. I won’t say what I run my Wellers at but 750F is in the Goldilocks zone and most of the time I switch tips and not temp.. right.. well whateva, anyway

The Milwaukee m12 soldering iron coincidently can and is capable of soldering 12ga wire to 12ga wire with a wet splice if needed.. what it is not meant to ‘do’ is continuous duty, as in the unit can not stay on all the time ready to use. The approach is different, each step the iron needs to cool off.. Strip and prep wire end, then turn on m12, flux wire, preheat, tinning, if possible flux a solder tab, preheat it and tin it then turn off m12.. prep another wire etc..

This iron ‘does not’ have enough heat capacity to make consistent solder joints in a timely manner as in there are steps that demand more than the tip or battery installed can supply, it can solder 12ga wires to a 12ga motor tab but as a separate step after a sufficient cool down and a recharge if needed.

basically if fast enough one 12ga wire and one motor tab can be fluxed and tinned soldered with this iron.. done it thousands of times


Edit* The largest weller tip I use is 5mm and only use weller tips in a weller or risk losing your wand..

If you are willing to go off Milwuakee. The Ryobi one has adjustable temperature and cheaper on sale. Comes with two tips as well. I use it for RC and other jobs where there is no AC power.