Portasol Reviews 87

I contacted Portasol as my soldering iron would not work & Tony helped me diagnose that I had burnt out tips, new tips ordered & fitted & the iron lights first time, great service, would definitely recommend Portasol irons and the great back up service. Paul in Worthing, West Sussex.

Good products, order received after 8 days but no tracking.

Purchased from Jaycar Electronics New Zealand, I have never been more impressed with a soldering iron than the Gas Portasol 125 soldering kit. It has replaced all of my electric irons and I can do heatshrink with it too!

Shear lack of tips on the market.......this factory fire story is I'm sure real but lack of tips on the open market feels like been going on for more than 2 years.

I use the iron sometimes in very harsh conditions every day installing equipment into cars,buses,trucks, plant machinery. My PORTASOL APS1-48DF Solder Tip has nearly totally disintegrated due to constant use,and wear and tear. Can't replace the tips, as none are available. Are PORTASOL trying to force me to buy new iron?......as this seems the only way to get tips.

Well - I'm done with this thing and I'm done with Portasol! I bought the Portasol product because a cheaper gas iron (from another manufacturer) I'd had for many years was getting a wee bit unreliable... A gas iron isn't my everyday 'go to', but it's a handy enough thing to have; maybe gets used three of four times a month.

So, I thought I'd get myself a 'better' iron and went for the SuperPro 125. Portasol having once been a reputable company. - Past tense!

Now, it's a very unfortunate thing that there was a fire at the factory reducing spares supplies to ZERO. It's also less than idea that the coating on the tip of my iron was of such very VERY poor quality... that with really very little use, it required replacement. - Worth noting here that another user leaves a one-star review for this very same issue!

...And before anyone says it; I've been soldering since I was 11 years old, which was half-a-century ago, and I am a trained electronics engineer; so it's not like I don't know how to use or treat a soldering iron!

So... with the tips being unobtainable the SuperPro went back in a drawer - redundant - until the day my cheap gas iron finally gave up the ghost; after over 15 years! - The SuperPro; well there was still a 'good' side to the tip and I could struggle on surely? But no!

Overall the Superpro I have here is in good physical condition - I got very little use out of it after all. It's had the old gas purged and re-filled (as you do), lights fine in 'flame' mode (no problem with the igniter)... So SHOULD work - it's supposed to be a 'professional' tool after all!

To be clear on this - from new, it was never as easy to get lit (with the soldering tip fitted) as was advertised; it's NEVER been a 'one click and it's lit' soldering iron! And unlike the 'cheapie' you cannot light it with a lighter!

Disappointing from the start but it was possible after two or three clicks to get it going consistently, so something you could work with.

Now? After lying undisturbed in a drawer for a while? You might spend 10 minutes trying to light this thing with a tip fitted and still not succeed! All the time with the thing just hissing Butane into the air...

I don't suppose my unit is unique in this respect - and it would be an easy enough thing for an absent-minded user having failed to light it to leave it in the 'on' positon in that state; and with so many people having lost their sense of smell through COVID these days, thats a potentially disastrous situation!

Clearly some further problem has developed with the 'catalytic' tip assembly; apparently just through lying quietly in a drawer in a heated room! But the fact is; the SuperPro has never been 'quite right' from the start... it's certainly not the resilliant professional quality tool I expected.

So what of my SuperPro 125 now? - Well it's back in the drawer and only useable as a tiny blowtorch. - A tiny, very expensive blowtorch... which might or might not be safe to keep hanging around!

As for Portasol the company? - Well the fire at the plant was a long time ago now; a terrible business. But we're a long time past the point where they should have acted to support their user base. - Posting out the odd spare to the odd person here and there in exchange for positive social media reviews just isn't good enough.

Then there is the basic quality control issue... the fire has merely compounded issue surrounding poor quality components.

I don't see a way forward here... the Portasol site still has it's 'shop' live, and is advertising a 'new product range' as if there was no problem at all! - but everything is 'out of stock'. "Up and running in a few weeks" is a tune that's been playing like a broken record in the press and elsewhere since this time last year and it's not good enough.

The site itself is still being updated... with nothing at all useful. Why carry on 'selling' what just isn't available for sale? - And incidentally, there is no apostrophe in the word 'irons' (plural) nor is there such a word as "to's". ...they have a YouTube channel (and the website) full of really shoddy amateur-made videos the latest of which seems to be floggin' some random restaurant in Wexford!

This is all 'schoolboy error' stuff. For a company I had assumed to be of a reasonable size and repute; it's really poor amateur-hour material and behaviour; which really tells you they just don't have their head in the game.

What went wrong Portasol? As someone who is keen to support Irish and UK manufacturers - as opposed to buying Far-Eastern junk - this is SUCH a let-down! How did it go from being a top professional product/reputable manufacturer to this shambles?

UPDATE: 21/09/23 17:27 - the ONLY way of contacting me is via email! To that end there Is a published address on my company website. There has certainlbeen NO contact made by Portasol!

As I said... We're done here!

Unbeknown to myself portasol had a major fire cutting supplies of tips to zero. I messaged the head office and got in contact with ( i will refer to them as MR O) Mr O explained what had happened and that they would be shortly back up and running. At this point they remembered they had a few tips for the suoerpro 125 around the office and kindly posted them out to me. I was well chuffed as the superpro 125 is an amazing easy to use and reliable portable soldering iron with a range of interchangeable tips.
This has now allowed me to finish building my wiring harness for a custom motorcycle im building for my wife

Contacted for spares for my dehorner and had them a day and a half later outstanding service 👏, and the lady who helped me over the phone was extremely helpful 👍

In recent times I’ve had to replace three portasol soldering tips that have collapsed. I am extremely dissatisfied as I’ve been using older portasol soldering irons in the past without any issues and have upgraded to a newer model with the tips collapsing. I have been soldering for more than fifty years and still have my Adcola electric soldering since I was an apprentice which I believe that I have only ever replaced the tips once in its life time.
Please explain why the quality of the more newer tips are not withholding the standards that you maintain.

Order was on time and as expected, excellent service

My order was delayed due to a delivery mixup that was out of the companies control.
However, on use as soon as it arrived. The new dehorner is much improved on the older generation of dehorner, and hope that it will give me as good or better service than the old model. Thank you.

Fantastic service and quick delivery. Still the best and original gas powered Soldering tool.

A few years ago I sustained a brain injury and have short term memory issues and cognitive issues. My occupational therapist said I should try a NEW hobby so that if I fail my confidence wouldn’t be damaged. I then contacted Portasol asking for a disability discount on a used/returned/repaired soldering iron.
They then GIFTED me with a gas soldering iron. I always say ANY business that helps a mentally disabled person in a time of need that has LITERALLY NOTHING to gain is a business I will deal with for life and recommend to anyone. Since my disability I get ignored by everyone including friends and even family, yet Portasol helped me without knowing or having any past dealings with me.
Also during these tough times (Covid) where everyone raises their prices Portasol helped me out.
I would like to thank Portasol in helping me take a step toward recovery.

This is a precision tool, versatile & perfect for small areas. Well designed & made.

Great Service. Faster than expected and great price, direct from the original brand.

The repair, communication and ordering of the parts took a while, but was absolutely friendly and competent. The shipping was ultra-fast - absolutely awesome!

Thanks to Kathleen and Osin for their patience and the perfect repair and advice!
I will definitely order from you again
1000 thanks!
Stay healthy and see you next time!

Item was better than shown on website pleased with the service

Use these polymer rods as a professional should and did what I had to do. Will confirm over time the reability.
Good price, quality products.
Fairly fast over sea shipping and no bad surprises with fees (everything included).

The online store has a great selection, even the hard-to-find parts and accessories.
Ordering was simple, and pricing is about the same as from other vendors.
Shipping costs are reasonable, and the order arrived when promised.
It was not necessary for me to contact the seller - I had no problems with the order.