The design of the tip is incompatible with some soldering techniques such as dragging or continuous-flow soldering (a popular technique for hand-soldering high-pin-count SMT packages, based on the principles of wave soldering). One thorough review of the ColdHeat soldering iron noted: "For the electronics hobbyist, one particularly disconcerting side-effect of the Coldheat way of doing things is that localised arcing and sparking may be produced sporadically when the heating circuit opens or closes. ... sparks anywhere near a semiconductor are an anathema to the electronics enthusiast. High reverse voltages can be produced in inductive circuits as well. ..." "The overall results of the soldering exercise were very disappointing. ... the test results on the PCB were of extremely mixed quality. ... The quality of the soldered joints was extremely inconsistent, due to the lack of temperature control and other variables that affect the finished joint. ... perhaps 20% of the finished joints being of a reasonably good standard... It was difficult to feed solder onto the joint at a consistent rate because the heating effect was variable. ...The dull crystalline appearance of many joints points to inadequate heating, caused by the heat not sinking throughout the joint sufficiently to melt the solder thoroughly, before the iron was removed. Although a grey crystalline joint will often form a sufficiently working joint for non-critical applications, the circuit might have an intermittent fault because of this. ..." "There is ... no escaping the most fundamental principle of soldering: in order to make a good quality solder joint, all parts should be heated to the melting point of the solder so that it can flow properly. In the case of "cold-soldering" a PCB ... only one half of the joint can effectively be heated by the iron, e.g. a cropped resistor lead that you use to short out the electrodes to generate heat. Solder can then melt onto the hot leadout but it is then forced to flow onto the other component (the PCB copper pad) which is completely cold. Inadequate through-heating of components is the main cause of dry (gray) solder joints. What little heat there is, sinks away through the workpiece and the solder never flows properly. A crystalline, dull and brittle joint is formed. ...with our test circuit board... three PCB copper pads were damaged by excess heat, causing the copper track to lift away from the laminate altogether. ... Unfortunately