Can anyone recommend a soldering iron/station

Lynxmotion
1

I have a cheap $15 40W soldering iron from Radio Shack, but frankly I don’t like it.

I ran across this really cheap soldering station on Amazon: amazon.com/Weller-Soldering- … B000AS28UC

Can anyone recommend a soldering iron or station that’s less then $50 bucks? I don’t want to buy one of the really high quality ones that cost hundreds, I just want something that’s pretty decent for hobby use.

Thanks!

2

Hello,

Actually I think the the Weller WLC-100 is a pretty good soldering station, I like it because you can adjust the wattage from 5-40 watts, you can get very small tips for it, and it lasts a long time. I am suprised it’s going for $29.95 new, when I purchased mine it was $52.00 + S&H

3

I use the 15w radio shack soldering iron and get good results with it. I solder small stuff so I need the thin tip (radio shack carrys replacements which is handy).

4

Cool, if it’s working well for you I might go ahead and buy the WLC-100. Where do you buy the smaller tips for it?

And I won’t buy anything until next week, so if anyone else has recomendations please post soon :smiley:

5

Hi,

Actually I saw a bunch of different tips offered on amazon.com, but there are a lot of places you can get the tips from.

6

Having soldered litteraly 1,000s of boards, the PACE digital soldering station is the best in my opinoion. It has features like tip saver where it cools down when not in use for a set time, heats up extremely fast in about 30 seconds. and the best part is the huge range of tips available for this iron. I hate the needle point tips! the best tip is a coined tip bent at about 45deg. Fantastic for chip resistors, caps and even fine pitched QFPs or gull wing SOICs.

The unit is not cheap but well worth the money in my opinion if you plan to do a lot of soldering.

http://www.ie2000.com/copy_of_www_ie2000_com/media/st45.jpg

Here’s the tip I recommend for most all SMT soldering:

Here’s the webpage:

platoproducts.com/page32.htm

Model: PACE ST-45 Digital

Hope that helps :smiley:

7

SN96,

WOW, that station lists for $295.50 average on-line!! That’s got to be a good station for the money… :slight_smile: But I think he was trying to stay under $50.00 or so.

8

Below is what I use (the older blue version). $2 for a replacement tip is a bit pricey, but you can get one when you want to without having to wait for an order to arrive and paying shipping charges.

radioshack.com/product/index … age=search
radioshack.com/product/index … age=search

9

Thanks for the info on that soldering station Mike, but charleyshf is right, I can’t spend that much right now.

10

Couldn’t one just buy a cheap iron and plug it into a lamp dimmer for heat reduction/regulation? It’s open loop, but it would help keep from burning up tips when doing light jobs. Just get a dimmer with a higher wattage than the iron. Just an idea.

11

For what it’s worth: I use a ZD-929C digital adjustable soldering station that I got from MPJA]. Digital readout, thermostatically controlled head temperature, good selection of tips, replacement handles sold separately, and an available tweezer head for working with SMT chip componentry. I’ve been very happy with it. (I usually use the optional 1/32" point tip for general circuit soldering duty)

Mine came with a protective film over the LED readout - on the inside of the case :confused: - so I opened it up and removed it. Works beautifully for less than fifty bucks, and it’s been my primary soldering tool for several years now.

12

Yeah, it is an expensive iron but it works so well. Ok, I admit, I went off in the deep end. :laughing:

13

Well, I personally have a pair of Hakko 939s. They are moderately priced, about $100 /each.

I recommend getting a pair of soldering irons. Once I started soldering with two irons, you’d wonder how you ever soldered without it. Two irons can heat up a real stubborn heat-sunk area to flow the solder without having to hold it on there for a long time with one iron (which is bad for the components and the board since you are distributing heat).

Now if you really want to take this to the deep end, may I recommend a pair of Metcal MX500s… They are moderately priced at $999 per station, and does not come with a tip so you must buy tips separately. Don’t bother with the OKI tips for it, buy the real Metcal tips, they last longer…

Metcals are the cadillacs (or mercedes nowadays?) of the soldering irons. Once you use one of them, it’s hard to go back to the weller/ungars and hakkos… Of course, if you’re not richie rich, you can always go for their budget models like their 200 series or 800 series irons. Which has the same basic function but much more budget (I use just about every model of Metcal at work and personally cannot tell the difference between them in terms of functional superiority/inferiority)…

:smiley:

14

A little later here I guess…

I use this one. It has been, by far the best investment for my robotics workbench. Not too expensive, but temperature controled and good tips are avalible. You can usually get it on sale for $80.

15

Been using a Hakko 936 for quite a while. kiesub.com/hakko936.htm

Mine is the cream colored one but I think the black version is the same.

Works great, heats quickly. I avoid surface mount soldering so I can’t comment on how well it works for that.

16

I have the Weller WLC100 and IMO it’s one of the best bangs for the buck out there. Granted it won’t compete with a $300+ station but, if you don’t need anything too fancy, it gets the job done.