Soldering Iron Recommendations

[EARNEST]

Hi, guys. I am new here. I want to ask for some help. I want to buy more or less decent soldering station under like 50-60 euro($). I had in mind Weller WLC100 and Aoyue 937. Any suggestions, please? Thanks.
P.S. planning to build TS9 clone

[tunghaichuan***]

Hi, guys. I am new here. I want to ask for some help. I want to buy more or less decent soldering station under like 50-60 euro($). I had in mind Weller WLC100 and Aoyue 937. Any suggestions, please? Thanks.
P.S. planning to build TS9 clone

The Aoyue looks similar to the Hakko 936. I'd be surprised if it weren't a direct copy. Weller is a good brand, so I don't think you could go wrong with it.

My personal favorite is the Hakko 936. I've been using mine and the same two tips for over ten years now.

tung

[EARNEST]

The Aoyue looks similar to the Hakko 936. I'd be surprised if it weren't a direct copy. Weller is a good brand, so I don't think you could go wrong with it.

My personal favorite is the Hakko 936. I've been using mine and the same two tips for over ten years now.

tung

Cheers.
I heard Weller's are quite overpriced: So not sure. I really like Hakko 936, but cannot afford that one right now...Nevertheless, if Hakko is a good investment and I won't regret it...should I buy it? I live in Europe, so not sure if that is a problem.

[tunghaichuan***]

Cheers.
I heard Weller's are quite overpriced: So not sure. I really like Hakko 936, but cannot afford that one right now...Nevertheless, if Hakko is a good investment and I won't regret it...should I buy it? I live in Europe, so not sure if that is a problem.

I really hate to tell other people what to do with their money, but keep in mind that Weller is a premium brand and they charge what the market will bear for their irons.

Weller makes a similar iron to the Hakko, but it is slightly more. Either would be a good investment. I'm not sure how the tip situation is in Europe, but Hakko tips are harder to come by here in the States. Weller is an American product, so tips are easy to find locally in electronic stores. Since Hakko is Japanese, it may actually be easier to find tips than for Weller in Europe. That is one thing you probably should research.

If you're only planning to do one project, an inexpensive iron will do. But if you get bitten by the DIY bug, a Weller or Hakko is a great investment.

tung

[EARNEST]

I really hate to tell other people what to do with their money, but keep in mind that Weller is a premium brand and they charge what the market will bear for their irons.

Weller makes a similar iron to the Hakko, but it is slightly more. Either would be a good investment. I'm not sure how the tip situation is in Europe, but Hakko tips are harder to come by here in the States. Weller is an American product, so tips are easy to find locally in electronic stores. Since Hakko is Japanese, it may actually be easier to find tips than for Weller in Europe. That is one thing you probably should research.

If you're only planning to do one project, an inexpensive iron will do. But if you get bitten by the DIY bug, a Weller or Hakko is a great investment.

tung

I see, cheers man. Also, I know it is off the main topic, but don't tell them : What book/articles would you recommend to a newbie in order to understand the basics: how the components work (resistors, caps etc), what combinations of those components effect the sound and so on. Thanks :P

[EARNEST]

Should i get the newer version, FX-888?

[Pickngrin]

I just searched the thread to see if it had been mentioned, and didn't find it, so I will suggest the Xytronic 379 soldering station:
http://www.howardelectronics.com/xytronic/379.html

I bought one, several months back, after reading glowing (pun intended? umm... I'm not sure) reviews of this setup and what a great value it is. I haven't really used it extensively since I got it, but it certainly blows away the pencil irons I was using before this. Heats up very quickly. The scouring pad cleaner is very useful. The only qualm I have with it is that the insulation on the cord connecting the iron to the station kinks up, but it's not really that big of a deal.

[Commodore 64***]

I'm about to pull the trigger on this Stahl Soldering Iron. Pretty good price, for an occasional solder joint, I would hope it would be reliable.

[kgwagner]

I used to work for an electronics manufacuring company about 100 years ago, and everybody swore by the 40 watt American Beauty. It's just a pencil iron, but they last forever, and seem to maintain temperature even without a control station.

When we started building microprocessor-based controls, the production people had to use isolated temperature-controlled units from Weller. Hated 'em. Universally. Luckily, it wasn't long before we got a wave soldering machine, and building boards got a lot easier. Then the production girls could go back to the American Beauties for the heavier work like wiring transformers, switches, pots, and so forth.

To this day I still use one of those irons. I've had it for probably 30 years, and it still works like a charm. Past all that, they use a power cable that has some super-fine stranded wire, but enough of it to carry some decent current. I think it's about a 16 gauge. Plus, the rubber they use for insulation doesn't kink - it's very flexible. If you set the thing down on the bench because the stand isn't close by, the power cord doesn't have a mind of its own that forces hot end to lay down and touch the bench or twist to some other position you didn't intend for it.

Highly recommended.

[just strum]

I'm about to pull the trigger on this Stahl Soldering Iron. Pretty good price, for an occasional solder joint, I would hope it would be reliable.

Did you end up buying this one?

I have a Weller that looks identical, except color. The one I have works great.

I picked mine up for $30 and it was a deal at that price - I would definitely jump on the Stahl at that price.

[Commodore 64***]

Did you end up buying this one?

I have a Weller that looks identical, except color. The one I have works great.

I picked mine up for $30 and it was a deal at that price - I would definitely jump on the Stahl at that price.

Yes, I bought it. I haven't used it yet. However, my BYOC kit has arrived, and I'm expecting some other goodies for rewiring my latest CL purchase, so I'm hoping to use it soon...once this crazy holiday is over. Got one more day of crazy traveling today, then I'm DONE. Til Xmas, of course.

[navvid]

I use a Radioshack branded temperature control station that I have used for a good number of years now. I have also used many cheap irons of all types, and keep one in a drawer for taking on the go. In my experience, even a cheapo iron tip will last plenty long if treated properly. If you are destroying tips left and right, there is something wrong with your technique, no matter how cheap the hardware.

As soon as a tip gets contaminated, it must be cleaned and re-tinned. If the contamination is allowed to cake or remain, it will damage the surface of the tip below the tinned surface, and that's the end of your tip. They can sometimes be saved, but often can not. This is what results in the demise of most soldering tips.

As soon as you see a spot or any blackening anywhere on your tip, stop and feed fresh solder onto it until it bubbles off and there is an excessive drop of solder hanging from your tip, then roll the iron so the fresh solder coats the whole tip. If it is really carbonized, you may have to scrape it first. I use an exacto to very gently scrape the crust off. Then coat the tip in fresh solder.

If you are careful to keep your tip clean and tinned, it should last forever.

It should be noted that I do use Weller tips because they fit in my iron and are available in various profiles. They are indeed of a better quality than your usual Shack brand iron tips.

[Duff]

I always burn off some paste flux after I scrape the tip off with the back of the exacto knife blade, not the sharp part. This saves the exacto blade. Then I put some solder on the tip to tin it and the solder stays on and doesn't just roll off.

[navvid]

I always burn off some paste flux after I scrape the tip off with the back of the exacto knife blade, not the sharp part. This saves the exacto blade. Then I put some solder on the tip to tin it and the solder stays on and doesn't just roll off.

This would probably be the appropriate method.

1. scrape clean
2. immerse heated tip in flux
3. apply fresh solder
4. wipe tip clean

I usually neglect the flux step, since the solder has flux in it. Your soldering setup should include a small cleaning sponge. Cut parallel lines in the surface to catch the solder, and wet it with water. After adding the fresh solder, wipe and roll the tip across the wet sponge to remove excess solder and remaining contaminants. Clean the sponge regularly as you work, so you are always wiping on a clean area. If you do this religiously as you work, you will never not destroy tips, even cheap ones.



Here's my setup. All Radioshack, except the tips. As you can see, it has seen its fair share of action, and continues to serve me well.

[Duff]

My old weller pencil type twenty five watt has the original tip, probably fifteen years old; used intermittently, not constantly. Household use only, guitar pickups, switches, and such.

I bought a cheap eight dollar fourty watt Radio Shack pencil type that burned out in about five months of equally mild use: total junk. Certainly not the RS soldering station mentioned here.

[navvid]

Its not as nice as some of the other temp controlled stations mentioned here, but I worked at RS some years back and got it real cheap. And indeed, RS stuff is usually just that: real cheap. And, of coarse, there is no replacement for quality.

Nevertheless, I maintain that you can get a whole lot of work out of even a cheap iron.

Good call on the flux, Duff. If your tip is in real trouble, this can do the trick.

[Duff]

Yeah. I want to get a decent 40 watt iron with a reasonably small pointed tip to get into pots, etc., without melting the surrounding wire shielding.

An inexpensive but good quality station would be great. What about those ones on the GFS page? They have a welding station I think. Any experience by anyone with of these?

[Commodore 64***]

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/psho...number=374-100

I've used that one to build a pedal and replace the innards on 2 guitars. So far, it's been great. Can't beat the price either at 15 bucks.

[Bloozcat]

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/psho...number=374-100

I've used that one to build a pedal and replace the innards on 2 guitars. So far, it's been great. Can't beat the price either at 15 bucks.

I've got the same soldering station. When I saw it on sale for $12.00 before Christmas, I asked "Mrs. Santa" to get me one.

It's surprisingly well made for the money, and the tips look to be very good as well (I got an extra set with it). The unit does take longer than either of my two irons (25W & 40W) to heat up, and so far I've only used it for a couple of quick jobs. When I sit down to build my reverb pedal, I'll have some more time to play with the heat settings. If in the end it works only as well as my irons, it'll still be worth more than the cost for that alone...not to mention the nice station that goes along with it.