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Anyone use this soldering station?

Fast_Eddie

Fast_Eddie

Upper-middle fi
I was looking for a soldering station. Noting great, just a little better than the $4 soldering iron I've been using since forever.

I checked Radio Shack and found this:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...soldering+station&support=support&tab=summary

Which seems to be the same as this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96531

And a review at the Radio Shack site said it was a Madell AT201D like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/MADELL-AT201D-E...36327QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

There's a Harbor Freight store near me and I need to run out there tomorrow anyhow, so I might pick one up if they have it in stock. Normally I would think twice about buying a tool I planned on using more than once there, but it looks like this one might be pretty common, and so maybe ok?

I'd be intrested to hear if anyone here has any experience with it.

Thanks,

Ed

(edit) the Radio Shack reviews were harsh because they couldn't find replacement tips. For reference, I'll note here that you can get several tips from Madell on this page:

http://www.madelltech.com/nozzles-tips.html
 
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I would buy the Harbor Freight one and enjoy the $20 savings. They appear to be exactly the same with different names on them (probably made in the same factory).
 
HF one might have a different colour display. Could just be the backlighting though. For 60 bucks it looks nice, but what do I know.

P.S. might want to grab one of these while youre at it (if you don't have one already). Great for working small boards, or soldering pots and switches.
 
No.I haven't used either one of those.Have used several of these...http://www.wassco.com/Products/Pace-MBT-250-SDPT__WAS-02-145206.aspx and presently using one of these..http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brands/CF_Files/model_detail.cfm?upc=037103001146

The harbor freight model looks OK. But remember the old saying " You get what you pay for" I like temp. controllers.... At my daytime job.Some dumbass that don't know **** about soldering. purchased a couple cheapass generic solder stations with the crappiest solder he could find. I was trying to solder small connector pins with it. I got so pissed.I told my supervisor I wasn't going to do any more "special projects" unless he signs a purchase request for a temp contolled Weller..He did..
 
avionic said:
The harbor freight model looks OK. But remember the old saying " You get what you pay for"
Click to expand...

I know, I know. The guys at work use Weller stations and they're really nice. I think the ones they use go for about $500. That Wassco you posted above looks very nice. But at $1995.50 it would almost certainly never have the honor of soldering on something that didn't cost far less than it did.

I'm not a hard core DIY guy. Like I said, the $4 iron I've been using has worked fine up 'till now. I really just need a new tip for it- after 15 or 20 years it's really in a sad state. But I figured I might try a bit of an upgrade.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Glad to hear at least someone has used the danged thing and it worked ok.

Take care,

Ed
 
Ok, I'm going to sleep on it. Looks like you can get a Weller like Avionic posted for about $125. I'll probably cheap out, but that's really not to bad for a good brand name. The temp control would be nice though.

Take care,

Ed
 
Fast_Eddie said:
I know, I know. The guys at work use Weller stations and they're really nice. I think the ones they use go for about $500. That Wassco you posted above looks very nice. But at $1995.50 it would almost certainly never have the honor of soldering on something that didn't cost far less than it did.

I'm not a hard core DIY guy. Like I said, the $4 iron I've been using has worked fine up 'till now. I really just need a new tip for it- after 15 or 20 years it's really in a sad state. But I figured I might try a bit of an upgrade.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Glad to hear at least someone has used the danged thing and it worked ok.

Take care,

Ed
Click to expand...
Uncle Sam..USAF nothing but the best.. I really liked the Pace solder/desolder/rework stations.
 
I like the $42 Weller temp.controlled station I bought a few months ago.
Nothing fancy....but it gets the job done.

Steve
 
Unless your willing to throw your brand new harbor freight soldering iron away after its first use steer clear of them.

This is the rule of thumb I use when i purchased from them.
 
hey-Hey!!!,
Some stuff I've learned about solder station use:

make sure oone can get replacement tips. the iron plating does wear out and then the solder eats up the copper...end of game.

heat control is nice; little stuff does not need the heat input of a large connection.
cheers,
Douglas
 
grumpy said:
Unless your willing to throw your brand new harbor freight soldering iron away after its first use steer clear of them.

This is the rule of thumb I use when i purchased from them.
Click to expand...

I generally agree, but to be fair, I have had better luck with them of late. I needed a light weight jack to throw in the trunk for autocross. I picked up a small aluminum floor jack there and took a chance. It's worked well, and when I look around, everyone in padock has the same jack. Most folks say they get three or four seasons use out of them. That's not bad, and the last "good" jack I bought didn't last as long.
 
Well, the Weller WLC-100 might be a better way to go. I'll see if I can find one locally. Otherwise, the recap project will have to go on hold again until I get it. I just can't mess with that worn out tip another day.

Take care,

Ed
 
avionic said:
Uncle Sam..USAF nothing but the best.. I really liked the Pace solder/desolder/rework stations.
Click to expand...

You can say that cuz you worked on planes.

As a comm guy - we got whatever hand me down someone else was throwing away! :(

Beg Borrow and Steal - the VIIDS guide to success!
 
My Weller 100 has been with me for over 12 years and other then tips works flawlessly.

I have a HF floor jack thats been a POS since day one.
 
MCM has some soldering stations starting at 30 and going up in price. Might be worth a look.
 
:scratch2: I have a link to a valid HF 15% off coupon good until 8/24.
Is it ok to post it :thmbsp::thumbsdn:???

Redi
 
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