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soldering station advice please

atarione

atarione

Super Member
Hello.... so my somewhat successful then somewhat disasterous attempt at building a little kit thing has me thinking i need a better soldering solution

I have a 30watt non adjustable (ancient ...and probably in need of a new tip) iron now.


anyways..what happened was put my little kit thing together (went pretty well...and everyting worked (but didn't like how one of the caps was soldered so decided to have a go (first time ever) at desoldering...and well.... burnt the pad...OOOOPS


I was looking at these two....

http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-V...70WM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337045490&sr=8-1


$20~


or

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100...28UC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337045490&sr=8-2

$44~


so are either of these a good choice...is the 2nd one worth the $25~ more ?? or is there something else that would be a better choice .... bear in mind i'm just trying to get started...I'm interested in learning more but i'm very green right now.


thank you.
 
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i love this place... quick replies

i looked at the 51 series you mention... looks nice

I'm torn cause those are kinda on the upper end of what I wanna pay right now... but OTOH it might be worth it to spend more now rather than spend very little but then wanna upgrade right away?


thanx lwrs10 very nice to get input from someone that has both... so you say you use the Stahl more? and if i understand they are pretty comparable in general?

and again thanx y'all.
 
This may look a bit funky but I have the earlier model the Hakko 936 ESD and it's one of the best things I have bought, thousands of joints and I do mean thousands and it's still as good as new, I just love it.:banana:

Super fast heat up time, constant temperature, small and light with a long lasting tip what's not to like, do yourself a big favor and get a decent iron first up, you'll be amazed how much easier it makes soldering:

http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX-888-Soldering-Station/dp/B004M3U0VU/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1337048603&sr=1-4

Irons with a ceramic element are the go, they heat up fast and keep their heat, I had a cheap Elenco that took ages to heat up and reheat, it's like comparing a Fiat to a Ferrari IMHO.
 
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I have the Hakko FX-888 soldering station and I love it. Heats up rapidly, takes up very little space on my small workbench. Really great with soldering and unsoldering.
 
For the price, seems good. I don't need hot air very often (and haven't used solder-paste in years), but for the few occasions when I need to fool with surface mount devices, this might be nice to have without investing a ton of money.
 
I also have a Hakko 888 and I'm happy with it. I had a 936 clone before, but it died. Turns out its not all that close of a clone. I tried using a replacement iron for a Hakko on the clone, and the circuitry just wasn't compatible. The 888 heats up way better than the 936 clone ever did. On the bright side, that iron I bought to try and fix the 936 clone works on my 888, and it has a different tip than the 888 came with so I can easily swap tip profiles by swapping the handle if I need to.
 
I have a Weller WES51 and it is very nice. Completely gutted an ST70 and rebuilt it using that soldering station about 4 months ago. USD 85 is a nice price for that.
 
Regardless of what you get. The points they show are a standard pencil point tip. They are almost useless for working on PCB. You need a small chisel type tip and a spare for whatever iron you get. Of the two you showed; I, personally, would go with the Stahl. Chances are that it is the exact same unit with a different name. Weller has a good name, but they are selling the same Chinese made stuff the rest of them are.
 
ok thanx everybody... I decided to get the stahl one for now cause it was very inexpensive


if i'm getting really into stuff and whatever I will upgrade down the road.
 
Most of the recent Weller irons I have are made in Mexico.
Personally not a big fan of solder stations, and prefer separate irons for different tasks, and you don't have to mess with switching tips in the middle of a job.
I have a blue 30 watt Weller, with a few tips for lighter work. A orange 40 watt Weller for larger wires. This one goes through tips, but they are cheap, and available @ the local Fleet Farm. The larger chisel tip heat connection up very quickly.
For really big wires I have a 80 watt L80 Wall Lenk, also with a chisel tip.
The RS solder iron holder with sponge works great with all these irons.
I mainly deal with speaker crossovers, and larger electronic components, so I don't need a iron under 30 watts. I have a smaller (20/25 watt I think) blue Weller around somewhere, but it's too small for most task's.
The blue Weller's have the advantage of keeping a more consistent heat while being used, although with a 40 watt iron on up, and using a large tip this, is usually not a big deal with electrical connections. Stained glass work, or other craft work perhaps.
The quicker you can heat the connection up to solder or desolater, the better off you are, and less likely to have heat damage and cold solder joints. In fact I have seen more heat damage from people using a too small iron-either desoldering, or in a attempt to get a properly heated joint.
63/37 solder is also helpful here, as well hemo's and clip on heat sinks, as well as a nice solder aid kit, and desloderer/braid-although if a little solder spatter isn't a big deal, and can be cleaned up easily- a quick blast of air from a canned duster works faster and more complete.
 
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More recommendations appreciated

Don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but this subject has been on my mind for some time.

I've been using a Radio Shack soldering station for about a year; got it at a yard sale for $35. IMO it has a few commendable virtues, but one or two features that drive me crazy. On the plus side, it uses a ceramic heating element and the soldering tips are at the end of a tube that slides over the element. So it gets hot pretty fast and stays hot too. It has an adjustable temp control with digital read out and three temperature presets. Radio Shack has available a full set of tips in various sizes; they run about six buck each but you have to buy them on-line.

On the down side, the unit itself it pretty heavy and bulky (not that big a deal), but the separate iron holder is pretty flimsy; frequently I'm trying to poke the iron back in the holder while looking at the solder and the holder slides away. But the major, major issue is the damn cord attaching the soldering iron the base unit. It's stiff and uncooperative, like a snake or garden hose. It's got a mind of its own. I like to use a small chisel tip. Obviously, you need to twist the iron so that the flat side is exactly where you want it; but the cord will try to twist the tip. I finally gave up using chisel tips and just use conical ones.

Anyway, I've read all the postings in this thread and am interested in what units would be superior to my RS unit. I don't want to buy something else with the same issues. I definitely want a full station with adjustable temperature control. Digital readout is nice, but not a big deal. I'm just a hobbyist so I'd like to keep the price withing reason, $50-$100 would be my range. I see several Hakko models available. Would appreciate thoughts on those or others. The biggest issue for me, however, is the umbilical cord. Got to have something less bossy and easier to use.

Thanks.
 
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