Soldering station suggestions?

[R Walker]

Currently using a weller 25w iron with an adjustable base, it works well but starting to show its age. I was wondering what you guys have on your bench. Is there a suitable station that would work well with RoHS solder as well as the normal leaded stuff?

Also wondering how you guys deal with the fumes. Do you have some sort of system to remove the fumes or just use a fan? I try and leave the shop door and window open when I can but can't always do that.

[David King]

The best are supposed to be Metcal.
They use RF to heat the tip and the RF is very close to the tip so when they say 30W it's an instantaneous 30w with no lag. The tips are individually temp rated so for lead free you'd want a hotter tip but you're not supposed to mix lead and lead free on the same tip anyway. Supposedly any trace of lead in a leadfree joint can cause serious problems over time - a big no-no.

Be very careful buying Metcals on Ebay. Most of what comes up has bad or whacked supply. These are too expensive to fix so they get dumped "as-is" on suckers. A nice new Metcal runs $460-$900

The fumes are just from the core flux and it's not as dangerous as you'd think unless you get sensitized. I see some new irons with smoke extractors but a muffin fan should take care of it unless you work in a closet.

[Spence]

Personally, I got fed up with having to replace my iron every couple of months. 25 Watts is not enough and neither is 30 watts.
I use a Xytronic LF-1000 which is available in the US as well as the UK.
It's a 100 Watt iron, has never let me down and is extremely well made.
What else would you need?



$179.

here's the link :

http://www.howardelectronics.com/xytronic/LF1000.html

I have been using this iron for some years now.

Damn ! I'm giving my secrets away again....hell, nobody's listening anyway....

[NightWinder]

Thanks, just what I was lookin for! Ha. Your too modest Spence!!

[Spence]

You'll be fine with that Nightwinder. It'll be disappointing to some as there's nowhere to plug you dick in to it.

[bob p]

my bench is built into a high flow fume hood. it's powered by a big-ass exhaust fan that's been permanently mounted in a window above the bench. to feed it with adequate airflow i have to open a second window on the opposite side of the room.

in the summer i like to solder outside on a picnic table.

for most amp work i like to use a 40-watt or a 60-watt iron. i think that anything less isn't very useful unless you're working on tiny PCB stuff. YMMV of course.

[David Schwab]

That's a nice looking iron Spence. I've been looking for a replacement for my ancient Therm-O-Trac, which decided to stop regulating the temperature one day... you can imagine my surprise when the tip turned cherry red!

For the budget minded, these don't look bad;

http://www.web-tronics.com/solstat.html

I'm fed up with my regular iron... I have to replace the tip every couple of weeks...

[David King]

I was pretty happy with my Hakko from Fry's electronics until I started using the Sn-Cu-Ag-Bi solder. Now I wish I had more than 50 watts. I agree that Spence's is probably the way to go. Whatever you get make sure that the tips are Fe clad or you'll be replacing them every two weeks. I'm on the same tip for 5 years now and it's on most days at 850º.

[R Walker]

Thanks for all the suggestions fellas. I have been looking at Wellers off and on today. The WD1002 caught my eye... Spence the model you suggested looks great! How is the tip life and are the tips hard to get or do you have no problem ordering them online? I guess I keep going back to Weller because they have been around for quite a while and just about everyone stocks tips for their irons.

[NightWinder]

You'll be fine with that Nightwinder. It'll be disappointing to some as there's nowhere to plug you dick in to it.

Ah, my dear friend I'll find a way to fuck it..... I manage to fuck things up that are nearly impossible. Guitars, amps, other peoples stuff.....makes no difference. "WTF, I didn't do shit!" used to be my favorite saying.
I once Blew up $250,000 worth of display crown amps and speakes in one shot at a grand opening at Guitar Center. 2 huge 7ft tall racks loaded with crowns in the P.A. room. They had everthing pluged into A new form of powersupply. It had this BABY BLUE switch on it that looked like a light switch. The Inner Voice kicked in and says "whats this", as I was switching it.
I shit you not, the place was packed and the pop was sooo loud, it nearly gave me a heart attack. I had time to turn my head and see people landing from a foot jump. Blue sparks came out too, just like the switch. Funny part was the sale guy says" Well, you got my attention, do you have any questions?" I said " Well, its answered now, thanks".
I went back 2 weeks later, and was only in the store for 3 minutes maybe, same sales guy was pointing his finger at me with the manager and 3 other reps. "leave and don't come back".
WTF, I didn't do shit was my reply......Good Times, Cheap Entertainment!!

[Spence]

Weller are like Ford cars. Spares always available, quite cheap, short life span, easy to overtake.

The iron I use just heats up so fast it's frightening. It does degrees F or C and will handle any solder. I use a pencil tip for everything including Tele baseplates. One tip has so far lasted me for three years. I bought two spare tips and have never had to use them. Just respect it and turn the iron off when you're not using it......though it will turn itself off.

The iron stand is cast aluminium too. I just love this iron.

[SkinnyWire]

I've got an old Weller station - 40W I think it is. Had it for about 25 years now and it's never let me down, so I don't know about the short lifespan thing. I use it pretty much every day. Just replace the tip ever now and again. Needs a new sponge right now, but I just fold a damp paper cloth and put it on top of the old one. Been sucking fumes for 30 years. Went through a period where I had a muffin fan blowing across the path. I try to sort of blow it out of the way now, but ...

100W sounds interesting. 40W should be plenty for most jobs, but I had an old Gretsch pickup in for repair with a cover made of about 90 pounds of plated brass or something and the iron couldn't get it hot enough for a good joint to the base.

[David King]

I had to de-solder the backs of a couple of newer EMG pots the other day and they must be using pure tin for RoHS compliance because I couldn't melt this shit period, I ended up sawing it off. That's where 100W would come in handy.

[David Schwab]

I had to de-solder the backs of a couple of newer EMG pots the other day and they must be using pure tin for RoHS compliance because I couldn't melt this shit period, I ended up sawing it off. That's where 100W would come in handy.

Me too! I thought it was my crappy iron! I just melted lead solder on it... (No... I'm not RoHS compliant yet... )

[Spence]

Guys seriously....
Don't get all hung up on RoHS compliance. I read all the available paper work on the subject. The key thing is that the item you are manufacturing must not contain things like lead solder if it is likely to end it's life in a landfill site withing 10 years. Hell, my pickups are intended to last forever and are repairable if they fail.
RoHS has all but been abandoned anyway as it's unworkable.