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I needed to replace the solder station I was previously using and decided on the Pace ADS200. I've been eyeing it for a while now, and probably should have bought it a year ago when it was about $100 cheaper. But I found a package including the base unit, soldering iron, instant set back tool stand, and 3 tip cartridges for a decent price on TEquipment.NET.
Additionally, because of the volume of vintage and hand wired amps we service, I bought some more cartridges. One with a 1/8" chisel, and one with a 1/4" chisel. The 1/8" is my go to and I can get on and off turrets, eyelets, switches, and socket terminals in less than a few seconds with the temp around 650˚. With the 1/4" chisel, I can wick solder off a Fender chassis, or solder direct to the chassis in seconds while keeping the temp around 690˚ (But it can start to sink heat depending of what you need to do as well, so I've bumped the temp up to 700/710 if I've needed to).
So far so good. I think this is a really great unit. But for sure, if I didn't have the proper tip geometry, large enough for the soldering I was doing, I would be frustrated and would have to run the tips much hotter than otherwise necessary. But swapping out the tips is a breeze.
Additionally, because of the volume of vintage and hand wired amps we service, I bought some more cartridges. One with a 1/8" chisel, and one with a 1/4" chisel. The 1/8" is my go to and I can get on and off turrets, eyelets, switches, and socket terminals in less than a few seconds with the temp around 650˚. With the 1/4" chisel, I can wick solder off a Fender chassis, or solder direct to the chassis in seconds while keeping the temp around 690˚ (But it can start to sink heat depending of what you need to do as well, so I've bumped the temp up to 700/710 if I've needed to).
So far so good. I think this is a really great unit. But for sure, if I didn't have the proper tip geometry, large enough for the soldering I was doing, I would be frustrated and would have to run the tips much hotter than otherwise necessary. But swapping out the tips is a breeze.