Soldering Iron Recommendations

[greengriff]

Hi All,

It's time to treat myself to a new iron. It's been a while since I bought one. A search on ebay revealed a bunch of makes I'd never heard of:

temperature controlled soldering iron | eBay UK

Can anyone recommend me a good iron? Is it worth going temperature controlled/adjustable temperature?

[jmaf]

Hi All,

It's time to treat myself to a new iron. It's been a while since I bought one. A search on ebay revealed a bunch of makes I'd never heard of:

temperature controlled soldering iron | eBay UK

Can anyone recommend me a good iron? Is it worth going temperature controlled/adjustable temperature?

When I was beginning I remember a lot of my solder looked worse than a more experienced colleague's. I'd keep watching him do it, and he didn't do much different than I. It turns out he had precise control of temperature and I didn't.

This is the best small iron I've owned: Catalog No. WTCPT Product Detail
For a bit larger stuff a temperature-controlled stained glass iron will do. Hope this helps.

[greengriff]

Great, many thanks for replying so quickly. Was it the w61d? There appear to be a couple of different weller temperature controlled irons.

[Jazz P Bass]

I have been using the WTCP series Weller station for 20 years.
The tips are not cheap
The heater assembly is readily available.
The cords tend to go open from flexing & it is a PITA to repair the break.
A new iron is going to set you back $90.00.
But they do work well when they do.

[Mark Black]

I too had been a decades-long user of the WTCP solder stations but a few years ago I got one of these:

Weller WESD51: Weller Digital Soldering Station

I couldn't be happier! The station only costs a little more than the venerable WTCP, it has temperature control and auto-shut down if left on & not used for 90 minutes or so (I burned through a few tips on the old station by leaving it on overnight). The tips cost a little less and are available from a wide number of places. The iron itself is skinnier & easier to get into tight spaces, and it is 50W so generally good for everything except direct-to-chassis work.

The WTCP has one other thing going against it: being magnetically temp-controlled it can be hurt by getting too close to a magnet. If you are soldering speaker leads and the iron gets sucked onto the speaker magnet you can just about bet the temp control will be screwed up (usually runs way too hot) and it will be time to replace the SW60 switch at about (currently) $30 along with the probably-ruined tip.

There is a slightly cheaper version but I can't speak from experience, although it should be about the same only without the digital readout:

Weller WES51: Weller Analog Soldering Station

[dai h.]

I have a Hakko 933 and I think it's a good product (and I certainly wouldn't get rid of it) however, I don't find a non-temp. controlled iron a complete hindrance to making a good solder joint. If you have a variac, that can help (in providing control over the temp.). If there isn't one available, then you could try a high wattage power resistor to drop the AC voltage a bit (I suppose you would need to experiment--I've seen values such as about 8 ohms being used for such). Disadvantages for the cheapies (I think usually nichrome element) seem to be (besides the temp. aspect), slow ramp up to working temp., tendency to overheat (have to turn it off or reduce AC to cool it off a bit).

[diagrammatiks]

I just grabbed a xytronics 168.

amazing and not that expensive.

[Amp Kat]

I have a Hakko 933 and I think it's a good product (and I certainly wouldn't get rid of it) however, I don't find a non-temp. controlled iron a complete hindrance to making a good solder joint. If you have a variac, that can help (in providing control over the temp.). If there isn't one available, then you could try a high wattage power resistor to drop the AC voltage a bit (I suppose you would need to experiment--I've seen values such as about 8 ohms being used for such). Disadvantages for the cheapies (I think usually nichrome element) seem to be (besides the temp. aspect), slow ramp up to working temp., tendency to overheat (have to turn it off or reduce AC to cool it off a bit).

^^^For the money I don't think there is a better iron out there. I'm not crazy about the Wellers although many love them. I'll take the Hakko any day as it heats up faster and never drops out on you like some of the Wellers do. The tips are relatively cheap and are readily available. I use an Edysyn at work and it has SMT capabilities but for a stand-alone at the house I'll never trade in the Hakko and it is pretty cheap. I know more Engineers that have them also because they are so cheap and do the job well. Just my .002

[redelephant]

I also have great loving memory of my Hakko. Unfortunately I needed a new tip at the same time as I got a Weller station and ended up giving the Hakko to a friend. I actually miss the Hakko, and when the Weller needs replacement I sure will look to Hakko. Most comfortable iron to hold as well as doing great solderings with.

[Gtr_tech]

Pretty hard to beat the Weller WP irons as long as you don't need temp control. I've used the WP35 with various size tips for 15 years and it never fails. The W100P is great for chassis solder joints....

[dai h.]

One thing that might be worth keeping in mind for new products is that evidently there are fakes(counterfeits) out there (for example check out the Hakko site for info on fake Hakkos and fake Hakko gear selling web sites they've managed to have shut down). Soldering irons, soldering iron tips, solder, etc.--and some are apparently indistinguishable from the real deal in appearance. Performance wise, one bit I remember reading is that some of the fake tips have excessive plating so don't work as well. (Not to paint all "good deals" with the "counterfeit" tarnish, but) might want to be a little extra vigilant when encountering "really good deals" (although of course there are genuinely good deals with closeouts, surplus or whatever sometimes).

re: the Hakko 933, initially I was wary about buying another temp. controlled after buying a "goot" (Taiyo Electric) brand one some time ago (that seems to be pretty much crap--the heater element doesn't seem to provide enough "muscle" or temp. stability) but (seeming to need one for motherboard work and) after seeing it recommended at this "pro" guy(does stuff for a living, gives seminars, makes instuctional DVDs, etc.)'s website, I got one and (after using it a while) it does seem to be pretty good. Compared to the crappy "goot" brand, what is kind of impressive is how the electronics are all inside the handle. If I had a small nit to pick (in hindsight) perhaps I should've bought the two wire (they are avail. here in Japan in two and three-wire versions) since the thicker cord makes it slightly unwieldy (though the grounded tip is better against static I guess).

[Rhodesplyr]

When I was a hobbyist, I happily used an American-made Weller WP35 for something like 18 years. It finally wore out, so, a couple of years ago, I bought a new one, which I thought would be an exact replacement for my old one. I was wrong. Weller had been bought by Cooper Tools, and production had been moved to Mexico. The quality of the new iron is nowhere near the one I bought in 1990. They may have resolved this, but I found that the Mexican-made tips were inconsistent in size. Some fit the barrel properly, some rattled around in it. When I contacted Weller about it, they were very dismissive -- telling me that that couldn't possibly be true. I'm tired of having to mess with it to try to get it to work properly.

Weller's more expensive models may be OK, but I was very disappointed in the replacement Weller iron I bought and in their customer support, so I'm currently shopping for a Hakko station.

I know several techs who swear by the Hakko 936-12, which has recently been discontinued. Has anyone tried the new FX888 that replaces it?

[imaradiostar]

I'll take my low dollar hakko irons over the temp controlled wellers at work any day! I agree that they've gone down in quality over the years.

I've used the nicer Hakko irons and they're excellent as well. I have a cheap hakko pencil iron with a "100 watt" button that you can press when you need extra heat and for not being a temp controlled iron it does excellent work.

jamie

[Rhodesplyr]

Pretty hard to beat the Weller WP irons as long as you don't need temp control. I've used the WP35 with various size tips for 15 years and it never fails.

I loved my WP35, too, but, as I recounted in my other post to this thread, if you went out to buy a new one today, you might be disappointed by a 2011 WP35 compared to a 1996 WP35.

For chassis solder connections, I've got an American Beauty 3138 I inherited from my grandfather.

100 Watt, 3/8" Heavy-Duty Soldering Iron-Model 3138-100 - American Beauty Soldering Tools