What are you using for a soldering station?

[wavley]

>At home I use a Xtronic 136esd, but I stepped on the iron and need to replace it because it's gone a bit wiggly.

Hopefully it was off!   

It was, but I do have a scar from junior high (more years ago than I'm willing to admit) when I accidentally leaned on my soldering gun.

[Timoren]

I just upgraded from a Tenma 21-7945 to a Hakko FX888D with a chisel tip and I absolutely love it. I cant believe how fast it heats up compared to my old one. I build at 680º F / 360º C. It's probably still a little too hot, but it's way cooler than the 750º F default of the solder station.

[rousejeremy]

Just got this one at work.

[IsaacMoth]

Weller all the way! The Hakko 808 desoldering gun might be my most prized possession though.

[Jdansti]

>At home I use a Xtronic 136esd, but I stepped on the iron and need to replace it because it's gone a bit wiggly.

Hopefully it was off!   

It was, but I do have a scar from junior high (more years ago than I'm willing to admit) when I accidentally leaned on my soldering gun.

Amazing how those "branding" scars last. I've got one too-about 1.5" x 0.5". I laid my left forearm down on my Dad's iron when I was 4 years old-almost 48 years ago. I can still remember my mother yelling at my father for allowing it to happen. Funny, she still yells at him for various reasons! 

[amptramp]

@amptramp Nice. joking aside, I do have a really big iron which gets pressed into service for soldering big wires to the back of big pots

My other hobby is restoring antique radios and many of them have ground lugs punched out of the 1/8" steel chassis.  Soldering to that takes a minor thermonuclear event.  My biggest soldering gun is 240 watts and it can't quite do it.  I would love to get one of the American Beauty 300 watt irons.

[wavley]

@amptramp Nice. joking aside, I do have a really big iron which gets pressed into service for soldering big wires to the back of big pots

My other hobby is restoring antique radios and many of them have ground lugs punched out of the 1/8" steel chassis.  Soldering to that takes a minor thermonuclear event.  My biggest soldering gun is 240 watts and it can't quite do it.  I would love to get one of the American Beauty 300 watt irons.

I use a small butane torch for that kind of stuff when you can get the surroundings clear enough to not burn anything.  Can caps in old amp can be a REAL pain to get out and back in, so much so that if it's for my own use I just disconnect them and find a place in the chassis to put modern caps, but sometimes you just can't.  Radio Shack used to sell a great really small torch that had a CO2 sized cylinder, they've long since stopped carrying that so I use a little bit bigger one I got at Lowes.

[Big Thurs]

http://www.mpja.com/Mini-Solder-Station-ZD-99/productinfo/15860%20TL/

Cheap clone of the popular weller station.  I bought it in 2005 I think, and I'm still on the original tip...for desoldering I use a rat shack desoldering iron.  The tips for those have something to be desired.

[merlinb]

Today I had fun turning the junk Weller I found in the skip into a bench PSU, using a voltmeter and LM317 kit I got from Chinese sellers on ebay. Whole thing cost me less than £5

[tubegeek]

I use a Weller WLC100 with a small screwdriver tip. It's about $50US and works great.

For a while, anyway. On mine, the dimmer gave out. Easy enough to replace though, just get a replacement 50W lamp dimmer and off you go.

@merlinb - I like that bench supply!

[boogietone]

Hakko 936.

I do like the weller psi also

[Jdansti]

I use a Weller WLC100 with a small screwdriver tip. It's about $50US and works great.

For a while, anyway. On mine, the dimmer gave out. Easy enough to replace though, just get a replacement 50W lamp dimmer and off you go.

Yep. Same here. At least the dimmers are cheap and easy to replace.

[mthibeau]

I was using an Aoyue-936, it was ok.

But then my father in law sent me his old station, and I have been using that since. I have no idea how old it is, 70s most likely, he sent me that solder sucker and that fat roll of vintage solder too.

[deadastronaut]

^ nice retro station..


love the PSU too...sweet.

[edvard]

Wow, you guys are so classy.   

Umm... tuna can (weighted with found lead wheel lugs for stability), wire coat hanger, stainless steel scrubby... Voilà! Soldering station!

[diydave]

Glad to see that I'm not the only one that uses a stainless steel scrubby! 
Nice idea about the coathanger!!

[duck_arse]

But then my father in law sent me his old station, and I have been using that since. I have no idea how old it is, 70s most likely, he sent me that solder sucker and that fat roll of vintage solder too.

is the old solder stinkier flux burning wise? and is the sucker an EDSYN, electronic design to suit your needs? those old big-barrel suckers really did the trick, and pack a hell of a kick as well.

@ diydave - coathangers are for jacob's ladders and car radio aerials (bent to the shape of australia) only.

[edvard]

Glad to see that I'm not the only one that uses a stainless steel scrubby! 
Nice idea about the coathanger!!

Yep!  You are not alone!  Actually, I think I got the scrubby idea from perusing these very forums.  What comes around, goes around I guess.
As for the coat hanger...

...coathangers are for jacob's ladders and car radio aerials (bent to the shape of australia) only.

Don't knock it 'til you try it! 
It was actually the only thing I could find that would make a semi coil-shaped solder wand holder.