another soldering iron thread...

[jefe]

Can anyone give a rundown on what you get when you buy an expensive iron?

I've been using an $8 Radio Shack iron for a while now. I've done about 25 projects with it and it seems to be doing the job just fine. Even if it dies, I can buy about 15 more of them for the price of a Weller. That said, maybe I'm making my work harder than it needs to be.

So what am I missing out on?

I was going through tips like crazy on my RS iron, not so with my soldering station. The station came with some of that snazzy "brass wool" stuff for tip cleaning, and it works great, so I'm not sure if that's helping my tip life - always used the old wet sponge before. Much easier to keep my tip clean and working properly now.

As others said, the soldering station heats up a lot faster than a stand-alone iron. It's nice to have some variability to the temp as well, although I've found about two settings, both rather high temp, that I stick to. A soldering station iron is lighter and just easier to use... stays cool, feels comfortable in the hand... it's hard to explain, but it just feels nicer, and your soldering improves as a result.

[trixdropd]

I am also using the aoyue 937+ and it's a nice iron for 50 bucks!!

[Nitefly182]

I use a weller WES51 and its been an awesome iron. I think it was about $100 but if you cant get them in Britain that sucks Definitely go for something that is meant to be used in a professional setting so it will last a long time. I had a couple cheaper irons and they definitely felt like they were meant for 'every so often' use more than everyday use.

[bbmonster]

I think technique is a pretty big factor. So even with a cheapo iron I'd say you can still make nice joints. Cheap ones tend to overheat easily and there isn't any regulation, so if you can get some adjustment with a Variac or maybe a resistor(of the proper wattage and whatever resistance is best) in line with the AC that should help(probably the cheapest option). It still seems to overheat, so sometimes you need to cool it off a bit by lowering the power input or turning it off.

I remember in the Craig Anderton book he mentioned a switch with a diode to help control temperature a bit. I think someone else could elaborate on it better than I can.

[jefe]

BTW, in case anyone is interested... I'm using a Xytronic 137ESD, $85 from circuit specialists:

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/3528

Check their prices for other soldering equipment as well, they're pretty good, plus a free gift with your order - the dmm was the obvious choice for me.

[Dai H.]

I think technique is a pretty big factor. So even with a cheapo iron I'd say you can still make nice joints. Cheap ones tend to overheat easily and there isn't any regulation, so if you can get some adjustment with a Variac or maybe a resistor(of the proper wattage and whatever resistance is best) in line with the AC that should help(probably the cheapest option). It still seems to overheat, so sometimes you need to cool it off a bit by lowering the power input or turning it off.

I remember in the Craig Anderton book he mentioned a switch with a diode to help control temperature a bit. I think someone else could elaborate on it better than I can.

that's funny because I've got that on a couple of my cheap irons. I'd say (after having it for some time) it's useful for letting the iron cool off somewhat over a short period. The drawback is (if the iron's heater is the non-ceramic type which doesn't heat up quickly) is that it takes a while to get back up to temperature, so you need to wait a bit 'til you can solder again.

One thing to keep in mind if you're in the market for a new one, is that you may want to choose a model with a wide range of tips available. Been thinking about getting a Hakko 93-something which does have a wide variety avail., among them a wide flat blade screwdriver tip I want specifically for unsoldering alu electro caps off of mobos, etc.(you need to touch both leads otherwise the other side and the trace connected sinks away the heat enough to prevent de-soldering--AFAIK this is the least expensive, easiest way to remove caps from those types of boards). Bigger tips for bigger lugs, etc., smaller for more delicate work (SMT or whatever).