Solder Nirvana

[KazooMan]

OK, I admit it.  I have posted several times about making my own tips for cheap "big box" DIY store soldering irons.  That did solve the problem of the high cost of replacement tips for low cost irons, but they did burn up quickly and always carried a coat of oxidized junk.

After reading many postings about soldering irons, I finally decided to bite the bullet and I bought a Weller WESD51 soldering station on ebay.  Great price, instantaneous delivery.

WOW..... WOW..... WOW......... all I can say is WOW......

What an amazing difference.  Extremely fast heating up to temperature, no ugly, crusty gobs of oxidized crud on the tip, and a great, light weight handle.   This is going to be SWEET!

However, when I  showed my new toy to my wife the first thing out of her mouth was NOT "why did you spend more money on that thing" BUT "what an ugly color"!  What were the marketing folks thinking?  Geeeezzzz, the robin's egg blue color is such a bizarre choice.

Kazooman

BTW..... I have enough rod stock to make 30 or 40 tips for "big box store" irons.  i would be happy to donate this to a worthy cause.  Lesson learned..... cheaper ain't always better.  Sometimes you have to pay the price to get quality.

[nick d]

You are SO right! When I recently took up this game after a 15-year break , I was drawn in by a "Soldering Kit" from a cheap supermarket chain(beggining with "N"). 100W gun , 25W iron with fine tip ,solder sucker , stand etc.All in a nice carry-case.  Worth it for the iron alone , I thought. How wrong I was!  Plugged the iron in , made a coffee , went back to the iron-stone cold! Checked the fuse - OK , checked the element - O.C! Could't be bothered taking it back (only £5) , needless to say I rarely go back to that store!
           On the good side , the gun works(only used it twice) , the sucker is OK , and the 2gm of solder lasted 10mins! The case might come in handy one day.
      Since then , lashed out £20 on an Antex kit from a proper electronics shop - no problems at all!!! The moral is , with tools or anything else , ALWAYS buy the best you can afford!

[PRR]

Weller has used that blue for decades.... pretty much since the days the only color was black (or that red-stained wood).

It stands out on the bench so as you can find it. Just like my orange-pink drill. I got it cheap because nobody wanted THAT color.... but 35 years later I can still find it.

[humptydumpty]

I should be gettin a hakko 936 soon, or so I hope,  

My first soldering iron was some crappy no name chinese import product, such crap.

Then I spent 15 dollars on a Weller sp-23, and I still use it, I've replaced a tip, and my current tip is looking pretty crappy, but its 5 bucks for two tips down at the hardware store, so until I can afford my Hakko, I'll keep replacing the tips.

I don't like how long it takes my current iron to heat up though.

[arizonabay]

I love that blue!

[petemoore]

  Oh yes, baby blue poo colored , have one right here.
  Weller does have Orange IIRC.

[Paul Marossy]

However, when I  showed my new toy to my wife the first thing out of her mouth was NOT "why did you spend more money on that thing" BUT "what an ugly color"!  What were the marketing folks thinking?  Geeeezzzz, the robin's egg blue color is such a bizarre choice.

It seems like that was the color of choice for test equipment, too. My old Tek 453 has that color for the case. And my old tube tester is that sort of color, too. And my frequency counter. And also my function generator.

Oh, and MY soldering iron also has that color for the handle.