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Soldering Iron Recommendations

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EARNEST said:
Cheers.
I heard Weller's are quite overpriced:thwap: So not sure. I really like Hakko 936, but cannot afford that one right now...Nevertheless, if Hakko is a good investment and I won't regret it...should I buy it? I live in Europe, so not sure if that is a problem.
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I really hate to tell other people what to do with their money, but keep in mind that Weller is a premium brand and they charge what the market will bear for their irons.

Weller makes a similar iron to the Hakko, but it is slightly more. Either would be a good investment. I'm not sure how the tip situation is in Europe, but Hakko tips are harder to come by here in the States. Weller is an American product, so tips are easy to find locally in electronic stores. Since Hakko is Japanese, it may actually be easier to find tips than for Weller in Europe. That is one thing you probably should research.

If you're only planning to do one project, an inexpensive iron will do. But if you get bitten by the DIY bug, a Weller or Hakko is a great investment.

tung
 
tunghaichuan said:
I really hate to tell other people what to do with their money, but keep in mind that Weller is a premium brand and they charge what the market will bear for their irons.

Weller makes a similar iron to the Hakko, but it is slightly more. Either would be a good investment. I'm not sure how the tip situation is in Europe, but Hakko tips are harder to come by here in the States. Weller is an American product, so tips are easy to find locally in electronic stores. Since Hakko is Japanese, it may actually be easier to find tips than for Weller in Europe. That is one thing you probably should research.

If you're only planning to do one project, an inexpensive iron will do. But if you get bitten by the DIY bug, a Weller or Hakko is a great investment.

tung
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I see, cheers man. Also, I know it is off the main topic, but don't tell them :master: :D What book/articles would you recommend to a newbie in order to understand the basics: how the components work (resistors, caps etc), what combinations of those components effect the sound and so on. Thanks :P
 
I just searched the thread to see if it had been mentioned, and didn't find it, so I will suggest the Xytronic 379 soldering station:
http://www.howardelectronics.com/xytronic/379.html

I bought one, several months back, after reading glowing (pun intended? umm... I'm not sure) reviews of this setup and what a great value it is. I haven't really used it extensively since I got it, but it certainly blows away the pencil irons I was using before this. Heats up very quickly. The scouring pad cleaner is very useful. The only qualm I have with it is that the insulation on the cord connecting the iron to the station kinks up, but it's not really that big of a deal.
 
I used to work for an electronics manufacuring company about 100 years ago, and everybody swore by the 40 watt American Beauty. It's just a pencil iron, but they last forever, and seem to maintain temperature even without a control station.

When we started building microprocessor-based controls, the production people had to use isolated temperature-controlled units from Weller. Hated 'em. Universally. Luckily, it wasn't long before we got a wave soldering machine, and building boards got a lot easier. Then the production girls could go back to the American Beauties for the heavier work like wiring transformers, switches, pots, and so forth.

To this day I still use one of those irons. I've had it for probably 30 years, and it still works like a charm. Past all that, they use a power cable that has some super-fine stranded wire, but enough of it to carry some decent current. I think it's about a 16 gauge. Plus, the rubber they use for insulation doesn't kink - it's very flexible. If you set the thing down on the bench because the stand isn't close by, the power cord doesn't have a mind of its own that forces hot end to lay down and touch the bench or twist to some other position you didn't intend for it.

Highly recommended.
 
Commodore 64 said:
I'm about to pull the trigger on this Stahl Soldering Iron. Pretty good price, for an occasional solder joint, I would hope it would be reliable.
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Did you end up buying this one?

I have a Weller that looks identical, except color. The one I have works great.

I picked mine up for $30 and it was a deal at that price - I would definitely jump on the Stahl at that price.
 
just strum said:
Did you end up buying this one?

I have a Weller that looks identical, except color. The one I have works great.

I picked mine up for $30 and it was a deal at that price - I would definitely jump on the Stahl at that price.
Click to expand...

Yes, I bought it. I haven't used it yet. However, my BYOC kit has arrived, and I'm expecting some other goodies for rewiring my latest CL purchase, so I'm hoping to use it soon...once this crazy holiday is over. Got one more day of crazy traveling today, then I'm DONE. Til Xmas, of course.
 
I use a Radioshack branded temperature control station that I have used for a good number of years now. I have also used many cheap irons of all types, and keep one in a drawer for taking on the go. In my experience, even a cheapo iron tip will last plenty long if treated properly. If you are destroying tips left and right, there is something wrong with your technique, no matter how cheap the hardware.

As soon as a tip gets contaminated, it must be cleaned and re-tinned. If the contamination is allowed to cake or remain, it will damage the surface of the tip below the tinned surface, and that's the end of your tip. They can sometimes be saved, but often can not. This is what results in the demise of most soldering tips.

As soon as you see a spot or any blackening anywhere on your tip, stop and feed fresh solder onto it until it bubbles off and there is an excessive drop of solder hanging from your tip, then roll the iron so the fresh solder coats the whole tip. If it is really carbonized, you may have to scrape it first. I use an exacto to very gently scrape the crust off. Then coat the tip in fresh solder.

If you are careful to keep your tip clean and tinned, it should last forever.

It should be noted that I do use Weller tips because they fit in my iron and are available in various profiles. They are indeed of a better quality than your usual Shack brand iron tips.
 
Tip

I always burn off some paste flux after I scrape the tip off with the back of the exacto knife blade, not the sharp part. This saves the exacto blade. Then I put some solder on the tip to tin it and the solder stays on and doesn't just roll off.
 
Duff said:
I always burn off some paste flux after I scrape the tip off with the back of the exacto knife blade, not the sharp part. This saves the exacto blade. Then I put some solder on the tip to tin it and the solder stays on and doesn't just roll off.
Click to expand...

This would probably be the appropriate method.

1. scrape clean
2. immerse heated tip in flux
3. apply fresh solder
4. wipe tip clean

I usually neglect the flux step, since the solder has flux in it. Your soldering setup should include a small cleaning sponge. Cut parallel lines in the surface to catch the solder, and wet it with water. After adding the fresh solder, wipe and roll the tip across the wet sponge to remove excess solder and remaining contaminants. Clean the sponge regularly as you work, so you are always wiping on a clean area. If you do this religiously as you work, you will never not destroy tips, even cheap ones.



Here's my setup. All Radioshack, except the tips. As you can see, it has seen its fair share of action, and continues to serve me well.
 
Tips

My old weller pencil type twenty five watt has the original tip, probably fifteen years old; used intermittently, not constantly. Household use only, guitar pickups, switches, and such.

I bought a cheap eight dollar fourty watt Radio Shack pencil type that burned out in about five months of equally mild use: total junk. Certainly not the RS soldering station mentioned here.
 
Its not as nice as some of the other temp controlled stations mentioned here, but I worked at RS some years back and got it real cheap. And indeed, RS stuff is usually just that: real cheap. And, of coarse, there is no replacement for quality.

Nevertheless, I maintain that you can get a whole lot of work out of even a cheap iron.

Good call on the flux, Duff. If your tip is in real trouble, this can do the trick.
 
Iron

Yeah. I want to get a decent 40 watt iron with a reasonably small pointed tip to get into pots, etc., without melting the surrounding wire shielding.

An inexpensive but good quality station would be great. What about those ones on the GFS page? They have a welding station I think. Any experience by anyone with of these?
 
Commodore 64 said:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=374-100

I've used that one to build a pedal and replace the innards on 2 guitars. So far, it's been great. Can't beat the price either at 15 bucks.
Click to expand...

I've got the same soldering station. When I saw it on sale for $12.00 before Christmas, I asked "Mrs. Santa" to get me one.

It's surprisingly well made for the money, and the tips look to be very good as well (I got an extra set with it). The unit does take longer than either of my two irons (25W & 40W) to heat up, and so far I've only used it for a couple of quick jobs. When I sit down to build my reverb pedal, I'll have some more time to play with the heat settings. If in the end it works only as well as my irons, it'll still be worth more than the cost for that alone...not to mention the nice station that goes along with it.
374-100_s.jpg
 
Duff said:
Do these soldering stations, 40 watts max, melt the new lead free solder being used internationally?
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They should, the temperature dial goes high enough. But the issue is that the solder melts at such a high temperature that the components can cook due to the high heat. Also, the joints using the new lead-free solder aren't shiny like leaded solder joints so it is hard to tell if the joint is cold-soldered joint or not.
 
Burn

Tunghaichuan, so what is the best approach?

New lead free solder requires more heat. Heat can destroy components.

Wouldn't a 200 watt soldering gun or more powerful than 40 watt iron heat up the joint faster at the local site and penetrate less net heat into the component; thereby heating the joint site to required temp fast, do the soldering, and get out of there?

Use leaded solder over the old new solder joint, clip old wires, and use low power 20 - 40 watt pencil iron?
 
IMHO, the best approach is to stock up on leaded solder. That new stuff flat out sucks. I have pretty much a lifetime supply. I believe leaded solder is still sold in the USA, so I'd get some while I still could.

For soldering, it really isn't how much wattage the iron has, it is more the mass of the tip. I think a a 40-60 watt station is the best. But get a tip that is suitable for soldering guitar stuff.

The nice thing about the soldering stations is that several different sizes and types of tips are available. The tips also tend to be better quality. The two replacements I got for my Hakko station are still going strong after 15 years of use.

You don't want an iron that is too powerful, a 200 watt iron with a massive tip would fry your components in a hurry unless you were very quick with the iron.

Also you'd want to remove the old solder with a solder sucker or desoldering wick, even if it is the new lead free stuff. You want to get a nice clean joint, don't solder over existing lead free joints. So basically, you have to learn how to de-solder the new stuff effectively so you can replace it with leaded.


Duff said:
Tunghaichuan, so what is the best approach?

New lead free solder requires more heat. Heat can destroy components.

Wouldn't a 200 watt soldering gun or more powerful than 40 watt iron heat up the joint faster at the local site and penetrate less net heat into the component; thereby heating the joint site to required temp fast, do the soldering, and get out of there?

Use leaded solder over the old new solder joint, clip old wires, and use low power 20 - 40 watt pencil iron?
Click to expand...
 
I've found this thread to be very helpful. Thanks all. Tung, you especially seem to know your stuff. I am thinking to order the Hakko 936 but I am surprised to learn that it sells for twice the price (here in Japan) as in the US. I am currently using a very cheap $4 iron and have tons of soldering coming up so I do need to upgrade to a station. I saw a Hakko 936 shipping from China for $70 which looks authentic but you never know. Perhaps I'll give it a try.

For those asking about tip shapes, the Hakko site has a helpful guide:

http://www.hakko.com/english/tip_selection/index.html

BTW Tung. I just noticed. Do you like The Immigrant Song or are you a devotee of Thor by chance? :)
 
Burning

Therefore, Tung, if a lot of heat is required to melt the new solder how do you remove it without burning the inside of the pots, etc.?

What is the best method to use here? Wrap the pot in a piece of wet cloth to help absorb the heat?
 
Duff said:
Therefore, Tung, if a lot of heat is required to melt the new solder how do you remove it without burning the inside of the pots, etc.?

What is the best method to use here? Wrap the pot in a piece of wet cloth to help absorb the heat?
Click to expand...

Like anything else, you need a lot of skill. You also have to have the optimal setup, which is a temperature controlled station and the correct tip with enough mass to melt the solder quickly and remove it before it cooks the components. Speed is of the essence here. That, and a lot of practice.
 
Just got the Hakko 936 station and it works great. Heats up in seconds, nice iron. Amazing what a difference it is from the cheap iron I was using.
 
syo said:
Just got the Hakko 936 station and it works great. Heats up in seconds, nice iron. Amazing what a difference it is from the cheap iron I was using.
Click to expand...
I'm sure loving mine....and kicking myself for not having bought one sooner! :thwap
 
duhvoodooman said:
I'm sure loving mine....and kicking myself for not having bought one sooner! :thwap
Click to expand...

I feel exactly the same! :thwap
 
Syo,

Sorry, I missed this before:

syo said:
BTW Tung. I just noticed. Do you like The Immigrant Song or are you a devotee of Thor by chance? :)
Click to expand...

I'm not a big fan of Led Zep, mainly because it was so over-played in the 80s and I got sick of hearing it all the time.

I just like Thor's Hammer as a symbol, it's not like I'm a devote of Asatru. :)
 

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