What soldering iron, and where to buy one?


Binky

Death's Steed
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For the last year or two, I've been struggling along with a rather meh soldering iron.
60w-professional-lcd-solder-station-with-esd-protection.jpg


  • It was really cheap at £25 (Christmas sales)
  • It has a well-made, standalone base
  • Its more powerful than the one I had before

However, the temperature control is useless. Literally useless. Biggest piece of junk since <insert derogatory joke about modern art here>.

You set it to 400°C, and the solder starts to melt a good while after the screen says its reached temperature.

This guy pretty much covers it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRb1_DB234Q

This poor temperature control means that its unusable for all but the smallest of components with the smallest heat capacities.

So that's why I want a new soldering iron.

---

Now why am I asking here?

Well, there are plenty of reviews of soldering stations on t'webs. and a fair number of dedicated E/EE forums.

I can, and do look though them.

However, I'd be interested in personal recommendations from people I vaguely know.

I'm looking for:

  • Powerful enough to handle large/thick circuit board areas and wires
  • Separate stand / base
  • Adjustable temperature control that &?€%#! works
  • A reasonable range of interchangeable tips
  • Will last a long time
  • Analogue or digital - don't really mind
  • Costing between £50 and £100 (maybe up £150, since, as always seems to be the case, products in the price range I'm looking for are rare)
I'm interesting in suggestions for:

  • Online shops, preferably UK-based
  • Brands
  • Particular models
 
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That's disappointing.  Mine is also a Maplin Precision-gold jobbie too, albeit in a distinctly 1990's style case (beige, plasticy and bigger than it needs to be).  The solder iron holder in particular is rather plasticy, although the aluminium part that holds the iron is secure enough and hasn't done anything untoward to the plastic yet.

I think it's the old version of this, judging by the dimensions of it, although that version has lost the separate iron holder (for what that's worth).  It uses a four-port screw-on connector for the iron, so I suspect it's not a different version of the one you have.  Mine has three hard-coded presets as well as dedicated up and down buttons, wheras this new one seems to have lost the presets, but given the presets on mine are for 200, 300 and 400C I've never found them useful for anything apart from perhaps getting to the right range quickly (although it starts out at just above 300 from memory anyway).

I can't think of anything big I've soldered with it, but it's hot enough to melt lead-free solder when it says it is and hasn't deformed.  I can't say I'd be able to recommend it for serious work, but given I bought it for under 50 quid I'm not disappointed with it.  Even at today's price with a decent 15 quid soldering iron holder it's within your budget.
 
I am a little puzzled by the reviews of it on maplin's website (here)

They all say that it heats up very quickly but the stand is a bit dodgy - the exact opposite of my experience.

They also mention a finger guard. There is no finger guard.

Have maplin managed to associate the wrong reviews with the wrong product?

Edit: I'm also keeping a tally of different brands I've seen the sucky one under:

 
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In my opinion, it is worth it to spend a bit more on a good iron, so avoid chinese crap..

A few months ago, i bought an ERSA icon nano and am very satisfied wiith it. 

An other good brand would be Hakko
 
I've had another look at mine. I'm not sure it is the old version of that 60W unit now. For one thing, the case of the base is entirely plastic, not metal backed like that one I linked. Also, the iron is a mere 48W, not the full 60W.


That against it, I've taken the iron apart to compare it to the one in that video, and it's a rather different construction. The four lines are used two for the heater and two for the temperature sensor, and the earth is carried from the outside of the screw connector to the end of the tip, so that's nice. The wires carrying the juice along the cable are rather thin, and these are simply spliced on to thicker wires going to the heater, so I'm not sure how that works, but nothing's melted yet, so touch wood.


I guess the finger guard people might be talking about is the clamp that holds the solder bit on. The guy in the video refers to it as a finger guard at one point.
 
Weller is always a good brand but not cheap.


what kind of tip are you using?


I recommend a flat headded one as it gets the most heat to your component. Really pointy ones are useless unless you solder really small parts in limited space.
 
Found my iron on Maplin now: it's this one and they're still selling it it seems, but now for even cheaper than I paid. The reviews seem fairly accurate except for the one about buttons sticking - I guess the tips are as they describe, and though mine's not corroded yet I've not used it that much.
 
Weller is always a good brand but not cheap.


what kind of tip are you using?


I recommend a flat headded one as it gets the most heat to your component. Really pointy ones are useless unless you solder really small parts in limited space.
With Weller I always feel like I'm paying a premium just for the name. I picked this up on a good Amazon deal a while ago.. It's worked well for me.
 
It doesn't have a tendency to explode, does it :unsure: :p

Also, I'm a little wary of devices that claim to be simple and easy to use because they only have two buttons. Normally that means that each button performs many different functions, and the UI is littered with timeouts.
 
The fx-888 can still be gotten (with the knob.) the 888D has the buttons and readout.. Its a goofy Ui but at same time... Its a soldering iron. Set amd forget :)


I occasionally fiddle with temp and it takes 10s to figure out the buttons buts its rare enough not to worry. I usually run at the same temp.


Solid iron, not too expensive, good brand.


Even cheapies are okay but I like reliable tools.
 
Its not easy to get Hakkos in the UK

Dancap seems to be the only stockist...
 
Are irons which auto-detect when you've put the iron down a good idea?
 
Perhaps, if it works and doesn't give false alarms. You should never put an iron down though - it's either in use or in its holder, so you could argue that a drop sensor is more important.
 
Perhaps, if it works and doesn't give false alarms. You should never put an iron down though - it's either in use or in its holder, so you could argue that a drop sensor is more important.
That's what I mean, the holder detects when the iron is in the holder.

The idea is that if you leave the iron in the stand for more than <time>, it reduces temperature to save power and save your tip.
 
I suppose it depends on how bursty you are; tips are cheap and don't wear down that much. If you are pro and its on 10hr a day thats one thing.. as a hobbyist I tend to use it and turn it off, and the use is a few busy days and then not for a week or two.. Each tip will last quite awhile as long as you tin it to keep rust from occuring.


My hot air station turns the heat and blower off while in holder and it works pretty well and reliably so..


Could take or not? Dont use that as a determining factor. Aim for core competency and the rest is 'nice to have'?

Most good irons heat up and cool fast.. My Hakko is up to temp in a few seconds.
 
I got a cheapo from Hong Kong via ebay; works great.


For surface mount solder it can work; for desolder it is Awesome. For heat shrink tubing and some other stuff its handy.


I'm very glad to have it, but not tour first tool; o-scope and solder iron first. But I use the hot air rework a lot.


Heat gun can be helpful for mass melting, but pass on it unless you're recovering a lot of parts from mobos :) hot air rework != heat gun btw
 
Has anyone tried using an Antex soldering station?

They have a reputation for producing serviceable, if simple irons of the sort you plug directly into the mains, but I've never heard much about their stations.
 
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