After realising that I can't get replacement tips in the UK for my Weller SP40 iron and that my Antex XS25 isn't powerful enough for certain applications, I've decided to take the plunge and buy a soldering station.
I'm looking to spend £150 tops on either a second hand or brand new station. I'm aware of Weller, Antex and Hakko but I am not familiar with some of the other brands out there like Yihau, Tenma, Atten etc...
If anyone has any recommendations for a reliable soldering station, 40w plus with variable temperature control up to 480 celsius, I'd be most appreciative. Like Netflix, there's just too many choices out there... Thanks.
I had an Atten for a while, thinking that it was a budget copy of something better. Unfortunately, the emphasis was on "budget" and not on "copy". The handle and the iron kept coming loose and wouldn't tighten up, and eventually I had to ditch it. It only lasted a couple of years.
Before that I had a couple of Antex XS25 (the first one was called a X25, it was that long ago) and I must have done thirty years of work with those two irons.
I eventually decided to shell out the money and replaced the Atten with a Hakko, which I'm very happy with, but it wasn't cheap.
My advice would be to go for one of the good brands but don't pay for stupid features you don't need. You don't need several settings of different temperatures or whatever. Being able to chnge the temperature once in a while is useful, but it happens rarely. Mostly you want it to get hot fast and stay hot and that's it. That's what the Antex does and that's why those are still great soldering irons all these years later (I bought my first one in the 1980s).
I suppose the budget option would be to get something more powerful than the Antex for the jobs where you need that, like soldering stuff where there's big bits of metal that need to be heated up (thinking about some amps I've worked on here) and then use the Antex or Weller for everything else.
Maybe one of us out here in the non-UK world can help you get tips for the SP-40 if Weller are still making them?
"SP-40" seems to be their trade-name for down-price disposable irons. I see different things listed as SP-40.
Tenma has sold ham tools since Nixon was in office (before your Thacher). They are popular-price not best-quality, but seem to serve. (I see their SWR meters in silent-key yard sales working fine.)
I've had Ungers since the 1980s so no current advice.
Amazon has tips. Don't they ship to the UK?
Quote from: mozz on April 09, 2025, 05:10:36 PMAmazon has tips. Don't they ship to the UK?
They do, but Bezos isn't getting a penny off me. Never has, never will.
Quote from: ElectricDruid on April 09, 2025, 12:25:52 PMI had an Atten for a while, thinking that it was a budget copy of something better. Unfortunately, the emphasis was on "budget" and not on "copy". The handle and the iron kept coming loose and wouldn't tighten up, and eventually I had to ditch it. It only lasted a couple of years.
Before that I had a couple of Antex XS25 (the first one was called a X25, it was that long ago) and I must have done thirty years of work with those two irons.
I eventually decided to shell out the money and replaced the Atten with a Hakko, which I'm very happy with, but it wasn't cheap.
My advice would be to go for one of the good brands but don't pay for stupid features you don't need. You don't need several settings of different temperatures or whatever. Being able to chnge the temperature once in a while is useful, but it happens rarely. Mostly you want it to get hot fast and stay hot and that's it. That's what the Antex does and that's why those are still great soldering irons all these years later (I bought my first one in the 1980s).
I suppose the budget option would be to get something more powerful than the Antex for the jobs where you need that, like soldering stuff where there's big bits of metal that need to be heated up (thinking about some amps I've worked on here) and then use the Antex or Weller for everything else.
Maybe one of us out here in the non-UK world can help you get tips for the SP-40 if Weller are still making them?
Thanks for the heads up on the Atten. I was giving them some consideration so you've helped settle that for me.
I'm just about to start my first amp build, hence why I dug out the Weller having replaced it with the XS25 due to the ease with which the Weller destroyed stripboards, pcbs and semiconducting components! Alas, the tip was beyond saving (I think someone might have said that to John Wayne Bobbitt once...).
If I was soldering as a full time professional pedal builder then the Hakko would be a no brainer but, as I'm not, I feel like it would be like me owning a Pete Cornish custom pedal board despite not having a world tour to go on. That said, I'm looking to make the kind of purchase that would mean never buying a soldering iron again, so I guess there's got to be a certain amount spent for that to happen. I don't think anyone ever said buy expensive, buy twice.
Quote from: PRR on April 09, 2025, 02:24:05 PM"SP-40" seems to be their trade-name for down-price disposable irons. I see different things listed as SP-40.
Tenma has sold ham tools since Nixon was in office (before your Thacher). They are popular-price not best-quality, but seem to serve. (I see their SWR meters in silent-key yard sales working fine.)
I've had Ungers since the 1980s so no current advice.
I'll investigate Tenma a little more, thanks. If they've been selling tools for that long then they must be doing something right, even if Nixon and Thatcher weren't! Let's not get political now...
I'm also going to investigate Ungers, if only because I like the sound of the name.
My Weller wes51 soldering station went dead in the middle of a project. I needed something fast, so I decided to try the YIHUA 939D+ which was $50 on Amazon at the time (now it is $53). I don't know how it will last, but to works great. It heats up faster than my weller did. So far I am loving it. I will eventually fix my Weller and sell it.
Mike
Ungar is gone. Weller ate them?
(https://i.postimg.cc/Q93jRNGM/Ungar-Iron-1946.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Q93jRNGM) - (https://i.postimg.cc/qNT6xrgp/Ungar-ring-1.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/qNT6xrgp)
I had my father's old Ungar with the cork handle. Still around here somewhere. I liked those screw in elements, I think even radio shack had those elements and may have even sold a clone.
The cork handle may be pre-1970?? Radio Shack sold authentic Ungars, handles elements and tips, with Ungar part numbers. The close-up in my post above is a 45W, which was not widely sold except at RS. Of course RS also sold no-name irons at all prices, mostly terrible even for woodburning.
https://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=257097
Semi topical, as I've been smoking up rosin with a Radio Shack iron for nigh 20 years now. When Radio Shack went under, I figured I'd never be able to get tips for it again. I've been looking at the Hakko one that is all blue and yellow and looks like something a toddler would play with, as a replacement.
Butt, after some research the thing I discovered was that almost all irons use one of only a handful of heaters. If you can figure out what heater is in your iron, and then what other irons have the same heater, you can usually buy those brand of tips and they'll fit your iron.
I'm currently using some Weller tips on my Radio Shack iron, and they're way better than the Radio Shack ones were. That said, if there is anything that I should probably invest money into it's a better soldering station. I've never heard of the Antex brand but I'll look those up too. I like the "I did 30 years of work with it" part.
Quote from: phaeton on April 10, 2025, 09:16:18 PMI've never heard of the Antex brand
Seems to be very British. 4 Darklake View, Estover, Plymouth, Devon. All listed distributors are in UK.
Quote from: PRR on April 10, 2025, 01:51:46 PMUngar is gone. Weller ate them?
(https://i.postimg.cc/Q93jRNGM/Ungar-Iron-1946.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Q93jRNGM) - (https://i.postimg.cc/qNT6xrgp/Ungar-ring-1.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/qNT6xrgp)
I think Ungar went on to fly Airplanes for a short while with Oveur and Dunn. I'll get me coat...
Quote from: PRR on April 10, 2025, 10:20:37 PMSeems to be very British.
It is indeed. I've had two since I started soldering as a teen. That first one sounds like it's the same as Tom's. I only upgraded to the second one after about 35 years, only because I could. The original is still working fine. I just convinced myself I needed a newer model (yeah, GAS...).