New Soldering Iron

[BillyB]

Well im getting tired of my 2 Radioshack irons.  One broke on me, but they both just burn up tips.

Any recommendations for soldering stations/irons?  Keep the price fairly low $50-60.  I saw someone mention a nice one a few weeks ago but I forget what it was.

Thanks for the help,
Billy

[ulysses]

i use goot irons and i love them.

cheers
ulysses

[dano12]

I've been through all the crappy Rat Shack irons. On the advice of several forumites, I got this Xytronics model:



http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7501

39 bucks, and it is the best iron I've used. Highly recommended.

[BillyB]

Dano- Cheers!  That was the one I mentioned that I forgot what it was called.  Thats what im going for.  Thanks!

By the way, whats that wierd gold stuff on the left?  Tip cleaner?

Thanks,
Billy

[dano12]

Dano- Cheers!  That was the one I mentioned that I forgot what it was called.  Thats what im going for.  Thanks!

By the way, whats that wierd gold stuff on the left?  Tip cleaner?

Thanks,
Billy

Yes, a tip cleaner. Much better than the wet sponge approach. Just jam the tip into the gold wire stuff and twist it around a bit.

Others use Brillo type/metal scouring pads (ones without soap) with good results.

[theundeadelvis]

I have this one and have been very pleased: http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/3528

[Solidhex]

Yo

  Was looking for some info on good soldering irons and dragged this thread from the past. I had the red Weller one but it just crapped out on me. I was looking at the one Dano had mentioned in this thread and was wondering how readily available the tips were for them. The thing I liked about the weller was being able to replace the tip at my local electronics store.

--Brad

[Sir_Ian]

I work at Harbor Freight Tools, and today I noticed a 50 or so dollar soldering iron on sale for like 30 dollars. I don't know how good it is. It was variable temperature (you could set it between like 200 and 900 degrees farenheight). I wouldn't drive an hour just to look at it. It was a great deal, but a deal none the less. But if you have one in the close vicinity, I'd consider taking a look.

[petemoore]

  Yupp...red weller one did that on me.
  Runaway heat is the theory, I left it set pretty hot, i think it baked the element [17 dollar/ warranty item].
  With this tip I'm trying to keep between 12 and 1 oclock on the dial unless the tip is having the heat sucked out of it on a fat lug or something, I set it at 4 or 5 oclock for that, then right back down to about 'noon'.

[Solidhex]

I wouldn't mind getting one that turns off automatically after an extended period of time. Hate that "did I turn off the (oven, coffee maker, solder iron)?" feeling.

--Brad

[Incubus]

Heres a pic of  NASA engineer soldering a connector for the fuel sensor which goes into the external fuel tank of the space shuttle. (from 2 missions ago).

He likes his weller.

http://img190.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=89108_170419main__DSC0049_1024_122_158lo.jpg

For what it's worth, I use a Hakko.

[scaesic]

I've been through all the crappy Rat Shack irons. On the advice of several forumites, I got this Xytronics model:



http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7501

39 bucks, and it is the best iron I've used. Highly recommended.

+1

Works 1000 times better than those cheapy throw away irons you get, where the tip just corodes making it impossible to use.

Best price/performance i could find.

The only diff to this model is in the place of a spounge i got a small wire tip cleaner, like the cleaner next to the station. So even better.

[eurekaiv]

Is that Xytronix considered better then the $40 model sold under the "CircuitSpecialists.com" name (that's rumored to be identical in every respect to a FAR more expensive Hakko) here?  I have this one and it's really good, the wand is especially nice (and easily replaceable on the fly) and there seems a larger selection of tips sizes and shapes available, but I've never noticed the Xytronix stuff on their site since they weren't included under the "soldering stations" category.

[mutagenic]

I've been through all the crappy Rat Shack irons. On the advice of several forumites, I got this Xytronics model:



http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7501

39 bucks, and it is the best iron I've used. Highly recommended.

I have that one too, I absolutely love it.  I've had it for about a year with no problems.

[Solidhex]

All right.. I'm sold. Got one on the way.

--Brad