Good idea to buy Soldering Station?

[GREEN FUZ]

I am finding myself increasingly frustrated with my Soldering Iron. It`s a cheap 25 watt. At first it worked fine but in time a deposit has formed which inhibits the transfer of heat making it practically impossible to use. I`ve tried lightly sanding the tip before re-tinning but it`s just not as good.
I follow the accepted guidelines for use; keep the tip tinned, wipe on damp sponge prior to use then re-tin afterwards.

I know how a good solder joint should look and when the Iron is working properly can speed through a build with ease. When it`s acting up though, soldering becomes a chore and exercise in make do. It seems no matter where or for how long you apply the Iron the solder wont flow, which leads to shoddy work and bad practices like applying the solder to the tip in an effort to make it flow.

All this preamble is leading to my question.

Should I invest in a Soldering Station and will this circumvent the sort of problems I`ve been having?

[guyg]

I have the exact same situation..

[Dan N]

There is no magic to a soldering station that keeps the tip clean.

[QSQCaito]

There is no magic to a soldering station that keeps the tip clean.

That's a good answer.

Let's compare and contrast then.

I believe someone with a soldering station will be more capable than me, but lets give a try.

In a SS(soldering station) we have a temp control, which is not available in our CS(cheap solder). The temp control give us the opportunity of controling the temp. If we can control the temperature we can avoid overheat, damaging components, while we can still raise the temperature if we need to solder thick wires(for example). Still,we can regulate our CS's tip length, having some degree of temp control. But it takes its time to heat, if we leave it on it becomes extremely hot.

Other than that, I can't really tell..


bye bye

DAC

[jlullo]

i feel like my xytronic soldering station that i bought from circuit specialists was the best investment that i made for this hobby.  i can't say enough good things about it.  i started on a crappy radio shack 25 watt monster, and there is no comparison

[Apehouse]

i feel like my xytronic soldering station that i bought from circuit specialists was the best investment that i made for this hobby.  i can't say enough good things about it.  i started on a crappy radio shack 25 watt monster, and there is no comparison

i wholeheartedly agree. Purchasing my xytronic station was a huge leap for me. Well worth the $40. It was like going from a volkswagen bug to a Porsche!
-Greg

[rmo]

One thing I'd like to add is that you can buy replacement tips for many irons. If you decide not to go down the soldering station road, you may be able to buy a replacement tip for your current iron. My cheapish weller iron has replaceable tips.

[Dave_B]

I used cheap irons for 20 years before getting a temp-controlled station.  Without being overly dramatic, I really wish I could get some of those years back. 

[boyersdad]

I think you may just need a new tip! I use two irons: a 40w Weller and a 25w Radio Shaft. The RS iron burns through tips in around a week. I keep buying the cheap RS tips for $2 a piece. I'm an idiot for wasting the money. Meanwhile, my Weller is older, and the original tip is still going strong. It's a large chisel tip that I use for chassis and pots etc.

I think if you get a good Weller tip, you'll be laughing.

My dad has a nice iron with temp control, but honestly I find I just keep it up nice and hot; get in and get out as fast as possible.

[boyersdad]

PS - there are DIY soldering stations you could consider, if you can get your iron to work long enough to get through one more board
http://members.shaw.ca/roma/iron.html

[soulsonic]

I have the Soldering Station 2-A that Circuit Specialists sells.
This one ---->  http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7508
It's really great, and I've been absolutely satisfied with it's performance. It has worked just as well - or better - than the $120+ Weller I used at work.
For keeping the iron tip clean, I highly highly recommend this: http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7499
It's the best, and it's so much better than sponges you'll wonder why you ever used anything else.

[boyersdad]

As for the tip cleaner, the 2 for 99 cent copper pan scrubbers work absolutely great! I've had the same one for about 5 months with no signs of visible wear. I don't even use the wet sponge anymore. The copper pad is great! Just make sure you don't get one with soap on it!

[GREEN FUZ]

Thanks for all the answers. Very heplful.

I knew I could just replace the tip but wasn`t sure how much service I should be expecting.

I guess the ability to vary the heat with a soldering station goes some way to conserving the tip.

[boyersdad]

In which case really check out the link above; a DIY soldering station that is super cheap and does just what the commercial units do.

PS - there area a TON of excellent circuits on that site!

[mydementia]

At the risk of being redundant, I'll just say that if you make more than a couple circuits a week, you should invest in a soldering station.  I started with the Radio Shack 25W iron and burned through two irons and ~20 tips in my first year of building (at $3/tip + $8/iron, I spent ~$78 in my first year).  Then I bought this xytronics soldering station from circuitspecialists:  http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7760 
I went with the xytronics over the Weller because a comparable Weller cost $175 (the xytronics was $60 including shipping).  I even bought an extra tip (since the RS irons made me worry about such things) - I've probably built 40 circuits with it and the orginal tip is still going strong (~9 months).

Mike

[Hanglow]

Get something like that? just sanding/cleaning the tip in a sponge only works for a bit, that kind of stuff cleans it easy. I have a £7 soldering iron, works fine although it is a little bulky. I have only done about twelve to fifteen projects though, thats about two a month. If I were to do a lot more I'd get a decent station.

[oskar]

And if you use a plated tip make sure you don't hurt it mechanically/ sand it. Once you get a breach in the
outer layer it will corrode hyperfast.
Use the tip more like a paintbrush and never use force...

Tip cleaners work and leave the tip booth clean and tinned but I'm not sure the tip would be free from acid
compounds that could corrode the solder joint or the tip. You're supposed to be able to use the tip directly but
when I took a course for a basic solder-certificate (IPC610), our teacher told us about another class in
which a rumour had spread that if you used the tip-cleaner stuff for soldering too, it would make amazing
solder-joints and be much easier too. It really worked and everybody used it without telling the teacher but
the final exam-test pcb's were sent to an official inspector for judgment who just called back amazed,
trying to figure out why all the joints were corroded, completely.   

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Another advantage of solder stations is that because they turn off the heater when hot enough, they can have a more powerful heater in them than an iron that just stays on (because the latter is a compromise between having a heater that is weak enough not to overheat the tip when waiting to be used,, and having a heater powerful enough to stay hot during continuous use).
And while I am here, +++ on not using a tip as a prybar, and don't touch anything plastic with them (I think PVC does something bad to the surface...)

[QSQCaito]

i wholeheartedly agree. Purchasing my xytronic station was a huge leap for me. Well worth the $40. It was like going from a volkswagen bug to a Porsche!
-Greg

I'll have to add that, actually, the VW bug is a Porsche's model

[Apehouse]

i wholeheartedly agree. Purchasing my xytronic station was a huge leap for me. Well worth the $40. It was like going from a volkswagen bug to a Porsche!
-Greg

I'll have to add that, actually, the VW bug is a Porsche's model

HAAAAAA! i was wondering if someone would bust my chops over that. 
I should have said its like going from my Karmann Ghia convertible to a Porsche 911 convertible. You think you got it all with the wind blowing in your hair and the Volkswagen motor puttering away, pushing you along and then you drive your buddies 911 and can never quite look at your ghia the same again. And thats not to say their is anything wrong with a ghia (i'll NEVER give mine up!) but apples and oranges really..

nice catch! he he