Good idea to buy Soldering Station?

[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

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

:D

Hehe.

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

Well, I'd be willing to do this, but I couldn't understand correctly how it works. Could anyone tell in a simpler way, how does it works, and what do I have to do to my soldering iron to adapt it. I would thank you all really a lot

Soldering stations are really expensive here in Argentina + I love DIY.


EDIT: I have a new doubt with this solder.. supose I leave it on lots of time, it will keep raising temp, or it will maintain the temp you set?

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

. supose I leave it on lots of time, it will keep raising temp, or it will maintain the temp you set?

If it has a thermostat adjustment (knob or screwdriver adjustment), then it will stay where it is set.

As encouragement, I have seen people do truly magnificent soldering with pretty unimpressive irons.
It's just harder, that's all. Whatever iron you use, the same rules apply.

It's like playing guitar, where the famous player has a wonderful sounding guitar with perfect setup, while the beginner has one that is genuinely difficult or almost impossible to play - but the famous player would do a pretty good job on it even so

[QSQCaito]

Of course paul, I totally agree.- But if I built this it would be for another reason. Everytime I finish soldering I have to turn it off(with an improvised switch i put) or it'll get pretty darn hot. And when I want to solder turn it on.. and it's a waste of time until it gets hot again..

just for that, otherwise i love my cheap solder.

[ulysses]

i use goot gear.

goot lead free solder
goot 18watt superfine tip soldering iron for surface mount work
goot 46watt regular tip soldering iron for regular soldering
goot desoldering braid
good tip refresher

i have been using the above for about 2 years.. i had to buy a new superfine tip for the 18watter becasue i dropped it from my desk and bent it right out of shape. i tried to bend it back but it was never the same.

you could try tip refresher or buy a new nib..or buy a decent soldering iron like the goot ones or save up for a soldering station.

cheers
ulysses

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

I don't erncourage people to play around with the mains (never touch them myself) but, if you want the iron to run cooler when it is not in use, you could possibly arrange a mains voltage relay that switches a series diode in and out of series with the iron. So that when the iron is on standby, the diode is in series and cuts power to a half.
A small swich in the soldering iron stand could control the relay, perhaps.

[QSQCaito]

I guess that just for fun will try the DIY station..

Is it too complicated to run it on 220, instead of 110.. or I'd rather get a transformer??

Thanks a lot

bye bye

DAC

[theblackman]

i recently got a soldering station as i was always melting circuit boards with my crappy hardware soldering iron, my joints are nice and shiny now and look as good as gear that i have bought.

[chillhuman]

I got a weller station, and it's very nice. It gets hot right away, and it's nice to know that when the light stops flashing it will give the same feel every time.