Soldering Iron Question

[masonwilson13]

What is a well recommended soldering iron? I am looking into buying one so i thought i would ask for some suggestions 



Thanks,
Mason

[GibsonGM]

The brand Weller is top of the line.  Other than that, about any well-built iron will do you well. Get a few extra tips for it, ha ha.  You'll need 'em! Expect to pay $20 for a low-end, and quite a bit more for a Weller!  25W or so.

[jkokura]

Perhaps more helpful would be to give us a list of some soldering irons you're considering and ask us if anyone has experience with them. After all, I may have access to very different irons than you do.

Jacob

[masonwilson13]

At the moment here are the ones im looking at these:

Here is a link for the first five: http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/weller/solder/solderselect.htm
Weller BP860MP
Weller SP12
Weller SP23LK
Weller WPS18MP
Weller SP23L

and the link for the last one: http://www.all-spec.com/products/WLC100.html
Weller WLC100

Thanks,
Mason

[humptydumpty]

I bought the weller from home depot and it isn't bad, but im gonna buy that cheap station they have, or maybe one of those nice digital ones

[Derringer]

I bought the weller from home depot and it isn't bad, but im gonna buy that cheap station they have, or maybe one of those nice digital ones

I have the same Iron

SP40L

it's not listed as a replacement tip for the iron, but the Weller ST7 tip fits and works fine in it

I've had this iron for a few years now and it has not let me down, solder to small stuff and solder to the back of any pot you like

[humptydumpty]

no, i have the sp23l

i found replacement tips at barr lumber, 2 tips for 5 bucks, they take the MT series tips i believe

[mikemaddux]

I use a black and decker.....I can do woodburning with it too! lol
and it comes with a third hand...tips are easy enough to find but I havent needed a new one yet....
it should be able to do iron-on transfers....havent tried it yet
$30

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-CI500S-Dual-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B000BASSKI

[Guitartoma]

The Hakko 936 Soldering Station is wonderful. I can't recommend it highly enough.
http://www.hakkousa.com/detail.asp?PID=1250&Page=1
http://www.all-spec.com/products/936-12.html?gclid=CM3pmOqY36ACFQVYbQodGUXzDg

[Guitartoma]

You should also read Beavis' "How To Solder" page. It's very useful and has some great recommendations and things to avoid!
http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/How-to-solder/

[KazooMan]

I am also using a Weller iron.  Like others have posted, the tips don't last very long.  Also, as mentioned above, they are not cheap.  I found a solution and posted it a while back.  I'll reproduce it here:

I bought some 3/16" copper rod off the Internet.  I already had a set of taps and dies and found that the 10-24 threads were the right ones for the iron.  I thread one end of the rod and then cut off the proper length.  I screw it into the iron and then use a file or bench grinder to shape the tip the way I want.  Heat it up and tin it all over and I'm good to go.  I can make all the tips I need for pennies apiece.  I also can afford to make a custom shaped tip if I need to, such as a needle fine point or a curved tip that can reach under components.  The tips don't last any better than the originals that came with the iron, but I no longer care.  The thin tips burn up pretty fast, but they get the job done.

I do, however, covet one of those nice Weller digital soldering stations. 

[studiostud]

After using the cheaper Weller irons you get at home depot or Ace for several years, I finally broken down and purchased a soldering station.  I have this one: 

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1269910226&sr=8-2

It's been one of the wisest purchases I have made to date for circuit building.  There is a big difference in quality of the tips between the cheaper Weller irons and the stations.  I believe is due to the material used for the tips.  I would go through tips for the cheaper ones every few months if I was doing consistent work.  I purchased the station over a year ago and I'm still on the same tip with only partial signs of wear!  The added bonus of the stations is the adjustable heat setting.  You can adjust to lower settings to work with heat sensitive parts like trannys, ICs, and Germaniums and you can adjust higher to work with lugs, grounding pots, etc, that need a little more time/heat to warm up enough to solder to.  Also, one of the huge benefits of the stations is heat up time.  The cheaper irons take anywhere from 5-10 minutes to heat up to proper temp which can be an eternity sometimes depending on what you're working on.  The stations heat up the tip in about 30 sec which is short enough for me to sit and wait for it instead of get up and try and multitask something while I'm waiting for the iron to heat.  If you are indeed looking at a station, I'm not sure if the fancy digital ones are really necessary.  I don't think I've ever been in a situation where I needed to know the exact temperature I was working with.  I think the digital ones have some extra protection type features, but frankly if you have any common sense at all, they aren't necessary.  In my experience, any stupid things I do to screw up something wouldn't have been avoided with the extra protection features...   

Hope this helps.  If you do the math, in my case at least, I was going through a new tip about 4 times a year with the cheap irons which cost me about $10 for four.  So if I plan on doing this for more than 8 years (which I do), then it's already paid for itself, and that's not even taking into consideration all the other benefits of having a station like the adjustable heat and heat up time.

[Boogdish]

The Hakko 936 Soldering Station is wonderful. I can't recommend it highly enough.
http://www.hakkousa.com/detail.asp?PID=1250&Page=1
http://www.all-spec.com/products/936-12.html?gclid=CM3pmOqY36ACFQVYbQodGUXzDg

I use one of these at work and it's great.

[masonwilson13]

Thanks for all the helpful information everyone. In the future i will definitely be purchasing a nice station when i can afford it haha. But for the time being I feel like I have a pretty good idea of which iron to go with. I'm looking forward to putting together my first project very soon.


Mason

[petemoore]

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=374-100

[head_spaz]

The Hakko 936 Soldering Station is wonderful. I can't recommend it highly enough.

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[trixdropd]

I have been using an Aoyue 937+ for over a year. On my second tip and i have built 100+ pedals. http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000I30QBW
For 50$ I doubt you can do better. The only downside to me is the celcius readout, but i can live with that. I do 434 degrees celcius for my silver solder.