Hi All,
Could you give some advice on soldering irons?
I've been looking at getting a new soldering iron.I was reading the book Making things talk and some stuff on line and the two suggestions that seemed significant to bear in mind when buying a soldering iron were:
Don't get an iron that is too cold as it solders by producing a spark that can short some sensitive components
Get a soldering Iron that will allow you to vary temperature for different types of solder.
When I started experimenting with Arduino I bought a cheap iron and now I'm starting to feel the urge for one that's a bit more ergonomic than the £8 iron I bought in the local hardware store, which is clumsy. I was looking at some of the Weller irons. I can get one in my local shop for £20. It's 15W 240V. But 15W sounds low to me, does this mean that it will probably work via a spark? I couldn't see anything on the packaging to suggest if this was true or not. Secondly, all the irons that seem of good quality that you can vary temperature on start around £60. I don't mind spending this if I need to, but it's quite a big difference from £20. Is it important to have an iron that varies temperature?
The Aoyue 936 is a very good entry-level station at ~$40. That's 35W compared to the FX-888's 70W.... or perhaps a 25 second difference in getting up to working temperature.
No soldering iron should ever spark. The above two models both have a replaceable, ceramic heating element and are ESD safe.
That Weller station you have linked does not appear to be temperature controlled. It has no indicator light to show when it has reached temperature and is only described as "variable control".
Maybe he means a "cold heat" soldering iron that works by passing current through the workpiece rather than generating heat at a tip.
Personally I don't really see an adjustable, non-temperature controlled iron being all that much of an upgrade from your basic cheapie. It may be a little nicer, but I don't really see it as being any more capable.
I've used a Weller WLC100 for a long long time and it was just fine for basic shop soldering. When I got into SMD I upgraded to a Hakko (skipped the 888 and went straight to the digitally controlled one) and I've totally fallen in love with it. If the 888 performs anything like a 951 I couldn't recommend it high enough.
Hakko is a very good entry point station. On the cheaper side you have something like the AOYUE INT3210 which is a 70W temp control station. given the choice, Hakko y much better built quality.
Things to look out on a station:
availability of tips (throw away the thin tips that normally come with the station and with it buy a set is chisel tips 1.2mm - 1.6mm) + a hoof tip if you do lots of SMD ASIC soldering.
at least 60Ws don't want to spend hours over heating components.
temperature control, for most things you will be working at around 340-360C. But it is nice to lower it a bit for sensitive or very small components.
Make sure it has a steady base and a reliable cord.
avoid the regular pen if you don't want to end up buying a station after a few months of frustration with low wattage pens.
If you go for a brand station, you know what you get.
The AOYUE INT3210 was a personal bet, and worked out very nicely for me. That thing has been doing long hours and still working like the first day.
Weller has a very nice pen, which is a classic -the 75 I think- the temperature control depends on the tip you use.
Hope it helps.
I don't have a station or anything just the 25$ butane soldering iron from radioshack and it works great, its adjustable to a degree, but the main bonus is how portable it is, Itll work great for most small application, and smd with the tip it comes with isn't too horible,
I'd aim for a temperature controlled soldering station with sponge holder, around 50W or so, preferrably low voltage iron (so when you melt through the iron's cable by accident you don't have a mains short). Any iron without temperature control is to be avoided, period.
first choice - a Hakko, like the one previously mentioned.
second choice - if you have time, watch ebay (patiently) and get a good deal on a used Hakko.
third choice - get a Hakko knockoff, from Sparkfun, Circuit Specialists, etc. Just watch out and make sure you don't pay Hakko prices for the knockoff.
There are other quality brands, I'm sure - Hakko is just the one I've used. e.g. Weller has some higher end stuff, but you won't find it at Radio Shack or Home Depot.
Thanks everyone for all the advice. It's a lot of useful information. I'm sort of sold on getting a Hakko now I've heard so many good recommendations for them. I also checked out the Aoyue 936 which looked pretty good too. Going to do a little more reading around and then get one.
Extent, I think you described it better than me when you said: 'a "cold heat" soldering iron that works by passing current through the workpiece rather than generating heat at a tip.' that is what I meant. Thanks.
Thanks for all the insights on the Weller stuff too. Everything I've read so far seems to point to them as reliable irons, so it's good to hear what experienced users think.
In the end I bought a Aoyue 936 Soldering Station from pcb-soldering. The price jump between this one ans the Hakko was considerable. Also, although many of the irons recommended looked great I had some problems finding one available from a UK company and with Christmas looming I wanted to not have to wait too long. Here's a link to the companies web site:
It also comes with a UK plug, which is also nice given a lot of the other irons I was looking at came with European or American plugs and they do next day delivery.
Well, thanks for all the advice. I no know a lot more about soldering irons that when I asked this question.
If I were you I would look at the Weller product line. Weller is a big supporter of Arduino. They donated soldering equipment in the past year and they are also going to increase this support over the next year. They have so many choices in state of the art soldering stations.
