Best Soldering Iron recommendations!

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BoomboxLover48

BoomboxLover48

Boomus Fidelis
You all know how frustrating it is when the soldering iron is not working well for the job.

I don't know much about the best soldering iron to buy these days for our hobby.

All I have is different wattage types, tips and use the higher wattage for soldering wires to a metal chassis. For electrical components I use the low wattage ones and do it as fast as possible with a heat sink on the component side not to heat it up. Always use heat sink on the component side of the connection whenever possible.

I saw this link and thought it is helpful.


http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Pick-the-Best-Soldering-Iron/


I like to have more suggestions on the best soldering iron to buy for working on a boombox.



I understand one has to spend ~ $100 for a good soldering iron.

Here is one I found... http://www.amazon.com/Firekingdom-Yihua-898d-Dual-display-Soldering-Standard/dp/B00S1Z1VSG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458315437&sr=8-2&keywords=yihua+898
 
MyOhMy

MyOhMy

Member (SA)
Thanks for topic and including the link to the basics of soldering tools, I'll be following this thread closely, BoomboxLover48. :thumbsup:
 
Superduper

Superduper

Moderator
Staff member
Best? Come on, you don't really wanna know that do you? For example, I have this:

http://www.gotopac.com/pace-8007-0132.html

But how much do you "really" want to pay? You can get the center unit "used" for around $350 ~ $400 but some of them are well worn out due to high use in production environments. Also, those handpieces are really expensive. I mean, really really expensive.

However, Hakko brands seem to be well regarded. There are some chinese brands that are flooding eBay and while I'm not sure about the quality, I can say that compared to a regular non-adjustable handpiece, they should be much better. Plan on spending about $80 to $120 for one of those.

Handheld pencil soldering irons? I don't really recommend those. That's because I find that they take forever to warm up if you want use a small (15-20w) one for more delicate circuits. But when they get hot, the iron doesn't know any different so it might sit on the stand and cook itself. Now you can also get larger 40+ watters and those have enough juice to heat and desolder even some larger pads (the small ones won't cut it), however, once again, because they aren't temperature controlled, they will cook themselves while sitting on the stand. You could be heating a huge cable or pad, or doing absolutely nothing -- the iron doesn't know any different and is constantly heating the element 100% of the time. I usually won't use one of these unless I only want to do like 2 or 3 joints and no more.

I won't recommend any particular brand. I have one I've used for over 30 years and it's still going strong. Wahl I think, discontinued and I think I saw a clone for sale on ebay for awhile but don't see it right now. Has a built in fume extractor with carbon filter. Never changed the tip and it's still working today, does the bulk of my work since it's small enough that it's not cumbersome but works flawlessly. A simple knob takes care of tip temperature. The iron itself is probably like 80 or 90 watts so it heats up really fast but once it gets to the selected temperature, it maintains that temperature. The joy of using an iron like this is that it has power to heat quickly but won't overheat your joint (unless you want it to). And when you place it on the stand, it's not constantly cooking itself to ashes. Also, when soldering multiple joints, it heats up and goes from joint to joint without missing a beat. So in other words, tons of power to heat the largest joint but delicate enough to do those tiny circuits. I probably have some photos here of the iron, but can't think of which thread but it doesn't matter, it's already discontinued so get yourself a nice temp controlled weller, or Hakko and you should be good to go. They are not costly like the milspec stuff, but good enough. The chinese stuff is really cheap by comparison and if they are true temperature tip modulated (not just a knob for power), then you should be good. The difference is that the cheap ones has a knob that you can set (like a volume control) but doesn't have a thermostatically controlled tip. So you can cut the 50w heating element down to say... 30 watts, but just like the soldering pencil, it will continue operating the element 100% of the time, just at a reduced power level. However, a true temperature tip controlled iron will heat quickly using the full wattage of the element, then modulate the heat to maintain the set tip temperature. These are the ones you want. It makes a world of a difference.

Last week, here is what I was up to. I wouldn't think of using a standard soldering iron for a job like this. If that was all I had, I would not even start this job. After being used to the "good stuff" a job like this would involve too much frustration when working on a job that involves hundreds of joints, big and small.

avr-30_26.jpg

avr-30_11.jpg

avr-30_13.jpg

avr-30_23.jpg
 
crazygamer

crazygamer

Member (SA)
As much as i know about soldering irons and soldering, ones that go to wall are not very worthy at all, best ones are with separate station, temperature controls aren´t very important either, good ones have induction system that heat up real fast and when you put it back to holder, it will idle itself by the magnetic field inside. I´ve worked with these, they´re great. Also i´ve worked with stations that have temperature control, but most users don´t know on what temperature to set it so you might toast the component or board you want to solder. :yes: I use plug-and-use one if i need to but some day i´ll get the better one.
 
BoomboxLover48

BoomboxLover48

Boomus Fidelis
Superduper said:
Best? Come on, you don't really wanna know that do you? For example, I have this:

http://www.gotopac.com/pace-8007-0132.html

But how much do you "really" want to pay? You can get the center unit "used" for around $350 ~ $400 but some of them are well worn out due to high use in production environments. Also, those handpieces are really expensive. I mean, really really expensive.

However, Hakko brands seem to be well regarded. There are some chinese brands that are flooding eBay and while I'm not sure about the quality, I can say that compared to a regular non-adjustable handpiece, they should be much better. Plan on spending about $80 to $120 for one of those.

Handheld pencil soldering irons? I don't really recommend those. That's because I find that they take forever to warm up if you want use a small (15-20w) one for more delicate circuits. But when they get hot, the iron doesn't know any different so it might sit on the stand and cook itself. Now you can also get larger 40+ watters and those have enough juice to heat and desolder even some larger pads (the small ones won't cut it), however, once again, because they aren't temperature controlled, they will cook themselves while sitting on the stand. You could be heating a huge cable or pad, or doing absolutely nothing -- the iron doesn't know any different and is constantly heating the element 100% of the time. I usually won't use one of these unless I only want to do like 2 or 3 joints and no more.

I won't recommend any particular brand. I have one I've used for over 30 years and it's still going strong. Wahl I think, discontinued and I think I saw a clone for sale on ebay for awhile but don't see it right now. Has a built in fume extractor with carbon filter. Never changed the tip and it's still working today, does the bulk of my work since it's small enough that it's not cumbersome but works flawlessly. A simple knob takes care of tip temperature. The iron itself is probably like 80 or 90 watts so it heats up really fast but once it gets to the selected temperature, it maintains that temperature. The joy of using an iron like this is that it has power to heat quickly but won't overheat your joint (unless you want it to). And when you place it on the stand, it's not constantly cooking itself to ashes. Also, when soldering multiple joints, it heats up and goes from joint to joint without missing a beat. So in other words, tons of power to heat the largest joint but delicate enough to do those tiny circuits. I probably have some photos here of the iron, but can't think of which thread but it doesn't matter, it's already discontinued so get yourself a nice temp controlled weller, or Hakko and you should be good to go. They are not costly like the milspec stuff, but good enough. The chinese stuff is really cheap by comparison and if they are true temperature tip modulated (not just a knob for power), then you should be good. The difference is that the cheap ones has a knob that you can set (like a volume control) but doesn't have a thermostatically controlled tip. So you can cut the 50w heating element down to say... 30 watts, but just like the soldering pencil, it will continue operating the element 100% of the time, just at a reduced power level. However, a true temperature tip controlled iron will heat quickly using the full wattage of the element, then modulate the heat to maintain the set tip temperature. These are the ones you want. It makes a world of a difference.

Last week, here is what I was up to. I wouldn't think of using a standard soldering iron for a job like this. If that was all I had, I would not even start this job. After being used to the "good stuff" a job like this would involve too much frustration when working on a job that involves hundreds of joints, big and small.

attachicon.gif
avr-30_26.jpg

attachicon.gif
avr-30_11.jpg

attachicon.gif
avr-30_13.jpg

attachicon.gif
avr-30_23.jpg
Click to expand...
Thanks Norm!
:bow: :bow: :bow:
That is Wealth of information!

My mistake! I shouldn't have said BEST. It depends on what one is trying to use it for.

In some cases one might need a hot air soldering station for working on processors.

I feel good about posting this link.
 
J

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
I bought one these a couple of years ago. It has proven to be reliable. Has a tip temp sensor - the ceramic heating element gets up to temperature (lead solder) in around 15 seconds! It can also go hot enough for lead free solder. I think I paid around $80 AUD with 5 tips.View attachment 26215
 
BoomboxLover48

BoomboxLover48

Boomus Fidelis
jimmyjimmy19702010 said:
I bought one these a couple of years ago. It has proven to be reliable. Has a tip temp sensor - the ceramic heating element gets up to 280 degrees Celsius in around 15 seconds! It can also go hot enough for all solder types. I think I paid around $80 AUD with 5 tips.
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I like that unit! :yes:
 
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