cadebytiger
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 11:31 AM |
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Soldering iron
I am looking to get a decent soldering iron. Thinking one of the cheaper weller stations.
This one on amazon.com looks good but cannot find a uk version...
http://www.amazon.com/Analog-Soldering-Station-50W-120V/dp/B000BRC2XU
or there is this one but it worries me slightly that this is the only orange one they do. Are they the rubbish equivalent to the blue ones?? Any help
would be great.. also where would be the best place to get them?? RS??
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Weller-Whs40-Temp-Controlled-Solder/dp/B0001P17EW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=diy&qid=1226575760&sr=8-3
Thanks again
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02GF74
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 12:06 PM |
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That is not locost.
You want fancy temperature controlled soldering station or soldering iron?
And what do you intend to use if for?
I do all my soldering with a 18 W antex; circuit components and thin to mediium gauge wires.
If you want to solder slightly bigger wires then there are 25 and 50 W irons.
I bought a temperature controlled station, maplins have them on sale from time to time, and used it once, prefer my Antex.
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DarrenW
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 12:08 PM |
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For soldering general wiring ive got a gas type iron, very useful. Probs no good for electronics work though.
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02GF74
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 12:15 PM |
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ooooh, gas eh? That is just showing off. 
In that case I have one fitted with a flux capacitor filled with anti-matter. 
The gas (butane) ones are useful with the different attachements e.g. for heating heat shrink cable but are costly to run.
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cadebytiger
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 12:16 PM |
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its going to be used for a number of jobs both on the car and other gubins.
Going to building a valve amp soon and have been told that i would be best off with a weller station for that. I was told that by an electrical
engineer mind so he may be slightly biased??
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02GF74
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 12:31 PM |
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Valve amp, transistors or wires, makes no odds what you use providing you can heat the joint enough to apply solder that melts. My iron will do all
that.
Obviously it is not as simple as that as you want the iron to be man enough to supply the heat and also not too manly to provide too much heat; hence
the wattage.
Temperature contol is nice since the new non-lead based solders melt at a higher temperature.
Also if you are on a prodcution line, you'd want a slightly higher wattage as you wouldnlt want to wait for the iron to heat up between
soldering joints; i;ve never had that problem with my piddly one.
To be honest I am not sure what you gain by an all singing and dancing sodlering station. Weller is a good brand by the way.
sorry, I am not helping am I? Try googling to what they recommend.
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mad4x4
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 12:32 PM |
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Aldi - do a cheap gas one great for the Car wiring.
A good temp controlled Soldering iron is fin e if you are doing re-work or PCB construction.
Those 18 / 12 W wellers etc are ok for small ish projects. and the car/
When I did my car I got a large soldering iron cheap soldering iron as it was on for hours at a time and the tip used to burn out.
What about a solder bath for tining wires on the Car ??
Scot's do it better in Kilts.
MK INDY's Don't Self Centre Regardless of MK Setting !
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hobbsy
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 12:55 PM |
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I've got a couple of temperature controlled jobs and a very similar 18w antex.
Guess which has been used the most? 
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Rob WM
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 01:48 PM |
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I recently got a more powerful Iron from Maplin (30W) and it was on offer at £2.99 I would suggest this first as it is almost disposable!
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BenB
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 02:08 PM |
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I got a few cheapo soldering irons at different wattages. Total cost about 10 quid. Want more heat= plug in a different soldering iron.
Locost 
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RickRick
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 02:20 PM |
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i think i'm off to get a gas one tonight, i've been using the one i have for RC car racing, it's a 50w 12V one but it's
running at 14V so gets very very hot very fast, we need hi power irons for soldering direct to cells, but leaving it on for long stints seems to have
damaged the plating on the tip, and it's now being disolved very quickly by the flux
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irvined
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 04:51 PM |
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I bought a reasonable quality gas one for about 20quid, i really like it as i dont get tangled up in the cable. I'm not sure its any good for
complex circuit work, but when i did a new loom for my car, I soldered all terminals and joints, and it was fantastic.
Before I used this, I was using a 25watt one with a small tip, but having no power in the garage, and constantly fighting with the power cable made me
switch, there's been no looking back since.
HTH
David
http://irvined.blogspot.com
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Rod Ends
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 06:36 PM |
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Woolworths do a kit : 2 irons 30W & 100W, desolder tool (V. useful),
etc.
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martyn_16v
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 09:04 PM |
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I've got a half decent Weller station, but only ever dig it out for fiddly bits. 95% of the time I use my cheap, battered gas iron. It heats up
faster, can get much more heat into joint at full whack, and is easier to use. I've been meaning to buy myself a new one for ages, it's
got a 3mm deep 'bucket' corroded into the end of the tip.
Make sure whatever you get has a changeable tip. It makes me cringe seeing people trying to solder fine pitch electronics with a honking big spade bit
(and then wondering why their freshly chipped xbox won't boot up), and equally trying to get some heat into a join between two fairly heavy
wires on the car just isn't fun with a needle point. Use the right tool
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 13/11/08 at 11:44 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by 02GF74
Valve amp, transistors or wires, makes no odds what you use providing you can heat the joint enough to apply solder that melts. My iron will do all
that.
It makes an enormous difference actually. I started getting interested in electronics from about 10-11 years old and used a basic Antex iron for
years. When I could afford it I bought a Weller temperature controlled iron and the difference is night and day. You can leave the iron on and the
tip won't overheat and corrode way. They heat up very quickly. You get absolutely consistent joints because the tip temperature is always
correct. You can solder components on PCBs that connect to big ground planes without problems because they are 50 watt irons.
When I started working where I am now, I used Metcal soldering irons, and they are another step forward again. The tips on those are up to
temperature within a few seconds of switching them on as they use RF induction to heat the tip directly.
For the very occasional bit of soldering a cheap non-thermostatic iron is ok, but a decent temperature controlled iron is a sound investment for
anyone that is likely to do a fair bit of soldering.
[Edited on 13/11/08 by MikeRJ]
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02GF74
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| posted on 14/11/08 at 08:41 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
, but a decent temperature controlled iron is a sound investment for anyone that is likely to do a fair bit of soldering.
that is exactly it - "a fair bit of soldering"
my use and it is quite hard to quantilfy is perhaps 10 minutes per week? I have to wait a coupe of minutes for the iron to warm up but I can live
with that. consitent joints, think I have only had one joint fail but I'd like to think that is more technique than tool related.
I was just pointing to the other side of the coin.
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cadebytiger
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| posted on 14/11/08 at 10:17 AM |
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Thank for all the input guys. I think I will probably qualify as a fair bit of soldering so prob could do with a station of some kind. I spoke to a
weller tech about the whs40. The problem seems to be that you have very limited tips. he recommended the ws81 at a cool £130!!!! Not very locost
at all!! so i am a bit lost again. lol
maybe it is something that i should save up for. need to be doing a hell of alot of soldering to warrant that. His argument was the versitility of the
power unit and the addittion of million of different tip shapes along with the extra power (which it apparently hand for lead free solder which has a
higher melting point). He seemed to imply that you could use a lower temperature with a higher power iron for the same application (i cannot really
see it making that much difference???)
Thanks again for the help
Rupert
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iank
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| posted on 14/11/08 at 10:54 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
quote:
Originally posted by 02GF74
...
When I started working where I am now, I used Metcal soldering irons, and they are another step forward again. The tips on those are up to
temperature within a few seconds of switching them on as they use RF induction to heat the tip directly.
...
Metcal irons are brilliant, wouldn't want to do any SMD rework/patching with anything else.
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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cadebytiger
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| posted on 14/11/08 at 12:04 PM |
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just looking at the metcal stations. They look good. Which one do you have? Where is the best place to get them from?
Thanks
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iank
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| posted on 14/11/08 at 12:08 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by cadebytiger
just looking at the metcal stations. They look good. Which one do you have? Where is the best place to get them from?
Thanks
Don't have one (used to use them when I worked at Sony), they cost a fair bit, but if you really want one Farnell stock them
linky
[Edited on 14/11/08 by iank]
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 14/11/08 at 12:59 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by cadebytiger
just looking at the metcal stations. They look good. Which one do you have? Where is the best place to get them from?
Thanks
If you thought the Weller station was expensive then the Metcals will probably make your eyes water Professional irons at professional prices!
I reckon the best VFM for home use is a secondhand Weller station from Ebay. They are very robust and all the spares are available e.g. tips,
elements, handles etc.
Like this
Or this
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