Got a new soldering station, Impressions and review
Jun 30, 2005 at 8:57 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 23

RnB180

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The weller wcl100 soldering station,

Picked it up at frys today, I thought its about time I upgraded and see whats the benefits of a weller iron.

$44.99 but $4.95 for the st5 tip.

came out to $55 bucks after tax.

Looks well built so far, Ill use it tonight and post a thurough review

Im heading off to work right now.

See ya!
 
Jul 1, 2005 at 12:34 AM Post #2 of 23
(I had to look at my manual to see what the S5 tip looked like ;D)
(For those of you that are lazy and are curious, it's the fine tipped needle style)

I just got mine from allspec with their MIR, i think you can probably apply for the MIR, as well... it's a cooper hand tools rebate, $13.

I just used mine today, it seems pretty good, i used the supplied tip. Station is sturdy, the sponge for some reason is sliced up and down all across the sponge, i'm not really sure why. I think the station is OK for the price, the sponge is a little hard to reach because the heat-sink coil holder is a bit long, but that is a very minor gripe, quite a jump up from the rat-shack iron i was using prior to it, IMO. I've heard otherwise though. The grip didn't heat up at all, it's made of foam and not hard rubber like the rat shack one...

My rat-shack iron didn't have heating proplems until very recently, where it started getting very hot to the touch, i'm not sure why. The tip is of a much higher qualit than my radioshack iron, as well. Tinned well all over and wiped clean. I'm satisfied, although i just used it for minor repair work, nothing PCB style, yet.
 
Jul 1, 2005 at 2:06 AM Post #4 of 23
Happy Hakko 936 owner here
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Pricey stuff though!
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Jul 1, 2005 at 3:02 AM Post #5 of 23
I've been using my WLC 100 now for about 6 months. It's handled everything that I've thrown at it and then some. It's never been the limited factor in the quality of my soldering
smily_headphones1.gif
.

I think that the sponge is sliced so that you can slide the tip in the grove to help you get the "gunk" off easier. If it bugs you flip the sponge over, mine's only cut on one side.
 
Jul 1, 2005 at 3:43 AM Post #7 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by nleahcim
Man... shoulda gotten a Hakko 936. I had to use a WLC100 at work last year - I did not like that iron one bit.


I like my WLC100, but then again it's the only iron I've ever used. Just curious what you don't like about it.

(I can't believe I'm getting soldering iron upgraditis...
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)
 
Jul 1, 2005 at 4:09 AM Post #8 of 23
Im gonna try it tonigh as I build some minis.

smily_headphones1.gif


what did you like about the wcl100?

it looks like its a step up from my rat shack, I just need something with tips thatll last longer then a week.
 
Jul 1, 2005 at 4:24 AM Post #9 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey
I like my WLC100, but then again it's the only iron I've ever used. Just curious what you don't like about it.

(I can't believe I'm getting soldering iron upgraditis...
rolleyes.gif
)



Temperature control wasn't very good and warm up time was too long. It also just has a really cheap feel to it... Hard to describe.
 
Jul 1, 2005 at 4:59 AM Post #10 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180
I just need something with tips thatll last longer then a week.


Keep them well tinned and they'll last for years..... congratulations on your new soldering station mate!
 
Jul 1, 2005 at 9:57 AM Post #11 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkFloyd
Keep them well tinned and they'll last for years..... congratulations on your new soldering station mate!


I've been keepin' em tinned, but what does it look like when it gets oxidized? My rat shack iron was obvious, but this one is kind of weird, i keep it tinned, and it doesn't get dark or hard to put new solder on, it sort of just discolors and wipes off easily. I'm pretty sure it's tinned nicely, but the discoloration worries me. The sponge isn't a horrible thing, i've used the "cracks" plenty of times so far, but they're just kind of weird

As far as the manual goes, it says to use distilled water? What. I went out and bought some since i am using well water (not city water) and it probably has a ton of mineral content in it (tastes good, though). Kind of a new thing i've never heard of before ;D

Hopefully this screwdriver style tip will be a nice new change for me, i think i will like it better than a needle tip, but we'll see.
 
Jul 4, 2005 at 8:24 PM Post #12 of 23
I've been having problems with getting Cardas 300b wire to even tin. I am looking at getting the same soldering station you bought so I could get a hotter heat range because I've read here that you have to have a hot iron to work with Cardas products. I've been using a Weller 25 watt iron.

What do you think of the Weller soldering station so far? The tips for my Weller WP25 will fit in the wcl100 station, so that's a big plus for me.
 
Jul 4, 2005 at 10:24 PM Post #13 of 23
the weller station is excellent,

It has pinpoint heat distribution,

with my rat shack iron, when soldering the whole plugs got hot, with the weller only the area that is being soldered heats up.

the tip also is resistant to the solder unlike the rat shack, so the solder stays on the joint and not move back to the tip.

the tip also seems corrosive resistant, Ive soldered with it quite a few times and theres no sign of corrosion on it.

tinning enamled wire requires an iron hotter then the wcl100 though,

I had a very difficult time soldering the cardas headphone cable to my mini connectors.

What I did was strip only a small portion of the wire, and let the iron heat up on the highest setting, then dab solder on the tip of the iron and hold it to the very tip of the wire.

since there is very little surface area, it heats up quickly and the enamel burns off.

though IMO you need a much higher iron then a 40 watt, to burn and tin the enameled wire.
 
Jul 5, 2005 at 2:32 AM Post #15 of 23
Quote:

Metcal SP200 here.


Same here.
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Nice not having to monkey with a knob everytime something needs more heat. Isn't it?
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(every time I do that with the Hakko I forget to turn it back down)
I have only had to use the 700 series tip/cartridge one time.
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