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Recommend me a soldering iron!
Oct 27, 2013 at 11:11 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 35
kskwerl

kskwerl

Headphoneus Supremus
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hey everyone I was looking to get some suggestions for a soldering iron. I want to spend as little as I can but still get something good.
 
Oct 28, 2013 at 2:15 AM Post #2 of 35
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__24790__Soldering_Station_with_Adjustable_Heat_Range_with_US_Plug.html
and some Hakko tips. They also sell a 4mm Hakko tip  Buy it with the soldering station can save you a lot of money. (amazon usually sells them around $10)
Heat up fast, good temperature control and there should be now problem with the Hakko tips.
Other similar products which are usually recommended are similar or same with the price over $50.
 
Oct 28, 2013 at 11:53 AM Post #3 of 35
greyhamster said:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__24790__Soldering_Station_with_Adjustable_Heat_Range_with_US_Plug.html

and some Hakko tips. They also sell a 4mm Hakko tip  Buy it with the soldering station can save you a lot of money. (amazon usually sells them around $10)

Heat up fast, good temperature control and there should be now problem with the Hakko tips.

Other similar products which are usually recommended are similar or same with the price over $50.
Click to expand...


thank you very much!
 
Oct 28, 2013 at 1:04 PM Post #10 of 35
Oct 28, 2013 at 1:27 PM Post #13 of 35
I asked this same question in another thread, and this is a quote about the cheaper Weller iron at Home Depot.
 
tomb said:
  The Weller you have listed is not worth the trouble.  It's an arts & craft soldering iron, basically nothing more.
 
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I still haven't picked mine out yet either, but just sharing what was mentioned to me. Here's the rest of that post.
 
tomb said:
  The Kendal and Aoyue are Hakko 936 clones.  Read the reviews on Amazon and you'll see some people mentioning that the barrel of the iron gets hot (the part you hold onto).  Despite that, many people have purchased the Aoyue and claim that it works fine.  However, the ones that have switched to a Hakko would never go back.  I got a few at a 50% discount when Hakko was changing the design (to cut down on cloning, most likely).  I gave one to a friend who had used an Aoyue and he said, "Wow - the handle doesn't get hot!"
 
The Hakko FX-888D is the current model and now looks nothing like the Kendal and Aoyue.  You'll pay more than your budget - not quite twice as much, but you won't regret it if you continue to solder.  This place has almost everything you would want:
http://www.hmcelectronics.com/product/Hakko/FX888D
 
Stick with the chisel tips - a 1.6D is great for all through-hole PCBs, cabling, and connectors.  A 0.8D chisel tip will do SMD quite well.  Stick with 63-37 eutectic solder, with rosin flux - Kester has some with #44 rosin flux that's 0.025" diameter. That's about as small as you can get without it breaking all the time.  It'll do all the soldering you need for everything from cabling, connectors, through-hole PCBs and even SMD.  I wish they offered it in the half-pound, because I bought a half-pound of it 7 years ago and it's just now starting to run out.  A pound will last you for 10 years or more, most likely.
 
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Oct 28, 2013 at 1:37 PM Post #15 of 35
axelcloris said:
  I asked this same question in another thread, and this is a quote about the cheaper Weller iron at Home Depot.
 
 
I still haven't picked mine out yet either, but just sharing what was mentioned to me. Here's the rest of that post.
 
Click to expand...


that's because most of tomb's soldering is on pcb, chips, circuit board...
for basic soldering the cheap Weller will be fine
 
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