[2wheelfan]

Hello, My first post. Thanks to all those that contribute to this great forum. I have experience with soldering larger gauge wire...but limited experience with re-cabling headphones which is a bit more delicate. 
 
For re-cabling headphones...A couple of questions please:
 
- What watt soldering iron do you suggest?...15W or 25W?  Is there a brand iron that is most favored by the DIY'ers here?  (All I have currently is a bigger gun style Weller which I believe to be a bit too clumsy and high power)
 
- Can you suggest a particular type of solder? 
 
Many Thanks!

 

[DefQon]

15-25watt soldering irons can get the job done but takes longer and certain solder/desoldering require more heat to flow quickly from the contact pads. 
 
25-45watt soldering iron is recommended. As for brands, I use a Digitech (adjustable temperature 200-450'C) Jaycar soldering iron, it is cheap and reliable, also have a Weller 80watt iron for soldering/desoldering on bigger applications. Besides the wattage rating a soldering iron is capable of in terms of heat, the tips available and size is important to the type of applications you will be using it for.
 
If you're looking to buy a soldering station buy a Weller or equivalent good brand one, but they only really come useful if you're doing DIY on a constant basis. Don't bother with cheap soldering stations because they are still fairly costly, if they break, there goes a fair bit of money and replacement parts ain't exactly cheap, if a cheap soldering iron breaks, you can either replace the fuse or replace the whole lot for very little cost.

 

[macm75]

May I suggest the search function?
How many threads concerning soldering stations does a forum need?

 

[2wheelfan]

Thank you gents.  I performed a search as suggested and found the Weller WLC 100 Soldering Station as a good value for DIY'er...so will likely seek one out.
 
Thanks again for your help.