[tomb]

Would ya'll give it a rest? There are good points on both sides.

A quality tool is always a good investment and will more than likely help you do your work better. At the same time, a large investment is not absolutely necessary to do the soldering work for many DIY projects, including a CMoy.

 

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mono /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have no idea where you get that figure Andrew, while someone experienced at soldering and having particularly difficult jobs might need *something* in particular for that job, the vast majority of the soldering work will not benefit even the tiniest little bit paying $80 versus, $50, and the average stuff built here would be acceptible with 2 x $10 irons, one low wattage with fine tip and one higher with broader tip. Paying for an $80 iron does not help you build quality products in a general sense. To some the cost is acceptible but to be clear, if there is any trouble building a headamp with a far cheaper iron the problem is NOT the iron providing it at least gets hot enough and has a reasonable quality iron clad tip, rather than the crude copper-nail-plated-with-nickle type. An iron is only a tool, how you use it makes the difference. Inexperienced or poor method will have a worse result with a $200 iron than an experienced user with a $10 iron.

YAYYY finally a veteran that sees my point of view

Now I won't be having second thoughts that I should've blown an extra months' worth of beer money on a soldering iron!! Hakko Dash, come to daddy

 

[duchamp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinkfloyd4ever /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow, I wasn't expecting that good of an answer, are you a med student, duchamp? I have A.D.D and take stimulants for it (concerta, ritalin) and I'm pretty sure that's what causes it b/c i never had it before i started taking it and I don't think its from age since I'm only 21. I take a drug for the skaking called Guanfacine (generic for Tenex) that my doctor gave me, but it doesn't work as well as it used to. My parents read somewhere that magnesium can also help tremors in people w/nervous tics & disorders, so I started taking that everyday too and it seemed to help alot for the first couple weeks, but now it seems like the shaking is worse than ever now. Jeez, I think I'm gonna make a doctor's apointment

PM sent.

 

[Azure]

Does anyone know which soldering iron is used at 5:25 minutes into the video:
http://tangentsoft.net/elec/movies/tt04.html

 

[meat01]

It looks like it could be a Metcal soldering station, but I am not certain.

 

[odoe]

I've been using this velleman iron and station I got at Fry's for like $25 and it worked fine for my cmoy, but was a little tougher for the smd chips on my alien dac. I'm getting better at it, but I have been unable to find tips for it, so I bought a HAKKO 936 with a 907 iron (based on suggestions on this board, thanks!) and got a couple of tips for it. It's still in the mail, but I figure it should be a nice investment as I already have a list of different projects I want to try in the next few months.

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meat01 /img/forum/go_quote.gif It looks like it could be a Metcal soldering station, but I am not certain.

Obviously, Tangent would be the one to confirm, but I could swear at some point he mentioned spending no more than $50. So, I'm guessing it's a Xytronic station.

 

[The Monkey]

Ok, so would the Hakko 936 be a significant step up from the Weller WLC 100?

 

[mono]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok, so would the Hakko 936 be a significant step up from the Weller WLC 100?

Yes, but it's drifting into a grey area. WLC100 may not be medium-higher end but it should be sufficient for most projects seen on Head-fi. The real question is where you find it lacking. In these area(s), maybe Hakko 936 is an improvement, or maybe not. The more you use it, the more value you'd get out of a better iron.

To put it another way, if you have a WLC100 and are having problems using it, I'd feel it more likely technique that might need changed. If you were contemplating buying a new iron today, I'd definitely recommend a 24V system/station of another brand before paying for the Weller name's price-premium on only a low end station. As with many products, the overhead of the advertising/etc of major brands is not detracting from the value as much on a medium or better grade product but in the lower end you get more value going with less popular brands OR with the popular brands, finding a deal on a used unit on ebay/etc.

 

[The Monkey]

Good points, mono, and it is certainly possible that my technique (or lack thereof) is to blame. The main problems I have noticed are inconsistent/slow heating and some tips that are difficult to work with.

 

[mono]

I don't recal if it has nichrome heating element. If it does, yes any comparable ceramic element, particularly on a station with ajustment, will heat up faster.

As for difficult to work with tips, all I can say is keep them clean, well tinned, and suitable size and shape for the job. If you're doing particularly difficulty (large) jobs it might not be high enough wattage but it isn't a low wattage iron so I would think that less likely.

IMO, a clean well tinned tip is golden. Even on a Ratshack $5 iron if your tip is shaped well (after filed down since they wear down like crazy) and clean/well-tinned, it would do ok, Smaller or large jobs will of course require appropriate tip size and shape for the job. One thing the Hakko or another ceramic ~ 24V station gains is in faster recovery time by having feedback to control the temp.

 

[Joshatdot]

i am happy so far with my $8 rat shack 15 watt iron

 

[CingKrab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomb /img/forum/go_quote.gif Obviously, Tangent would be the one to confirm, but I could swear at some point he mentioned spending no more than $50. So, I'm guessing it's a Xytronic station.

I think he mentioned in the first video that he would use a low-cost iron in the second video. The iron in the fourth video Azure mentioned is a JBC -- I'm 100% sure 'cause I've used a similar model. It's very nice. Warms up from cold almost instantly (the model I used drops the iron to a low temperature every time it's placed back on the stand and heats up when it's picked up). From the looks of it, Tangent has a dual iron/tool unit because the hot tweezers are JBC as well. Based on that, I'd guess it's a DI-3000:

http://www.jbc.es/english/advanced/s...ons/di3000.php