What's the best soldering iron to buy?

[Sven]

I have some cheaper radio shack ones right now.
Plan on building a Hammerhead.

[Radioactive]

Best Soldering Iron.

Sevn,

First it should be grounded, so when working with CMOS, it will not blow the chip. I have used Weller made by Cooper Tools for years. But I to have to think about money. So I found a good replacement for the Weller. It's made by Elenco Electronics and is the SL30. It has a digital LED readout like the Weller for greater Tip Temp. accuracy. Tip Temp. range is 300 to 900 degrees F. So you can vary it for different components. The best is the price, I have seen it range between $99 to $60 (at a hamfest) new. I just looked on the web and found it for $79.95 from C & S Sales. I'm sure if you look around you might find it cheaper. If you have the money, buy a Weller they are the best. There are even some rework solder stations out there that are less than $400. So if you do a lot of SMD work, that may be what you might need.
Remember to ground yourself with a grounding strap.

Robert

[Sven]

What about these units?

XY TRONICS

[Carl-NC]

The best I've used is Metcal, they're quite expensive. Weller is a decent lower priced iron, I have a Weller tweezer iron for SMT. Hakko is between Weller and Metcal. Ebay is a good place to look for bargains.

- Carl

[Unregistered]

Metcal is the best, as their tips are robust and designed for constant temperature. They have the PS-800 for < $200 now. If you shop around I'm sure you can get one for < $150. If you're wondering if you should pay double for this than some Weller, the answer is yes, these soldering irons will last longer and perform better. For instance, I didn't tin the tip a couple weeks ago and it was looking pretty nasty today, but heated it up and it all cleaned right off with a quick dab on the sponge. Good stuff. Anyway, avoid cheap tools, especially if it's something you will use more than once.

Cheers,
Joe

[mark]

my answer is

From WELLER you get only the best. I have used any kinds of tools from them including solder stations WESD51, WESD81. I could give some other examples.

Good quality products, trust me.

[Unregistered]

Weller started it all

Carl Weller started electrical based soldering in 1941 (his prototype soldering gun is in the Smithsonian - American History) in Easton, PA.

Haako is a Japanese design that hallwark is the usage of ceramic based heating for its soldering irons. (This is logical if you rememebr that about 20 years ago - Japan spent cosniderable R&D money in usage of ceramics -- but the produciton ceramic automobile engine block never materialized).
In the US it is distributed by by American Haako.

Metcal is a good design, but you should know a couple of points.

1. It heats the soldering iron through induction heating. They use Radio Freqeuncies (RF) for this heating. Induction heating is not a new idea or design .. it is based upon earlier US patents from almost 100 years ago. Metcal had to acknowledge a series of US patents regarding induction heating throughout the 20th century.

2. Metcal maintains specific tip temperatures (regulation) via magentic switching. This is based upon Carl Weller's original work in the 1950s and three US patents from about 1960 to 1964 -- that was the basis of the Weller WTCP soldering iron series (The WTCPT station being the current model). Metcal had to acknowledge this US patent in a 1996 filing.

3. Metcal is a division and brand name of OK International (OKI) based in California. Beginning in 2005, you will start to see the Metcal, Techcon Systems and Impell brand names under the single brand of OK International.
OK International was founded in 1946 as "OK Machine and Tool Corporation"

g. beat

[SN96]

Best Soldering Station

I work at an electronics maufaturing company and have used the PACE Digital ST-45 sodering station 8 & 10 hours a day, 5 to 6 days a week for 3 years. We solder constantly all day long and the irons are turned on at 6:00am and remain on untill the end of the shift. The ST-45 has a tip saver feature, so when not in use, it turns off. The tips last for months and months if taken care of by cleaning and tinning. Thats a long time considering the hard use we put them under.

I also love the the iron grip, it just fits like a glove. My favoite tip (can't remember the part number) has a 45 deg. angle on the tip, and the tip is "coined". This tip does it all! SMT fine pitch QFP's, caps, resistors, and just about any through hole part. The only time I need to change the tip is if there is a very large surface area with a lot of solder such as high voltage caps as one example.

By expeariance (1000's of PC boards) this unit is hands down the best. I have tried other units and none feel right to me.

Pace ST-45 Digital sells for $188.00+ Well worth it!

[Unregistered]

Best Soldering Iron

I would go with the Metcal. I have seen original units used every day for 20+ years. These are used 8-16 hours a day and they never break. The tips are temperature controlled and the power is varied to the tip to contol the temperature at solder joint. This way you never use more power than you need and never overshoot the temperature. Ground is monitored thru the tip and the station shuts off if there is ever an open ground problem, protecting the device you are soldering. 4 year system warranty and they are very generous with service and support. Check ebay for great values.

[ram]

for me, soldering iron is the best. HAKKO RED 40 WATT OR 30 WATT. HAKKO RED IS MADE IN JAPAN. i used it for more than 15 years in electronic works. it will survive in 3days without unplug (soldering iron in stand)

[Clondike Clad]

best for the money

Hakko 936-11 ESD Soldering Station

[Unregistered]

Forget the rest, Edsyn is the best

I believe Edsyn makes the best soldering tools. They are a small family run business who have been manufacturing high quality soldering tools for over 40 years in California. They build things to last. Everything is handmade and their CL1080 soldering iron has been known to work for over 15 years! They may cost a little bit more than the rest, but you get what you pay for. www.edsyn.com

[Max]

soldering for cheap...

I believe Edsyn makes the best soldering tools. They are a small family run business who have been manufacturing high quality soldering tools for over 40 years in California. They build things to last. Everything is handmade and their CL1080 soldering iron has been known to work for over 15 years! They may cost a little bit more than the rest, but you get what you pay for. www.edsyn.com

I don't know about them... I bought my last cheap iron at a chinese shop... payed 3eur ...I bought it as making a bet (of get it work and solder with it... cause a friend told me he bought that thing but was unuseful)!

At the first heat-up the iron was giving so much smoke that I had to put out of the window and keep powered for an hour... to make it stop!

Very worse thing...

then I mounted a quality conic tip and changed the power from 55 do about 28W using a rectifier diode I put inside...et voillà , so works pretty cool....

But works good! I mean you can make also smt with it... if needed...and cost 3eur plus the new tip stuff ,I have plenty of those, one is for about 2eur.

Total of 5eur, but it's nice crap thing... but read further...

Then I use the Weller to solder real , good things. But this is just cause I feel more comfortable with weller thing... expecially handler... that on chinese thing burns like hell after 5minutes!

So the story is... you can solder for cheap... if you're ready for the challenge... and have plenty of burnt gel or something...

Better find a good one... and spend a bit more for more enjoyable soldering...I was so annoyed by the burning handle...

that's why I gave the modded version to my friend... and now he has two of them! Born loser!

Kind regards,
Max

[Esteban]

I don't know about them... I bought my last cheap iron at a chinese shop... payed 3eur ...I bought it as making a bet (of get it work and solder with it... cause a friend told me he bought that thing but was unuseful)!

At the first heat-up the iron was giving so much smoke that I had to put out of the window and keep powered for an hour... to make it stop!

Very worse thing...

then I mounted a quality conic tip and changed the power from 55 do about 28W using a rectifier diode I put inside...et voillà , so works pretty cool....

But works good! I mean you can make also smt with it... if needed...and cost 3eur plus the new tip stuff ,I have plenty of those, one is for about 2eur.

Total of 5eur, but it's nice crap thing... but read further...

Then I use the Weller to solder real , good things. But this is just cause I feel more comfortable with weller thing... expecially handler... that on chinese thing burns like hell after 5minutes!

So the story is... you can solder for cheap... if you're ready for the challenge... and have plenty of burnt gel or something...

Better find a good one... and spend a bit more for more enjoyable soldering...I was so annoyed by the burning handle...

that's why I gave the modded version to my friend... and now he has two of them! Born loser!

Kind regards,
Max

And you don't know if the smoke was caused by the iron or your cigar!!!

[Max]

And you don't know if the smoke was caused by the iron or your cigar!!!

Sure wasn't the cigar that time... I think was the varnish inside... or something like this... white smoke... kind of a fog!

Kind regards,
Max