Caps! - Temp Controlled Soldering Irons - On A Budget!

[uniserver]

My boss ran around today and handed out christmas cards with some money in them to everyone, SO :-D

I'm now looking to upgrade into a decent quality temp controlled soldering iron to make my life easier,

So far all I have found, (that seems to have all the features i need), with (enough) quality to last:

http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/elenco/soldering/solder_stations/sl5series.htm

they are 37.50 right now(List)

much less on the website.

I know some people drop 100 or even more bucks on a fancy digital display weller soldering station, I don't want to drop that kind money on one.

right now i have my $7.99 soldering iron plugged into a power strip with a switch and have to turn it off when it gets too hot.

plus the this cheap one after you recap a few boards the tip starts to deteriorate, and needs to be ground back to a point, witch is annoying.



The reviews on amazon say to stay the hell away from this one: (Velleman VTSS5U LOW-COST SOLDERING STATION)

@ around 19 bucks

http://www.amazon.com/Velleman-LOW-COST-SOLDERING-STATION-150-480°C/dp/B000I40HFQ



This one review I found most useful:

"Velleman VTSS5U LOW-COST SOLDERING STATION 50W 150-480°C - (Tools & Home Improvement)

Velleman 50W Soldering StationIn a lifetime of soldering pc boards, first amateur radio and stereo systems (Heathkits, etc.) and later (1970's to today) all sorts of computers, this is the worst soldering iron I have ever owned. It barely gets hot enough to melt the new tin/antimony solder and has very little heat left to heat whatever it is you're trying to solder. The result is globs of solder all over the place, and the connections not really soldered. It does a good job of melting the soldering iron holder which is made of easily melted plastic (a genius design). It is just a pos, so stay very far away from it."

Thread linked: Capacitor Replacement Thread . . .

 

[mcdermd]

You really shouldn't "grind" the tip down. They're plated so that solder sticks to them. If you grind the plating off, you've ruined the tip.

If you're willing to invest a little more, both Weller and Hakko have some cheaper stations down in the $85 range. The ability to get replacement parts (and tips, etc) from a variety of sources is pretty nice when you go with a larger name brand.

One of the best features of my Weller station is it heats up to temperature in about ten seconds and cools nearly as fast. There's no waiting around.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I thought you could grind and shape a tip all you want, just tin the ground tip before using. :?:

 

[mcdermd]

I dunno. All of mine are plated. I always thought the plating was to keep it tinning well.

Anyways, tips are typically less than $5. They wear out and I put a new one in.

 

[uniserver]

Don't assume that is what I am doing,

Because that is not what I do,

especially with delicate Surface mount things I am working with.

I'm sure if you pay 80, 90, 100+ for a soldering station you get Special Coated tips,

The 2 el-cheapo irons I am using, some of the tip naturally degrades just after about one cap job,

This is just light physical contact, and a sponge to clean the tip as needed.

The iron for about 37 dollars (in the top of this post) is as much as i want to spend, any amount after that i will just keep using what i already have.

I am proficient with what I have right now, it's just more annoying, and I have to keep a serious eye on how hot the iron is.

I am also considering this 37 dollar IRON because they cary it and parts at microcenter, along with weller and others.

In the last 9 months microcenter has massively expanded their electronics parts and tools!

 

[mcdermd]

I'm not bashing on what you do, man. I'm just saying if I file my tips down, I'll wreck them. You're right in that you've gotten adept at using what you have.

BTW, what the heck is MicroCenter? You talk about them a lot.

 

[uniserver]

of corse, i am not trying to say that you are bashing on me buddy,

if there is any frustration in me, it resides between my money problems and always trying to get the job done with what i have, type

scenarios, in the end these scenarios tend to take up more time then what it would normally take, and compounds upon my current stresses,

* as a baby is screaming in the back ground currently *

Also, when i'm at work, i'm over all not relaxed, and when I check 68kmla, its usually in between a pricing loads or something,

so the content of what i say gets out, just the delivery might not be as pleasant as it should be, sorry my good man

Also I would assume microcenter is Kind of like a FRY's? I have never been to fry's so I don't know,

Microcenter is a enormous discount computer and electronics store, and recently they have been going in the direction radio shack has been lacking

all these years, I mean they have a whole wall of adrunio stuff now. And they sell CPU's AMD/INTEL at cost or even below cost to get customers in the store.

In michigan there is only one microcenter, and it's about 20 min from where I live.

 

[mcdermd]

There's one Fry's here and it's terrible.

 

[CC_333]

There's one Fry's here and it's terrible.

There's a Fry's about 2 1/2 hours from me, and I concur with mcdermd, it's terrible!
Here's my story:

I tried to get a wireless print server, and I saw one which had been discounted. So I went for it.

When I opened it up later, I discovered that it was a returned item which was not only defective, but whomever returned it put back the driver CD for some sort of HP printer! Needless to say, I was quite perturbed by how misrepresented the item was (there was no indication whatsoever, except for the price, that suggested that it was in any way a return. In fact, they went to great lengths to repackage it in new cellophane, furthering the deception). After much fuss, I returned it, and I'll never go there again because of it!

Incidentally, I got a few other items there (fans, wireless keyboard and mouse) and they all broke within a couple months.

Sorry for the rant.

c

 

[uniserver]

I bought the one for 37 bucks from microcenter tonight, it's really great. Takes about 40 seconds to heat up, not bad, way faster then the pos I was using before.

This tip does have a coating, so far i'v recapped a LC-II with it and replaced all the light brown caps in the TDK LC PSU, and they both work flawlessly now.



The tips are less then 2 bucks a piece to replace.

 

[mcdermd]

Sweet!

 

[James1095]

My favorite soldering station is the Hakko 936. I've also seen Chinese copies of it that were cheaper, however I don't know whether they are functionally comparable. You have to be careful with cheap temp controlled soldering stations. Some are fine but others are just a soldering iron on a light dimmer with no feedback. The benefit of a temperature *controlled* iron is that you can have a big element with a lot of heat capacity but you can set it at a lower temperature and it will not get roasting hot. The capacity is there though when you try to solder something big and heavy that sinks a lot of heat.

 

[uniserver]

I ended up getting this soldering iron for my wife.

They must have paid attention to all the bad reviews, this iron works great! Really.

- The holder is now all metal

- It gets plenty hot, in-fact you will want to dial it down some.

- I found the tip to be very reliable and stays tinned, cleans easily

$19.99

http://www.microcenter.com/product/391342/Low-Cost_Soldering_Station

 

[krye]

I've used those $8 soldering irons from RadioShack for decades. They suck. I've always wanted a "real" soldering iron station but could never see myself dropping $250-$300 on a Weller. I found the Hakko FX-888 on SparkFun for $100. It looked pretty cool and had some great reviews. I then found it on Amazon for $80. My wife picked it up for me for Christmas. I've already used it and it's great.

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10553

http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888-FX-888-Soldering-Station/dp/B004M3U0VU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358169813&sr=8-1&keywords=hakko+fx-888

 

[uniserver]

Seems like a highly rated iron for a great price . Looks like free shipping too. Good deal.

 

[James1095]

IMHO the Hakko stuff is better than Weller these days anyway. I always liked the 936, although it looks like they've discontinued it now. They sure did change to a weird color scheme on the new products.