Looking for a soldering station...help me decide

[pearldrum944]

I have started doing enough soldering work at times to warrant a new soldering iron...I'm not going to miss my $12 walmart iron. What kind of stations do you guys use? I would like to stay under about $130. I have used the weller WTCPT, I liked the quality...but am not sold on the whole temperature adjusting tip bit. I would like one that is temperature controllable. What do you guys think about these?

Weller wes51
Weller wesD51, is it worth it to go digital?
Tenma 21-7930, School has a few of these and they seem like pretty good quality.
Something by Hakko?
Anything else you would like to suggest?

I loved the way the iron felt on the WTCPT, but have not felt the style of iron for the wes51 series. Is it as comfortable?

[kingchong]

I bought a hakko 936 last year and am really happy with it. It heats up fast and is really comfy to use.

[idylldon]

I've been using this one for the past year now and it's worked flawlessly. The original tip is still like new after a LOT of soldering:

Xytronic Nichrome Professional Solder Station- 0-40W. World's Best Guitar Soldering Iron!!

Cheers,
--
Don

[BlueSprocket]

The hakko stuff is really quite nice. Check it out.

[Rick Sutton]

I have a Weller station that I use but I actually prefer my Xytronic (similar to Idylldon's suggestion). It isn't as well known but it really does the job and is extremely comfortable.

[pearldrum944]

Thanks for the comments guys! Keep them coming!

Originally Posted by Rick Sutton

I have a Weller station that I use but I actually prefer my Xytronic (similar to Idylldon's suggestion). It isn't as well known but it really does the job and is extremely comfortable.

What about the Xytronic makes you prefer it over the Weller? Also, do you know what Weller you have that you are comparing it to?

[CoteRotie]

Hakko is good, but Metcal also is worth a look.

Regards,

John

[tombak]

I got the Hakko as well, great tool. About to go use it right now actually, I have some more snakes to make.

I'll probably get another Hakko soon to keep at home/backup.

[KingDaddyO]

I use an older model GC Electronics 12-070 (same model appears to be made by Xytronic now). I've used many brands incl. Weller, and the GC/Xytronic are as good if not better (personal preference).

Here is a nice writeup about the Xytronic 168 iron:
Xytronic Nichrome Professional Solder Station- 0-40W. World's Best Guitar Soldering Iron!!

As you can see from the pic below, major diff is the GC has the stand built in. Temp ranges and layout are almost exactly the same.

[Molten Solder]

Hey all I am new here....

I Myself am in the market for a new soldering station of a much higher caliber then my current Weller WTCPTD I think thats the correct model number,

Reasons are I want to ensure for the future, ESD safe ,Lead Free , Variable temp digital control all the bells an whistles from a premium product. I want to start building guitar pedals and all that too and have grunt in the unit when needed for Audio lugs and such my current weller station is real nice but toward the future I may be doing electronics as carreer so I want to plan ahead its more of a hobby at the moment but will be getting alot more into it very very soon I plan to build a guitar amp too so something that is versatile is a must.

Price range perhaps twice the price of my current weller station, I want good gear that will last with out been too over the top.. I have heard great things about goot,weller wd series,metcal and hakko any ideas would be great cheers

[owel]

I have a plain CSI w/ adjustable temp knob (Hakko clone?), an Aoyue rework hot air, another CSI with hot air and a little tiny Madell soldering station.

Out of all these units, my favorite is the Madell shown below. 200-degree standby, digital display, FAST HEATING from standby to your set temperature, lead-free capable, small unit.

My other units will drop in temp when the iron is soldering pads with large ground planes. Not this one... even on large ground plane, using lead-free solder and it's no sweat for this iron. The temp will adjust fast up or down maintaining the preset temperature to keep up with the job. Don't let the small size fool ya!

QK202D

[mbrebes]

I've been doing a lot of heavy duty soldering for the last 25 years. I would recommend the Weller WES51. You don't need the digital display. It is a good iron that is comfortable and not too big. Another big reason I would go with the Weller is because of how long they have been around and ease of getting tips and parts. I've had other great irons that I had to retire because of the lack of available replacement parts.

[Audiop]

I went with a Weller WSD81 with WSP80 pen.

I'm very satisfied and as allready mentioned, they have been around and spare parts is no problem. Also among the better brands Weller has the lowest price tips it seems.

Heats up in no time and has stable temperature. Tips can be changed hot.

The pen is small enough for SMD (and there are tips for that) but still powerfull enough for speaker terminals etc.


/Peter

[Molten Solder]

What about the weller wd1000t? anyone have any experience whith them?
I would go for a metcal but they cost a fortune the Hakko fx -951 or Weller WD-1000t would be more in my price range hmmmmmm

[pearldrum944]

Lots of good options here. I am leaning toward the wes51 but have not completely thrown out the xytronic or the tenma station yet. Anyone else ever checked out the tenma stuff?

[Audiop]

Originally Posted by Molten Solder

What about the weller wd1000t? anyone have any experience whith them?
I would go for a metcal but they cost a fortune the Hakko fx -951 or Weller WD-1000t would be more in my price range hmmmmmm

WD 1000 seems nice. I looked at it when I choosed my station but decided that WSD-81 was fine for me and a lot less money. I think they are basically the same stations but you have some extra features and setting on the 1000.


/Peter

[Molten Solder]

I think the wd100t and the hakko fx-951 turn the iron into sleeper mode when you put it in its dock-holder I really like that feature

[Audiop]

Yes that can be a nice feature. If I remember correct, on the 1000 you are able to set the time after which the iron is put to "stand by".

Obviously you don't want this to hapen directly when you place the iron in the holder.

When I solder I use to prepare well so I can do many solders "in a row" and then after I'm done I step down the temperature manually. When I'm ready to go again I raise the temp manually again and since the digitally controled silver-line of weller pens are so fast this works fine for me.

Not that I wouldn't accept a WD1000T if someone gave it to me! :-)


/Peter

[Molten Solder]

The Weller WD1002T is the one i think I am meaning its so confusing with all there models its the model with the Stop+Go stand. Oh and do the wattage on temp controlled irons matter? most higher end stuff have 80watt soldering pencils. the WESD51also seems real nice but I do want an extreme jump in quality to my weller WTCPTD will be looking around very soon but only problem is everywhere i would go as far as local stores are concerned they would all have to order it in so i cant feel the station or examine it except for the pictures in anyway so thats why all the questions..... hmmm

[Audiop]

Yes, higher power should result in faster regulation or tighter regulation if you will.

Of course it depends on what you will work with. It feels like 80W staion with 80W pen cover most situations. Even though it's powerful it's very nice sizewise and it's light as well. Really like to use it (WSP80).


/Peter

[Wavebourn]

I use 15W Hakko soldering iron. Light and handy, no need for any station.

Speaking of a station, I once saw in a movie on Youtube some station that is connected to computer and builds SMD PCB working like a hyperactive chicken. It would be nice to have one. Who makes them, and how much do they cost?

[headwerkn]

I have a DSE-branded adjustable station which appears to be exactly the same as the Xytronic mentioned above. Works great even with lead-free solder, and not too pricey.

Sorry to hijack the thread somewhat, but while we're all talking about soldering stations, what do people recommend for someone wanting to get into soldering surface mount stuff. I've seen some dual stations - iron and hot air rework - and claw-style irons... what's good?

[Molten Solder]

Originally Posted by headwerkn

Sorry to hijack the thread somewhat, but while we're all talking about soldering stations, what do people recommend for someone wanting to get into soldering surface mount stuff. I've seen some dual stations - iron and hot air rework - and claw-style irons... what's good?

I think your talking about rework stations there... but for surface mount stuff a micro soldering pencil is needed with very fine tip from what I hear

[Audiop]

It depends on how small the SMD is.

There are micro pens but the Weller WSP80 and WP80 has several tips for SMD work as well.


/Peter

[Wavebourn]

I found an article about a station I want... Where to buy one?

Build It. Share It. Profit. Can Open Source Hardware Work?

[nofi]

Originally Posted by headwerkn

Sorry to hijack the thread somewhat, but while we're all talking about soldering stations, what do people recommend for someone wanting to get into soldering surface mount stuff. I've seen some dual stations - iron and hot air rework - and claw-style irons... what's good?

Reflow irons are really nice for pulling SMD chips, and for if you want to hand place parts using solder paste.

But you can cut the legs off a lot of ICs before you've paid for the cost of a good reflow iron. and for general assembly, you can go far with a nice powerful soldering station and a nice fine SMD tip.

the issue with proper SMD tips, is they're generally only available for modern RF heated irons - the older heating element devices of 10 years ago you can get very pointy tips for them, but these tips are very long, very narrow, and far away from the heating element - meaning that you get a huge temperature gradient down to the end of them, and your tip temperature is always annoyingly low.

the metcal irons are awesome. I can easily do 0603 resistors and capacitors, plus TQFP and TSSOP outline packages with my metcal iron, fine solder, a pair of curved tweezers, and a bit of desoldering braid.

[Audiop]

nofi, how about the Silverline from Weller?



/Peter

[headwerkn]

Originally Posted by Audiop

It depends on how small the SMD is.

Probably not super fine pitch microprocessors... but a lot of the DIY projects I've been looking to do lately have SMD components so I'm keen to get a decent setup that could cover most bases.

I found this Complete Lead Free SMD Rework System by Xytronic - maybe a bit of overkill.

[Molten Solder]

It all depends one how much money you are willing to spend and how much you will use the gearstike

[nofi]

Originally Posted by Audiop

nofi, how about the Silverline from Weller?

/Peter

..link?