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Need quality soldering iron

dullard

dullard

Elite Member
Recommendations or advice? Looking at the $150 range. I know nothing about them other than the fact that the cheapo ones I've tried have sucked.
 
Weller WES51 isn't bad. It's what I use at home and runs $119 through Mouser. If you want one with a digital setup, the WESD51 runs $157
 
Originally posted by: NutBucket
http://www.wassco.com/anordigsenso.html
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Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Weller WES51 isn't bad. It's what I use at home and runs $119 through Mouser. If you want one with a digital setup, the WESD51 runs $157
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Any significant difference between the brands? I've been looking through an Allied Electronics catalog and I can't tell the difference. Looks like Mouser runs a bit cheaper than Allied Electronics if your prices are up to date. The WES51 was the one that I thought most highly of before posting.
 
Originally posted by: NutBucket
Pace is what I use here in the lab. We have this setup and is basically the same on the soldering side.
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Pace is certainly the cheapest I've seen. I just suck at soldering and thought going up in models would help (especially with controllable temperatures and changable tips).
 
Wow, I never before realized soldering irons could be that expensive. I understand that you get what you pay for though. What would I be able to do with an expensive soldering iron that I can't do with a $20 model? (Not being sarcastic, truthfully, I'd like to know. I'm actually going to be teaching students how to solder in a couple of weeks... it'd be good to know)
 
I just checked Digikey, they have the WES51 for $99. There's different tips available for it, so if you're doing fine pitched work, get the smallest tip possible, but if your soldering to lugs or planes get a large tip. I haven't used a Pace setup so I can't comment on that.

...I get spoiled by the MT1500 setup at work ($600 iron w/ $45 tips) 😀
 
Basically from what I can tell, the cheap ones just aren't flexible enough to different applications. You have one soldering tip. If you need to heat up something small and fragile it is too big and if you need to heat up something large then it is too small. Plus the lack of thermal control means you can fry fragile devices with short leads (and you cannot melt some of the higher temperature solder). And a stand would be great to have...
 
The main thing is how accurate the heat is. Some parts are very sensitive to heat. These units control heat very precisely. Also, there are dozens of different tips available. That makes a big difference as well. When you're solding hundreds of components it pays to have good stuff. Hell, even for everyday stuff these make life easier. And, they tend yield better results.
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
Wow, I never before realized soldering irons could be that expensive. I understand that you get what you pay for though. What would I be able to do with an expensive soldering iron that I can't do with a $20 model? (Not being sarcastic, truthfully, I'd like to know. I'm actually going to be teaching students how to solder in a couple of weeks... it'd be good to know)
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If you're teaching basic soldering skills, not much. If you're trying to do surface mount soldering, there's alot. The more expensive irons have adjustable heat. 650F works well for lead/tin solder, but 700F works better for silver solder (it doesn't melt until much higher, 550F instead of 450F). 800 lets you burn traces and pads off for rework. The more expensive irons also heat up much quicker. The cheapy $15 irons take 5-10 minutes to heat up, the WES50 takes 1-2 minutes, and the MT1500 takes about 10 seconds, and can "idle" at 400F to save on tip life and be back upto 650F in two seconds. The more expensive irons also have a wider variety of tips, both smaller and larger. And in fine pitched soldering smaller isn't just better, it's required. In the very high end, desoldering attachments are available that use hot air and vaccuum. The cheaper irons also cannot heat large lugs and terminals well, they just lack the overall power. The less time you have to have your iron on something, the better.
 
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