Recs on a good soldering iron?

[Slickone]

^

 

[Farang]

I'm no expert on these things I just want to tell you to make sure you get the right wattage. I soldered seemingly impossible points on my Xbox, miracle solders I'm telling you. Then I get to number 40 of 45 or so and it starts burning off the points, my Xbox is ruined. This is back when they were 300 bucks. All because I bought the wrong fucking wattage.

 

[Slickone]

Some cheap prices for the WLC100 on Amazon, but doesn't look like Amazon sells it directly. Does anyone know if any of the 3rd parties selling it on Amazon are reliable?
Like "cs-sales"? Noticed the same 3rd party sells a small tip for it and other things I might get, so I could save shipping. I can't figure out how to just see what that 3rd party sells, or select a product from them directly. Is there a way? I only found some of their items that show up in the 'more buying choices' list.
Or anyone know of somewhere else reliable thats about as cheap as it's listed for on Amazon?

Is this Conical Tip, .031" a good thin tip for the Weller, for doing light PCB work?

Is this the solder I need for PCB components?
Is this desolder wick OK?
Probably get this desolder pump too.
Does tip cleaner and tinner work?

 

[Gibson486]

If you have to ask what a good soldering iron is, then chances are you really do not need to spend smore than $30 or $40. Just go cheap Weller somewhere.

 

[Slickone]

One other question. What's the advantage of the ceramic heating element in the HAKKO 936? And is being ESD safe a must?

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Slickone
Some cheap prices for the WLC100 on Amazon, but doesn't look like Amazon sells it directly. Does anyone know if any of the 3rd parties selling it on Amazon are reliable?
Like "cs-sales"? Noticed the same 3rd party sells a small tip for it and other things I might get, so I could save shipping. I can't figure out how to just see what that 3rd party sells, or select a product from them directly. Is there a way? I only found some of their items that show up in the 'more buying choices' list.
Or anyone know of somewhere else reliable thats about as cheap as it's listed for on Amazon?

Is this Conical Tip, .031" a good thin tip for the Weller, for doing light PCB work?

Is this the solder I need for PCB components?
Is this desolder wick OK?
Probably get this desolder pump too.
Does tip cleaner and tinner work?

wlc100 is actually not a bad iron. I think $40 is the price they are everywhere. Just do a froogle search.

You can use that solder for PCB. Anything you buy thta is that small will most likely be lead free anyways. In my experience, however, lead free stinks when you have to do rework when you make a mistake. It just takes more heat to melt it.

That wick is fine.

I have never found a desoldering pump usefull unless you have smothered something with solder. On PCB boards, this rarely happend unless you mess up.

All you need to tin the tip is to clean the tip after use and put fresh solder on and let it cool on the tip.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Slickone
One other question. What's the advantage of the ceramic heating element in the HAKKO 936? And is being ESD safe a must?

ESD safe is more of a marketing tool. Even some $20 irons have it. All it means is that the iron itself is connected to ground. It more expensive irons, the tip is actualy isolated from the heating element.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Slickone
The Hakko Dash doesn't have a temp control. Shouldn't I get one w/ it?
Just curious, what's the cheapest place for a Hakko 936?
May just get the Weller WLC100.

its not that important. Chances are that you will most likely just use one setting to begin with. My iron does not have adjustable temp and I do not miss it one bit.

 

[duragezic]

If it is just a few small projects, you can get by with any old $10 piece. But if you have a little more to spend and plan to use it for a variety of projects, a simple station like the Weller is tons better. I remember having a hard time soldering even simple things with a cheap RadioShack one, then at work using a Weller station and the right tools made things much easier. Of course, I also gained more experience and got some techniques taught to me then, but if you plan to do this a lot, I'd want even the most basic Weller or similar station (depends on what work you do, but you don't need that much wattage). Temp control is nice but not needed, but you'll probably want at least power control.

Then get a few tips of various sizes, some rosin core solder, and desoldering braid. I don't really like the pumps but they are good for some things so you may want to use it. I'd also get a good pair of tweezers, a small pair of the snips that allow you to get close, possibly a magnifying glass if you can't see up close very well. The flux remover/cleaner stuff works really well for cleaning up the solder joint, but probably isn't necessary, and it's pretty expensive. Though one can should last forever as the best way to apply is to spray a little bit in the small part of the top of a spraypaint cap and apply with those little brushes. Rubbing alcohol also works, not quite as well, but I'd still use it over nothing (get the 90%+ stuff).

edit: Agree with Gibson. Take care of your tips by wiping it off on the sponge everytime you pick it up, and when you go to set it down for a few minutes, wipe it off again and put a little bit of solder on it before setting down.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Analog
I have been soldering for over a generation. Lets just say I'd never part with my Metcal. Can't say much more than that. I've used just about everything BTW.

The first iron I used was a metcal ps800. After, I used other irons at other companies and in school. Man...I missed that metcal so much. Luckily, I found the same exact model I used on ebay for $35 after they changed their name to OKI.

 

[Skipholiday]

^

 

[Slickone]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
wlc100 is actually not a bad iron. I think $40 is the price they are everywhere. Just do a froogle search.

You can use that solder for PCB. Anything you buy thta is that small will most likely be lead free anyways. In my experience, however, lead free stinks when you have to do rework when you make a mistake. It just takes more heat to melt it.

That wick is fine.

I have never found a desoldering pump usefull unless you have smothered something with solder. On PCB boards, this rarely happend unless you mess up.

All you need to tin the tip is to clean the tip after use and put fresh solder on and let it cool on the tip.

Thanks. What about the tip I linked?

 

[Slickone]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: Slickone
One other question. What's the advantage of the ceramic heating element in the HAKKO 936? And is being ESD safe a must?

ESD safe is more of a marketing tool. Even some $20 irons have it. All it means is that the iron itself is connected to ground. It more expensive irons, the tip is actualy isolated from the heating element.

What about the ceramic heating element?

 

[Slickone]

Originally posted by: duragezic
Then get a few tips of various sizes, some rosin core solder, and desoldering braid. I don't really like the pumps but they are good for some things so you may want to use it. I'd also get a good pair of tweezers, a small pair of the snips that allow you to get close, possibly a magnifying glass if you can't see up close very well. The flux remover/cleaner stuff works really well for cleaning up the solder joint, but probably isn't necessary, and it's pretty expensive. Though one can should last forever as the best way to apply is to spray a little bit in the small part of the top of a spraypaint cap and apply with those little brushes. Rubbing alcohol also works, not quite as well, but I'd still use it over nothing (get the 90%+ stuff).

"rosin core solder" - do you use the lead free stuff?
What type of tweezers exactly?
As for snips, I've got some mini side cutters, probably about 4" long. Is that what you mean?
"flux remover/cleaner" - that's the tip cleaner and tinner, right?

 

[Slickone]

This is the solder I currently have, made by Nippon America. Is this the same as what some here have said to use?

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: Slickone
This is the solder I currently have, made by Nippon America. Is this the same as what some here have said to use?

If it doesn't say lead-free, then it's fine (60/40 is probably the most common leaded solder mix). The rosin core means that there's flux inside the solder wire, which is a good thing (but you should always have your own flux to make life easier).

 

[Howard]

Electronics soldering is usually best suited by 63/37.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Slickone

Originally posted by: Gibson486
wlc100 is actually not a bad iron. I think $40 is the price they are everywhere. Just do a froogle search.

You can use that solder for PCB. Anything you buy thta is that small will most likely be lead free anyways. In my experience, however, lead free stinks when you have to do rework when you make a mistake. It just takes more heat to melt it.

That wick is fine.

I have never found a desoldering pump usefull unless you have smothered something with solder. On PCB boards, this rarely happend unless you mess up.

All you need to tin the tip is to clean the tip after use and put fresh solder on and let it cool on the tip.

Thanks. What about the tip I linked?

should be fine.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Slickone

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: Slickone
One other question. What's the advantage of the ceramic heating element in the HAKKO 936? And is being ESD safe a must?

ESD safe is more of a marketing tool. Even some $20 irons have it. All it means is that the iron itself is connected to ground. It more expensive irons, the tip is actualy isolated from the heating element.

What about the ceramic heating element?

ceramic can be used to be a great conductor, so heat transfer will be good. Those are the claims. How they perform against other conductors, I don't know.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

What are you guys soldering? Is it wierd I've made it this far in life without ever soldering?

 

[dman]

marked for later. Thanks.

 

[KK]

I had an issue with a mainboard for the wifes laptop. I bought a 15/30W iron from radio shack, also bought a desolder iron, but haven't used that yet.

 

[duragezic]

Originally posted by: Slickone

Originally posted by: duragezic
Then get a few tips of various sizes, some rosin core solder, and desoldering braid. I don't really like the pumps but they are good for some things so you may want to use it. I'd also get a good pair of tweezers, a small pair of the snips that allow you to get close, possibly a magnifying glass if you can't see up close very well. The flux remover/cleaner stuff works really well for cleaning up the solder joint, but probably isn't necessary, and it's pretty expensive. Though one can should last forever as the best way to apply is to spray a little bit in the small part of the top of a spraypaint cap and apply with those little brushes. Rubbing alcohol also works, not quite as well, but I'd still use it over nothing (get the 90%+ stuff).

"rosin core solder" - do you use the lead free stuff?
What type of tweezers exactly?
As for snips, I've got some mini side cutters, probably about 4" long. Is that what you mean?
"flux remover/cleaner" - that's the tip cleaner and tinner, right?

I've not ever used lead free but heard firsthand from people that they don't like it. What you linked there is basically what I'd use. I don't use additional flux except a few rare times.

Just any old decent pair of tweezers. Either for placing components or holding wires together, etc.

Yeah, the mini side cutters is what I meant. Just very handy for, well cutting about anything which comes up a lot when you solder. The mini side ones work well cause you can get close, and they are good for example cutting away the outer jacket to expose wires inside of a cable.

No, the flux remover isn't a tip cleaner. See the two pictures at the top of this page. The cleaner just gets rid of the flux residue left from soldering. I'm not sure how harmful it is... I think over time it can weaken a solder joint, but I'm not sure on that. We were always told to use it at work. So at home I haven't bought any and have just used isopropyl alcohol instead to clean up the board or solder joint.

There's other useful tools to get... it just matters what kind of soldering you are doing. But outside of a iron station, solder, braid, I used the above all of the time.

Also, if you are soldering a lot of wires together, like doing splices, those little Pan-A-Vise things were very helpful for me.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: KK
I had an issue with a mainboard for the wifes laptop. I bought a 15/30W iron from radio shack, also bought a desolder iron, but haven't used that yet.

here is a tip on that....make sure its worth yoru while to do that. It can be a bitch to take out a board in a laptop. I did it with my old gateway and there must have have been 50 screws involved! AFter all was said and done...the board powered up, but nothing shows up on the lamp no longer turns on for the LCD. I ended up just selling parts for cash.

 

[Modelworks]

Don't use the radio shack iron or any iron without a temperature control to solder anything but wire or something that your not scared about losing.

Irons like the radio shack ones can overheat, making the tips extremely hot.
So when you go to solder, the traces lift off the board, you kill the part with heat.

Desoldering irons are the same way, not a good idea.
Use a temp controlled iron with desoldering braid/wick.

Any iron that is temp controlled weller, tenma, hakko will work fine.
The temp control is the important part.

Remember to heat the work not the solder.

Things are pretty much now smd, or surface mount. For that you really need a hot air station. You can do some smd parts with an iron, but a 64 pin chip, forget it