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WTB Descent soldering station






why not just buy a regular iron from radio shack? :-/ its cheaper :)

iron+ good stand with sponge is around 20$.
 
I agree completely. The difference between soldering with a good Weller station like the one above and a cheapie Radio Shack iron is night and day. You will have much better success and a shorter learning curve if you get a good iron. If you plan on doing alot of soldering/laser building it is definitely a worthwhile investment. ;)
 
John, Weller makes excellent digital controlled soldering stations, depending on your budget and personal needs though they might be a bit too pricey to solder-up a diode. However a low wattage soldering iron that has a grounded tip will work real well for you if all you do is light soldering. If though you do a lot of soldering projects a Weller unit will serve you better in the long run.
 
Id recommend getting a decent controller that controlls the heat and as for the iron part.. any radio shack junk will do.. just invest in a better tip for all of 25 cents.

Just be sure that the output on the controller has your standard plug.
I replace my iron at least once or twice a year and tips maybe 3-4 months, but for the 10 years I've been working with soldering for computer components I've never had to replace the controller. I got it cheap too.. think it was $50 back then.
 
John,
  Weller also makes a standard Soldering Iron that plugs straight into the
110VAC without a controller. They are less expensive but still top quality... :)

A good soldering tip sells for about $3-$6 and is well worth the money..
$0.25 is not going to get you a Clad Copper Pre-Tinned high quality Weller
soldering tip. Weller tips give me a full year of industrial use ;)
 
I use a Weller WESD51 with the digital readout/adjustment knob. It has worked great for the past 3 years. Quick question for the experts though...
I am using Radio Shack High-Tech Rosin Core Silver-Bearing Solder for my PCB connections, is there a perfect temperature setting using a fine tip? I seem to use 550 degrees but it sometimes takes a 5-6 seconds to melt the solder. Should I use a hotter temp so that the contact with the solder is less? Thanks and sorry if this is called hijacking a thread :(
 
Weller has dropped in its quality over the past years. They used to be all US made and very high durability. However they have been making many of their stations overseas and therefore not worth the extra $$ anymore (not saying overseas means low quality always, but in this case it does). If you can find an older one then it would be worth it, but for new I would suggest something else. I have a Hakko 936 now and love it. For a new one it will only be $60-70 for ESD safe, non-digital station with stand. Also DO NOT buy Radio Shack soldering iron. You are just throwing your money away and would have wished for better. I have tried to use it just as a test and it was a joke, I couldn't stand using it for more then 2 hours.  

From AoiShikaku:
I replace my iron at least once or twice a year and tips maybe 3-4 months, but for the 10 years I've been working with soldering for computer components I've never had to replace the controller.  I got it cheap too.. think it was $50 back then.
Click to expand...
There is no need to replace irons or tips that much. If you take care of your tips that can last 5+ years of casual use. I personally have not had a tip last less than a year ever before unless I abused it. Take laserbee's advice and get a $3-6 tip and take care of it and you will have no problems. The iron can last a very long time, it seems like a waste of money to buy a cheap one every year. I do quite a bit of soldering too, so its not a use issue. No matter how much you are soldering 3-4 months is too short for tips (unless you are doing industrial soldering, but that is not the vibe I got from your post. Correct me if I am wrong, but from home its defiantly too showrt..

WakBag, you should only be on a connection for a max of 3 seconds. On the low side I would suggest 300 C (~570F) for soldering with tin and lead, with silver it needs to be higher. Unless you are selling whatever you are doing and it needs to be RoHS compliant (or similar), I would suggest using lead. Its a better connection especially for PCB. It also has a more flexible connection in case your joint is stressed commonly.  
 
WakBag... I agree with imprez55's statements to you concerning the type of solder
and temperatures. The LaserBee I are all soldered with lead/tin rosin core solder.

Unless you have a specific use for it... I would not use the Silver-Bearing solder on
PCBs. ;)
 
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