Show us your soldering iron

[JStitz]

JordonT started me thinking with his comment about how he was using his old 20 year old soldering iron.
I with my near sightedness have been able to do mil-spec soldering since I was in my early 20's.
I always wanted a thin pencil Weller and passed up surplus irons due to all the sweet irons provided by employers.
I have been using a cheap Weller and a sears for too many years and want to get something real.
What did you buy? and where did you get it?

 

[keithp]

What did you buy? and where did you get it?

I wanted a Metcal, but wasn't willing to fork over the kilobuck required. Fortunately, Oki bought Metcal a few years ago and appropriated their RF soldering stuff and brought it to something I was willing to buy. I have the PS-800, which isn't being sold any longer, but it looks exactly like this PS-900 one:

PS-900 Soldering Station

It's got lots of power, and you can get a variety of different tips for it. I'm regularly fixing fairly small pitch (0.5mm QFNs and QFPs) or replacing 0402 passives with a tiny pencil point tip. Swap tips and I can go at 12 gauge stranded to wire up a launch system. It takes maybe 30 seconds to get hot after turning it on, which is not as fast as a "real" Metcal, but not a terribly long wait either.

I don't remember where I bought mine, but there are lots of online retailers carrying it, all for about $250.

 

[JStitz]

Thanks Keith, I don't want the TRF folks to do my leg work...just want to know what to buy and what you guys like to use.

 

[Nerull]

I've got one of these, from SparkFun:

It's not a real Hakko 936, but it works pretty well for my purposes and it's lightyears ahead of the radioshack iron I had before. The new version doesn't look like the Hakko anymore, though.

 

[MarkII]

I have a couple. I can't solder worth a damn, though.

 

[Handeman]

Gee, all I have are a couple of $5 25W soldering pencils that came in bubble packs. One I solder with, once in a while, and the other I flattened the tip and use it for cutting rip-stop nylon.

I used several soldering stations while at work, but I would like to know what home use requires the sophisticated soldering stations. It has to be more then soldering a few LEDs into a night flight rocket.

 

[keithp]

I would like to know what home use requires the sophisticated soldering stations.

I make things like this at home...

 

[rrlc]

I have a Radio Shack digital soldering station that I like a lot. It's variable up to 800 degrees or so and comes with different tips that you can switch out to match the job you're trying to do. Usually i just turn it up to the max so I can just touch the work for a second and it's done...No more having to hold the iron to the work forever and melting stuff.

 

[JoeG]

I used several soldering stations while at work, but I would like to know what home use requires the sophisticated soldering stations. It has to be more then soldering a few LEDs into a night flight rocket.

It's not what you need but what you want!!

I have lots of tools that i don't need. Heck, I have lots of rockets I don't need.

I do a lot of soldering at home and am on a first name basis with the owner of the local electronic components store (not Radio Shack). I have built a few launch systems, and various other electronic projects. I even built my own R/C rig from Heathkit many many years ago. Those servo boards are tiny!!

Here's mine. Only about $79.00

 

[sunward]

Had it a while.

Very reliable and steady temperature. While drop only if you do a lot of work.

 

[cwbullet]

I have a weller.

 

[Nerull]

Gee, all I have are a couple of $5 25W soldering pencils that came in bubble packs. One I solder with, once in a while, and the other I flattened the tip and use it for cutting rip-stop nylon.

I used several soldering stations while at work, but I would like to know what home use requires the sophisticated soldering stations. It has to be more then soldering a few LEDs into a night flight rocket.

Cheap pencil irons take forever to heat up, don't stay hot once you start using them, the tips don't transfer heat well, and they corrode rapidly. Even for just soldering a few LEDs together, the difference is night and day. For anything more complex, it's huge.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Hexacon
Phenix model 800...the Cadillac of soldering irons. Proves the old quote,"Contentment is destroyed by comparison"
https://www.soldersonline.com/soldering_stations_hexicon.html

I was turned on to the Hexacon brand by a co-worker when I was using a soldering iron to solder 500+ joints per day.

 

[Derek]

We have metcals at work.

 

[troj]

Cheap pencil irons take forever to heat up, don't stay hot once you start using them, the tips don't transfer heat well, and they corrode rapidly. Even for just soldering a few LEDs together, the difference is night and day. For anything more complex, it's huge.

Having just done a fair amount of soldering with mine, I can attest to this! You guys with high end irons are making me jealous, and I don't solder often!

-Kevin

 

[isobig]

Did tons of soldering in my younger days (1986-87) as I was employed by a govt contractor and had to do mil-spec soldering, mostly SMT stuff. Used the 62Pb/36Sn/2Ag solders there. In fact still have about half a spool of it. This little gem was from that place as it was being retired out of service. I replaced the power cord on it and it's worked fine ever since. Although I hardly ever need to solder anymore. It's a Weller, 22 watt, and uses MP126 & MP127 soldering pencils. Also have a couple cheapo $5 irons around that are easier to use for a quick job than lugging out the larger weller unit.

 

[Handeman]

I would like to know what home use requires the sophisticated soldering stations.

I make things like this at home...

View attachment 108659

That's a lot smaller then anything I've ever done. Do you make the circuit boards too? I used to buy the copper clad boards in Radio Shack kits with ferric oxide??? to etch the boards with. I still have a bottle of it somewhere, but haven't designed and made a circuit board since the '90s.

 

[dlb]

I got spoiled, I use the Weller solder/de-solding station, very pricey at 1200 bucks.
But worth it's weight in gold.

 

[RWmarlow]

 

[keithp]

Do you make the circuit boards too?

No, I'm not (that) crazy . There's a great guy here in Portland that has a cut-rate custom circuit board business, OSH Park, which will make custom circuit boards. The prices are crazy low if you want tiny boards. For three boards in two layers, it's $5 per square inch. For four layers, it's $10 per square inch. To prototype the above design, I paid $0.66 per board. Those are 1/16" thick though, so for production, I got Advanced Circuits to make me "real" boards in quantity using 1/32" glass. I probably saved close to $500 getting MicroPeak to market this way.

 

[davel]

At work, my favorite iron ends in an RT7 tip.

 

[JStitz]

Cheap pencil irons take forever to heat up, don't stay hot once you start using them, the tips don't transfer heat well, and they corrode rapidly. Even for just soldering a few LEDs together, the difference is night and day. For anything more complex, it's huge.

Amen brother! I just got done doing a large audio/PA install in a church with over 200 solder joints...after showing this thread to my brother he agreed to go halfsies on a nice one...soon!

 

[jd2cylman]

This is mine. For the discriminating mechanic

It works great for most of my applications at work; hardly at all at rocketry. A little too hot.

Adrian

 

[cerving]

Not to hijack the thread, but Keith, have you tried BatchPCB? I've used them a lot, but it looks like OSH Park will end up being cheaper and faster in the end... they're saying 10-12 working days, and BatchPCB usually ends up taking 3-4 weeks even if I pay the extra $10 to expedite.

No, I'm not (that) crazy . There's a great guy here in Portland that has a cut-rate custom circuit board business, OSH Park, which will make custom circuit boards. The prices are crazy low if you want tiny boards. For three boards in two layers, it's $5 per square inch. For four layers, it's $10 per square inch. To prototype the above design, I paid $0.66 per board. Those are 1/16" thick though, so for production, I got Advanced Circuits to make me "real" boards in quantity using 1/32" glass. I probably saved close to $500 getting MicroPeak to market this way.

 

[keithp]

Not to hijack the thread, but Keith, have you tried BatchPCB?

Haven't tried them as the OSH Park prices are lower, their process is better (5mil trace/space) and they ship faster. Plus, they also do occasional 4 layer runs.

 

[JStitz]

Not Hi-Jacking guys...please post links...op:

 

[jadebox]

I have three or four soldering irons. One is a Radio Shack brand one that I've had since I was about 13 years old. I think it's older than many (most?) of TRF's users.

-- Roger

 

[bill_s]

I didn't expect to get pointers to PCB vendors here, cool.

I like a good soldering station but I really think its beginners that need them most. Except for serious SMD, the experienced can use almost anything EXCEPT old soldering irons others have abused. If they made a really nice regulated iron that wasn't too expensive and didn't have a heavy base unit I'd be all over it, but I'm not hauling one of those things around in my tool box (I tried an old Ungar but it sucked). My employer has Hakkos but the tip selection really isn't that good and there's times I'll bring in my Radio Shack pencil instead. I like the one with the switch on the side and the pointy 15 watt tip substituted. Tips last OK if you always switch it to 15 watts every time you put it in the stand. There is a cheap Tenma on MCM I may get if I start doing more work at home.

 

[GRIFFIN]

This thread sounds like a good place to ask this. Would any one of you guys with a nice gun and some skills be willing to repair a speaker on a Featherweight Parrot Altimeter?? I will pay shipping both ways and for your time. Anyone interested, please send me a PM.

-Jason

 

[JordanT]

This thread sounds like a good place to ask this. Would any one of you guys with a nice gun and some skills be willing to repair a speaker on a Featherweight Parrot Altimeter?? I will pay shipping both ways and for your time. Anyone interested, please send me a PM.

-Jason

Have you checked with Adrian? He fixed mine, and it really didn't cost that much.

Funny this thread happened, I got a new soldering iron for Christmas from my wife. Nothing spectacular, but it looks like a nice, portable (12W DC) Weller.

oops, almost forgot that this was a show-me-yours thread