Recommend a soldering iron?

[gilsaluki]

Scam hairs on my arms are up on this one.  His/her rating is 100 percent with only 73 sales.  But if you click to look at the feedback there are all sorts of negative responses, "I never received my item, they kept my money".  Stay away from this one.  

[+selgus]

I've been using a Weller WESD51 digital soldering station for years, and have nothing but great things to say about it. I would recommend to anyone. Fine control over temperature, pretty quick heat-up and tips have been lasting me a very long time.

 

[Albert]

6 minutes ago, selgus said:

I've been using a Weller WESD51 digital soldering station for years, and have nothing but great things to say about it. I would recommend to anyone. Fine control over temperature, pretty quick heat-up and tips have been lasting me a very long time.

I've been using WES51 stations for the last 20 years, and they've always performed well for me.  That's the non-digital version of basically the same soldering station.  The only problem I've had is after several years, the connection between the iron and the station becomes poor and the iron won't stay powered on.  Replacing the iron (which can be purchased separately) has always solved that issue, and I have a backup station as well just in case something happens to the one I have, since I do so much soldering. 

 

I also keep plenty of tips and sponges handy, and since the WES51 is a fairly common station, it's easy to find those from a variety of vendors, so definitely shop around.

 

 ..Al

[andymanone]

I use the "AOYUE 852" Desoldering Station the last 12 years...

 

It´s not the cheapest solution, but it works fine for me for all the years...

 

Gtx.,

andY

 

 

[retrobits]

For a budget iron, I've been really happy with this one.  

Quick heat up from cold & the heat remains constant during use.

65W Tilswall Solder Station at Amazon

[tep392]

1 hour ago, Albert said:

I've been using WES51 stations for the last 20 years, and they've always performed well for me.  That's the non-digital version of basically the same soldering station.  The only problem I've had is after several years, the connection between the iron and the station becomes poor and the iron won't stay powered on.  Replacing the iron (which can be purchased separately) has always solved that issue, and I have a backup station as well just in case something happens to the one I have, since I do so much soldering. 

 

I also keep plenty of tips and sponges handy, and since the WES51 is a fairly common station, it's easy to find those from a variety of vendors, so definitely shop around.

 

 ..Al

I’ve been using the wes51 for 10 years and it’s worked like a champ. I haven’t had any issues with the connector yet. 

[Albert]

3 minutes ago, tep392 said:

I’ve been using the wes51 for 10 years and it’s worked like a champ. I haven’t had any issues with the connector yet. 

I'm willing to bet I do a hell of a lot more soldering than pretty much anyone else here. 

 

 ..Al

[tep392]

I’ve built about 250 carts in that time. You probably build that many in a week. 

[_The Doctor__]

Never thought I'd see the day... it's looking like a my soldering iron/ is bigger than yours! Ya ya well my solder roll is bigger than yours and I use it a h*ll of a lot more than you....     oh my... :)

[tep392]

14 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:

Never thought I'd see the day... it's looking like a my soldering iron/ is bigger than yours! Ya ya well my solder roll is bigger than yours and I use it a h*ll of a lot more than you....     oh my...

I've been told I'm quite skilled at soldering.

[+DrVenkman]

I doubt as I’m accomplished as Al or Perry, but I’ve built 60-odd 5200 analog thumbstick controllers at something like 125 solder points each, built a 1088XEL and a 1088XEL from scratch, plus dozens of other random console and computer mods in the last 5 years and my Hakko FX888D has been perfect. Even the original tip still looks new. Probably the best $95 I’ve spent on a tool for this hobby.  

[Zap!]

I still wish that I could find one that has the option of changing Celsius to Fahrenheit.

[_The Doctor__]

most of the newer ones do, and some of the old ones have a dual scale on the knob or a switch..

[Zap!]

24 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:

most of the newer ones do, and some of the old ones have a dual scale on the knob or a switch..

Do you know if this one does?

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BAKU-BK-601D-110V-SMD-Brushless-Heat-Gun-Soldering-Iron-Station-with-Stand-700W/172602609533?_trkparms=aid%3D1110001%26algo%3DSPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200603055202%26meid%3D305ac90d7d924d6c940af6c237a6a9d3%26pid%3D101111%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D303586984190%26itm%3D172602609533%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2563228&_trksid=p2563228.c101111.m2109

[_The Doctor__]

The power plug is not grounded and not polarized, looks like a bad safety issue and lends itself to ESD on a 110V model... it's unlikely the tip is protected in any way, magnets look barely capable of holding the nozzle up and I'd expect accidents if you don't do something about it.

The manual is unclear about C/F.... since this is some Chinese POS we can expect the dual C/F is only on the dial and not the display.

I'm sorry but I'd either pass, or would expect to open it up to change C/F if possible on the display, attach the nozzle holder properly and correctly wire a polarized and grounded power cord...