I just bought a soldering iron today. Use it for 10 minutes and it broke in half. Did this 2 more times after putting it back together. Does anyone know of a good soldering iron or gun for a decent price?
I just bought a soldering iron today. Use it for 10 minutes and it broke in half. Did this 2 more times after putting it back together. Does anyone know of a good soldering iron or gun for a decent price?
Where did ya get it, what brand etc? I'm sure lots of others might not want one of theirs either ; )
I wasn't sure many still used soldering irons. I'd suggest finding an older one at a yard sale/flea market/ pawnshop etc
I used one similar to this (little bigger) for over 5 years on a daily basis in my CB store. Or if your doing a lot of work then step up to a Weller but this did ok for normal circuit board work. It is adjustable for temp with on/off switch and the iron should be replaceable (plug-in) in addition to the tips. Quite a few different models/makes but this will give you an idea of what Im talking about.
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haha, I wasn't sure they had electric ones or not : D
I was planning on putting the name and completely forgot... Its by Performance Tool and bought it from Advance Auto Parts which is also a place a hate going to but i had no other option at the time. I plan on getting an older one or one like Mechanic688 suggested. I used one in auto shop that was about 10 years old. Obviously needed a new iron but it still worked great
Mech, since you suggested a Soldering Iron, I was curious if you would give us your opinion, on whether you prefer to use a Solder Sucker and Wick together, or just the sucker, or one of those all in one Desoldering guns? If I'm misunderstanding the process, forgive me, just going by what I've looked up with Google.
Lurch hope you don't mind me piggy backing on your thread with this question. It's something I've thought of picking up, an learning to use.
My thanks for the thread!
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Be my guest. I didnt pay for it or put any real time into it. The way i see it, as long as i get the information i need (which i have), then im happy. That was another soldering gun i was considering as well. I need to get back into this. Use to do it a lot when i was 16 but since i left school, this is the first ive used one
I use the same soldering iron that Mechanic688 mentioned. For quick, higher heat applications, and especially for soldering on cars & trucks, I have used the Weller 140/100 Watt Soldering Gun for years. Between the iron & the gun, you will be good to go!
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Agreed here, depends on your job or what your working on. Don't want to use a solder gun on a circuit board. If your doing rewiring outdoors then the gun might be better. One reason I liked the solder station was after my immediate job was done I could turn down the temp on the iron till I needed it again(let it idle), turn it back up and it was ready to go in less than a minute.
As far as wicking it depended on what I was working on. For circuit board work/repairs I usually used a good solder handheld sucker but if I was desoldering a coax connector or other large blob of solder then it was time for the wick and finish up with the sucker.
Commercial operations and large repair services used the vacuum solder pumps for removing large amounts or for a continual use.
does an iron do more intricate stuff than the gun will?
One of my hobbies is restoring old tube radios so I use a soldering station for that. I know a lot of people use and like this cheap Hakko knock off Aoyue 937+ Digital Soldering Station - ESD Safe includes Spare Element UPDATED VERSION!!: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
Also if you are wanting to desolder a lot of stuff the Hakko desoldering guns are hard to beat Hakko 808-KIT/P Self Contained Desoldering Gun with Internal Vacuum Pump and Carrying Case, 120V AC: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
Rod
Yes, you can get needlepoint tips for the better irons/stations which will get you into emergency repairs of surface mount components if needed, Which are low heat items and easy to destroy. When your redoing the end on a component that looks like a flea and you have to look at it thru a magnifying glass, that gets to be tedious work, very hard on the nerves. Have to have just the right amount of heat to bond but not too much that the part goes up in smoke.
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