Solomon SL-20: is it good or is it nostalgia? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: GabrielBlackfox
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 14, 2023, 08:30:20 pm
content: Hi.This is my first post here (although I’ve been watching EEVblog since episode one) so please be gentleI’ve been working in a company doing R&D for 7 years and recently I’ve started my own business doing pretty much the same thing - small scale prototyping of “weird” devices mainly for testing in the chemical industry. So… now I’m building my own lab buying new toys. The budget gear I have in my home workshop won’t do anymore.My first soldering station was the Solomon SL-20 like… 15 years ago or something like that. Then I’ve borrowed it to a friend and then I went through a bunch of other stations, each of them lacking in some way. Now I’m at the point of buying a soldering station for my business and… well… I’m thinking about buying the Solomon again.So I’m thinking… is this the nostalgia talking? I’m not a guy who would spend a lot on any product just for a flashy brand, but on the other hand I can buy something nice for myself now. The Solomon SL-20 seems to be very popular in my country and not anywhere else. It’s even barely mentioned here on the forum. I’m pretty sure there has been a lot of improvements over the years in soldering stations, but then again, all the others I’ve had were disappointing.So… What would you recommend? Go for the Solomon or find something among the Vellers and Hakkos of the world?

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 15, 2023, 07:45:51 am
content: Looks like a Weller clone to me, and probably works about as well as one. They also appear to have an SL-20CMCwhich is a Hakko (936-style) clone. That says to me that Solomon is probably just a name they use to rebrand other generic Chinese soldering irons.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 15, 2023, 09:41:03 am
content: I know Solomon stations as very good, but it's a hot iron after all.If you don't solder 24/7, then almost everything will work. When I've started we used to have a soldering iron, which we use to heat on a cooking stove, then solder. Was working good enough to repair tube radio/TV and occasional soldering. That won't cut it any more with fine SMDs, or with power MOSFETs soldered on solid ground planes.Use something with a monobloc cartridge (tip + heating element + thermocouple are encapsulated together, not separated).My preferred go to soldering/desoldering tool for occasional work still remains the classic soldering gun, with only a 100+ W transformer to mains, and a piece of copper wire as soldering tip, no temperature control. Heats instantly, no idle running, very powerful heat transfer (good for de/soldering on ground planes), temperature can be controlled good enough by turning it on/off from its the trigger finger switch.The drawback is that it's very heavy, after an hour or so will make your hand wrist heart. When it comes to assemble something that may take more than a few minutes, I prefer a soldering station. Mine is a DIY, with generic handle and generic soldering cartridges (T12, sometimes called T15 typehttps://duckduckgo.com/?q=t12+t15+type+soldering+tips&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=imagesmine were cheap buy from China).Another option for occasional soldering is battery powered soldering iron. The feeling of such a "soldering station", but with no dangling wire, is fantastically good. Once you try one, you'll never want to go back to a wired-handle soldering station. Talking about the 50-100W powerful ones, like TS100/101 and alike, shaped like a normal handle, not the ones with a soldering gun shape.

author: GabrielBlackfox
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 16, 2023, 11:36:03 am
content: Thanks for the suggestions.I already have the TS100 and its underwhelming IMO. I had problems resoldering leads of a TO-220 in a heatsink or a large toroidal inductor in a smps. And that was at 22V so it cant do much better in terms of power. And the cable is still dangling there so no real difference. The smaller tips were nice but any tip that fits between soldering pads is good enough. In response to that I got a 80W, mains powered temperature controlled iron (with controller in the hilt) and it's kinda ok. However it doesn't have any timed sleep mode, and I've already melted a few tips.The SL-20xxx has a heavy chassis (EI transformer) so it doesn't get pulled around the bench. The iron stand is metal and connected to the chassis, so you can throw the iron from across the desk and it'll land and stay there. The handle is light and sturdy with a decent finger guard (which cannot be said about the TS100). What it lacks is the the sleep mode (although never burned a tip, even leaving it overnight) and it has separate tips (not a monoblock).I could try getting a combo station if there are any good recommendations, but I've found that if it's a 2 in 1 its not good at either.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2023, 12:01:34 pm
content: Then, I might be confusing the TS100 name of the wireless one, sorry.Don't have it, but I've tried one once, and it was OK for normal THT soldering. Didn't try power transistors on ground plane or alike. The soldering tip was IIRC 50-60W, and able to deliver that while on battery. The wire was for recharging only, or else it will lose any advantage over a normal solder station with a wired handle.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2023, 08:59:22 pm
content: TS100 is a 40W iron, with a typical internal heater/thermocouple arrangement, not amazing for large TO220 packages. You didn't mention what tip style you were using though.You can read the threads here and watch SDG's reviews to get an idea of better performing irons.This isn't the TS100, but he has the TS101 compared at about 7mins in to a few other:

author: DavidKo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2023, 02:47:25 pm
content: I do not use mine (I have SL-20 with bar LED display >20years), but I still have it in case I need isolated soldering iron. I do not trust to my KSGER for such cases.

author: Hydrawerk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 02, 2023, 10:51:32 pm
content: https://www.pro-soldering.com/soldering-station/SL-20.htmlSolomon SL-20 is a basic soldering station sold since early 1990s. It is dated a lot. It might be OK for some school use. When you use leaded solder and a PCB with no plated through holes.When you want a basic soldering station, you should look for one inspired by Hakko 936. There are many clones around, but I am not familiar with them.But you should at least have a look at cartridge soldering stations like PACE ADS200, some JBCs, Hakko, or even Weller...I have a PACE ADS200 since March 2022 or so.Have a look at some Dave's videos...

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2023, 08:32:18 am
content: This looks similar to unregulated Solomon irons.I found them quite inconvenient - the handle is huge, a bit heavy and has long distance to the tip. This makes it hard to do anything with precision. I switched to Hakko 936 clone long ago (similar to the one reviewed by Dave). These days there are probably even better things out there.