Recommendations for a good soldering iron for a DIY Soldering Station project - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: hawkest
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 18, 2016, 07:51:56 am
content: Hi All,I'm new to the EEVBLOG forums, and through college i'm working on a little project to build myself a Soldering Station and looking for personal recommendations for a good Soldering iron to base my design around.My current soldering iron isn't good and i mainly use it for general purpose repairs a strip board prototyping.ThanksHawkest

author: stj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 18, 2016, 09:01:25 am
content: a chinese Hakko clone that takes T12 tips,or if you are flush with money, maybe a JBC iron.this WILL interest you!http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=7218

author: hawkest
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 18, 2016, 03:55:58 pm
content: Cheers STJthanks for you reply...are the chinese clones any good or is it all dont to the t12 tip?

author: stj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 18, 2016, 11:41:09 pm
content: Quote from: hawkest on October 18, 2016, 03:55:58 pmthe irons, or the stations?the stations are all different - some o.k., some better than Hakko,the "iron" is nothing more than a socket, there are 3 types.1: a clone of the hakko FX951 2-piece handle - said to be pretty weak.http://www.hakko.com/english/products/hakko_fm2027_2028.htmlhttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2221510885862: a conversion on a hakko 907 design - not sure about those.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172131527847http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3817522341263: a one-piece handle that looks pretty damn good.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291859169457

author: dom0
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 19, 2016, 09:46:40 pm
content: Resistive sensing tech - simple to interface, well known, original brand stuff reasonably cheap (eg. weller wsp/wp 80)Thermocouple sensing - slightly harder to interface, tends to be a bit more expensive (eg. JBC)RF - *relatively* difficult to interface if you don't know a thing about it and expect good results when developing from scratchI wouldn't skimp on either the hand piece (you'll often have it in your hands, you want something nice and ergonomic) or the tips. A DIY hand piece would be interesting though... Weller sells replacement heater assys, in the case of the WSP80 it's completely self contained. Just woodturn your own handle and screw the heater in. Would probably work rather well and have a unique touch to it.

author: hawkest
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 20, 2016, 08:46:34 pm
content: Quote from: stj on October 18, 2016, 11:41:09 pmJust the iron, its more about the electronics of the station that i'm concerned about, seen some clones of the newer hakko fx-2028 handle that look good, but i guess its very similar to the hakko 951.Quote from: dom0 on October 19, 2016, 09:46:40 pmThats useful information to plan for when i start getting in depth into the research. luckly i don't need to really do much on the design of the handle, though a customer fit handle would be awesome.Thanking you both very much for further input to my question.Ben

author: hawkest
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 24, 2016, 11:52:40 am
content: No one else have an opinion on soldering irons?Cheers Ben

author: Jester
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 24, 2016, 02:25:56 pm
content: Get a used Metcal with a new soldering tip and never look back

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 24, 2016, 06:38:29 pm
content: Well if you really want to cover all angles you could always look for a Weller TCP iron, the 'station' for that could be as simple as a 24V 50VA transformer, or you could include a relay to take the load off the thermoswitch contacts (the expensive bit... the element is relatively cheap). Temperature setting is done by magnetic curie point transition of a little slug inserted into the back of the tip.I still use a TCP as my main iron, I've included a SSR in the base unit to unload the thermoswitch contact load so it should last more or less indefinitely. It seems to get a lot more effective use of its 45W power than the fancy new '60-80W' digital ones with their poor thermal contact between the ceramic element and the tip. The TCP irons and tips have loads of thermal mass and the curie point sensing directly on the tip means good recovery too (after all, Metcal is basically using curie point sensing too). Genuine Weller tips from CPC and Farnell are on a par with ebay non genuine T12 elements/tips.I prefer the handling too, something that comfortably fits in your hand rather than a skinny pencil and the handle to tip length is actually no greater.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 02:03:32 am
content: You may also want to consider an Ersa i-Tool (0100CDJ). The 102 series tips are very well made (thick plating), and inexpensive.Members that have these have very good things to say, including the ergonomics and tip-to-grip distance.