Need some help choosing my first "decent" soldering iron. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Refrigerator
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2014, 08:02:12 pm
content: Hello.After all the crappy soldering irons, i finally saved up some money.I looked all over the internet for a better soldering iron/station.And after a few hours of searching found something i like.http://dx.com/p/kada-936d-digital-soldering-station-with-english-manual-60w-24v-ac-1874#.UyILeIU1XsgI'm a guy on a really tight budget, i know there are Hakko clones for 17$ ( HobbyKing ) but the shipping itself is twice the price.And of course there will be that one guy who says " save up some more and get something decent... a brand name" yeah i know that already.All i have to spend is 50$ Maybe you have some suggestions ?I live in Lithuania so shipping from other countries would be over the top.This will be my first soldering station and i want it to last.Anyone had experience with the Kada 936D before ?Thanks in advance.

author: staxquad
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2014, 08:34:52 pm
content: Quote from: Refrigerator on March 13, 2014, 08:02:12 pmjust posted this in another threadwhat I propose will be much better (75W vs 60W) and under $50US (for Australia)from China shipping to Australia, $52.52AUD complete from the seller 97k (I got it from 97k-cube for $49.48 AUD shipped to Canada, looks like the same people)oops, looks like they now ship to Australia at a lower rate than the rest of the Worldother parts of the World, AU $46.86 shipping, not AU $21.66anyway, look for YH-939D on Ebay for lowest cost220Vhttp://www.ebay.com.au/itm/KDQ2-SMD-SOLDERING-EQUIPMENT-HOT-SOLDERING-IRON-REWORK-STATIONS-YH-939D-220V/360690595629?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222006%26algo%3DSIC.FITP%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140107090050%26meid%3D5460192016866969110%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D20140107090050%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D350718082079http://www.ebay.com/itm/KDQ23-SMD-SOLDERING-EQUIPMENT-HOT-SOLDERING-IRON-REWORK-STATIONS-YH-939D-220V-/231001653778?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c8c58212110Vhttp://www.ebay.com.au/itm/KDQ2-SMD-SOLDERING-EQUIPMENT-HOT-SOLDERING-IRON-REWORK-STATIONS-YH-939D-110V-/141010520703?tfrom=360690595629&tpos=top&ttype=price&talgo=undefinedThe Yihua has a metal stand that actually works, the chord is supple. "Blue meets yellow to form the color green. Green is the color the electronics manufacturing industry has embraced as the universal color to denote Lead-Free electronics manufacturing". The Yihua is adorned with the blue and yellow color (GREEN PROJECT).I've had the Yihua 939D for a year, it was clean looking inside when I tore it down, no issues at all. It operates nicely, turn it on, move the analog dial up or down and it displays the target temp, then displays the ramping up (and down) temp until it reaches target temp, the red led steady on while heating, then flashing led when trickling. Takes 10 seconds to 200*C, and another 10 seconds to 320*C. When I put it in sleep mode (dial it down to 200*C), it's ready to use quite quickly.On the Wattmeter, after you turn the unit on, shows a momentary surge to 120 Watts, gradually drops to about 75 Watts after a few seconds, stays there while heating, then at temp it pulsates from 4 watts to from 40 Watts to 75 Watts every second . When cooling down it stays at 4 Watts. Turn the unit off completely while the iron is still hot, then turn it on, there's a spike to 75 Watts for a fraction of a second, then back down to 4 Watts. The temp controller works fine and it solders nicely (for a budget soldering station, well worth $50, I'd be hard pressed to find something better at that price point, plus it's easy to use, none of that full digital frustration, a beautiful analog dial with a digital readout, hear that Hakko?).If you get an original Hakko tip(s), they fit snugger, so better heat transfer and longer life making the Yihua 939D an unbeatable unit at that price.youtube video, but the guy didn't even solder with it, just played with the buttons

author: Refrigerator
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 14, 2014, 05:23:33 am
content: Thanks for the help, i checked the links but they don't ship to lithuania.