[MOVED] Weller WD1000 and WD1000M opinions - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Teknotronix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2010, 04:06:05 am
content: Hi,I'm looking at getting a new soldering station and need some opinions from some of you experienced with SMD projects.I am getting into doing some SMD prototypes and was thinking that a WD1000M would be more practical than the WD1000. Is this true or would the WD1000 be fine if it used a file tip like the 0.2mm round that is available?Like I said its more a tool for working with the proto breakout boards for the SOIC 300mil pitched stuff I'm doing and also any fixups required when working with first run boards, not any production stuff.Cheers,Curtis

author: qno
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2010, 01:08:08 pm
content: Go for the M version.It can handle the SMD tweezer and the small tip Iron.THe version without the M only can handle the older Irons.

author: Longhair
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 18, 2010, 01:17:28 pm
content: I was tired of throwing out cheap, broken solder irons & stations so I decided to spend the money on a good one that will last.The choice between the WD1000 and WD1000M was a tough one and finally ended with the WD1000M because it does have the ability to use the tweezers. I'd rather have the option and not needing it than needing and not having the option. Since I mostly do regular soldering where the need for the micro soldering pencil was not high priority (for now), I bought the WP80 (80 Watt soldering pencil) and an assortment of tips.It was well worth the money right off and that isn't figuring in the long term savings from replacing broken solder irons & stations.

author: comox
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2010, 12:04:59 pm
content: I have been using the Weller WD1 power unit for many years now, with two different irons: the WP80 and the WMP. The WMP is fine for SMD and soldering chips as small as SOIC; however it is not powerful enough for bigger through-hole components such as relays. For the through-hole components I prefer the WP80. I solder with ROHS Pb-free solder, so the extra heat of the WP80 is definitely in order. I also use a Weller WFE-P tabletop fume extractor with both irons.As my soldering requirements have increased in the past year, I just purchased a WD2M power unit such that I can power a WHP80 hotplate and the WMRT tweezers, which are not compatible with the WD1 (as the OP said, the "M" model of power unit is required). I have the WHP80 on hand and am waiting for the tweezers, which should be with me today.I purchased the hotplate to help out with hot air reflow soldering. I am working with more and more TSSOP components which I cannot solder with the WMP (possibly out of my own incompetency) and instead need to solder using a hot air station and solder paste. For this task I also have a Weller WHA900 hot air station. I was quite intimidated with the whole hot air thing as I trashed a couple boards the first few times, but I found some useful tutorials on youtube.com which has given me the confidence to persevere, and just last week I successfully removed and replaced a 20-pin TSSOP (read: fine pitch) Microchip PIC processor. Yay! Before this time I would send the boards out for assembly, but now I believe I can do it on my own.Weller (now owned by Apex Tool Group) can be expensive. You will find yourself investing in additional tips, and in my case I purchased 3 nozzles for the hot air station at about £50 each. With the hot air station I didn’t have much luck until I purchased the correct nozzle. My only frustration is that I do not believe that even the WP80 puts out enough heat for de-soldering ROHS compliant solder; with heat being sucked up by the pads, the pins and the solder wick, there just doesn’t seem to be enough heat left over to reflow the solder. I would recommend keeping your tips tinned as well with the Weller tip activator stuff, as I ruined my first WMP tip by not tinning it regularly.Good luck! (And no, although I may sound like it, I am not a salesman for Weller!)