SparkFun Forums

[mdojka]

Hi All,

I'm looking for a recommendation on a soldering iron. The googleing and forum searching I did came up with this Weller WP35. I went with a temp controled iron instead of a station. I plan on doing through hole and smd soldering for a while (mostly ic's and other sensitive equipment). Based on that I know I need an ESD safe iron. I'm not sure on the wattage though. The 35w @ 850f won't have any problems with under heating, but is it too much right now. Basically, should I get a lower wattage iron till I get more proficient, then upgrade the wattage? I've done a good bit of soldering in the past (but that was 8ish years ago). Also, if you all have a different recommendation on an iron I'd be glad to hear it. Thanks.

[MichaelN]

I've been using a Hakko 936 for the last 12 years and have been very happy with it.

I never really understood the whole "ESD safe" thing - all soldering irons I've ever seen had grounded tips.

If you don't already have one, a hot-air station is a must-have for SMD in my opinion. Most of them come with a temperature-controlled soldering iron included, but the quality of the soldering irons on the Chinese units is pretty poor. You might find that replacing the tip on these Chinese units with a genuine Hakko tip will give acceptable preformance - much of the problem seems to be related to the tips.

[Blackfin]

If you can find one on eBay a Metcal is an awesome soldering iron. Uses RF to heat the tip and has incredible thermal power (i.e. for soldering where there are planes or copper pours where the copper pulls heat out of the joint...) I've got an older STSS-002 station and swear by it. Check eBay for SP200s or the like.

[leon_heller]

I use a second-hand Metcal STSS that was supplied with a new MX-500 handpiece and selection of cartridges. it was about the same price as a new Weller. I wouldn't use anything else, apart from another Metcal. The new MX-5000 looks very nice

Leon

[riden]

The soldering stations from Circuit Specialists are very cost effective and work well. I use their CPS-2900 (ESD/lead-free compatible) stations which are comparable with the Hakko products. They have held up very well. If you spend over $50, Circuit Specialists even throws in a deluxe DVM (or other bonus gift) for free. Be sure to enter the PROMO CODE (follow the instructions on the website and you'll be good). These are not poorly made, junkie meters, but are full featured with temperature, hfe, etc. Kinda hard to pass up a deal like that.

They have introduced a new line of soldering stations, the BlackJack series. I don't have any first hand experience with them, but based on my previous experience with Circuit Specialists, I would expect that these would be quality units as well.

BTW, I know this sounds like a commercial, but I'm not associated with Circuit Specialists, just a satisfied customer.

[propellanttech]

I'm an Antex user. They make a very nice iron, and many different tips.

I have owned Wellers, and other brands (not Metcal), and nothing else I have owned even came close to the performance of my Antex soldering station.

James L

[mdojka]

The overwhelming trend so far has been towards soldering stations as apposed to stand alone irons. I'm trying to justing getting a $100-$150 station (new or ebay) compared to a $50 iron. Thoughts?

[propellanttech]

The overwhelming trend so far has been towards soldering stations as apposed to stand alone irons. I'm trying to justing getting a $100-$150 station (new or ebay) compared to a $50 iron. Thoughts?

If you do any serious soldering you will want a soldering station, and a good one. The more accurate the temp the happier person you will be.

Soldering irons are ok for just simple general work, but for rework, or building a lot of boards, a soldering station will serve you better.

Irons are an occasional item....not a every day/week item.

James L

[NleahciM]

I've been using a Hakko 936 for the last 12 years and have been very happy with it.

I never really understood the whole "ESD safe" thing - all soldering irons I've ever seen had grounded tips.

If you don't already have one, a hot-air station is a must-have for SMD in my opinion. Most of them come with a temperature-controlled soldering iron included, but the quality of the soldering irons on the Chinese units is pretty poor. You might find that replacing the tip on these Chinese units with a genuine Hakko tip will give acceptable preformance - much of the problem seems to be related to the tips.

The 936 is my personal iron too. Solid device. At work I have a high end Weller - fantastic iron - but overkill for personal use. (hell, the 936 would be sufficient for work).

I don't agree about the hot air - at work I have a hot air station and I almost never use it. Occasionally I'll use it for parts with thermal flags, like QFNs. But for it to be effective you need a board pre heater as well. Significant investment for personal use.

[Liencouer]

I'll second the circuit specialists stations. i have the csi-2901 (http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/8395) and am very happy with it. you can even open it up and snip the resistor to the piezo so it doesn't beep...

[mdojka]

I ended up going with BK3000LF. It was around what I was looking at paying for a weller and it can use the hakko tips. This should get me by till I can find a good deal on a metcal on ebay. Thanks for the help with this. Any recommendations for tips and a good place to get lead free solder?

[Vraz]

Any recommendations for tips and a good place to get lead free solder?

For the best selection of Hakko tips, I have ordered directly from Hakko USA. Probably a bit more expensive than other places, but for a few bucks, it was not an issue. For solder, I use Kester leaded. While non-lead would have been my preference from an environmental standpoint, everything I have read indicates that lead-free is much more difficult to solder. I need every advantage and would stick with lead-solder unless you are very good at soldering or only doing thru-hole where it doesn't matter.

[propellanttech]

Any recommendations for tips and a good place to get lead free solder?

For the best selection of Hakko tips, I have ordered directly from Hakko USA. Probably a bit more expensive than other places, but for a few bucks, it was not an issue. For solder, I use Kester leaded. While non-lead would have been my preference from an environmental standpoint, everything I have read indicates that lead-free is much more difficult to solder. I need every advantage and would stick with lead-solder unless you are very good at soldering or only doing thru-hole where it doesn't matter.

I have tried just about every lead-free solder there is. For through hole hand work, I recommend Multi-core solder. It is a Henkle product, and is not cheap. The only dealer that I know of is Newark.

Even Kester lead-free doesn't compare to Multi-core. I'm not sure why Multi-core works better, I just know it's a breeze to use compared to other brands.

Lead free on surface mount can be hard without the correct soldering iron. If you buy a cheap iron, you will not be a happy person. You have to "dial in" the iron for your style of soldering. The digital stations make life much easier when doing SMD by hand.

I personally believe you should try stencil and paste if doing SMD items at home. A nice Cuisinart "Exact Heat" toaster oven, stencil, and paste will make your day, and will be about 10% the work of hand soldering.

I started off this way......and so did many others. I just skipped hand surface mount until the rework in my business started. Then it was flux and vertical "drag soldering" to fix most items.

Not that any of this helped, but I did try,

James L

[angelsix]

I use the Antex TC-50 I think its called, the 50W temp controlled one. Do plenty of hand soldering SMD with it no probs.

I have 2 Weller and another cheap one that has no name! But I find Antex to be the best compared to the others I've personally used, and I had also heard of Antex even though Weller seems to be the dominant name for irons.

Got paste but no stencil or oven so haven't had any form of what I would call joy with paste compared to just using normal 0.2mm leaded solder, its easy enough until you get to SSOP stuff then it gets tricky, but I haven't been using flux at all yet so have some liquid flux to help for when I make my next board in a week or so.

[bepobalote]

May I suggest the Weller ones?
At my office we use the WESD51D solder stations which are most than reliable!
Soldering with them is really a breeze (even for really small SMD parts).