Need A New Soldering Iron, What Do You Recommend?

[JTP]

Hello Everyone,

As the title suggests, I'm in the market for a new iron. My old one works jokay but it takes really long to get hot and I find i need to hold the iron and solder to the contacts for a bit too long to make a joint. I don't want to risk applying too much heat to my boards for too long so I'm in the market for something new, preferably something that doesn't break the bank. Something around the $60 area seems appropriate considering how much I've been able to accomplish with my first one which was only $14. If there's an Iron out there you really love, let me know why you love it and where I could get one of my own!

[Greenie]

I'll leave this here http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?19617-Best-soldering-gun

[Avidgrant]

Flattered......

[Ridire Fíréan]

Hey @JTP ! I'll throw in with the HAKKO crowd. At ~$100.00 it's more than your "$60.00 area", but well worth it. It goes from 0* to 700* in ~30 seconds. Compared to my old Radio Shack soldering iron from the late 1980's, which I could never get to solder anything properly, this thing makes soldering look easy! If I had this back when I was younger, I'd be a soldering pro by now.

I got my Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station here...

http://www.tequipment.net/HakkoFX888D-23BY.html

I purchased a Hakko T18-BL Tip with it as well to qualify for their free shipping.

I've been very happy with my purchase and would highly recommend this HAKKO to anyone, and maybe even especially for beginners. Having a good tool is half the formula for soldering success, the other half is practice!

Watching these videos from Rob Petkau... https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCustomSaberShop/videos and these from Irv Plecter... https://www.youtube.com/user/irvinplecter/videos helped me a great deal!!!

Good Luck finding your new iron!

[Jediseth]

That's a nice one from what I hear. I got myself a $30 dollar Aoyue but when it dies that's the one I'll be getting. Good pick up!

[Avidgrant]

700.....??? What do you normally work at? I got one of the higher end aoyue's (w spare heating element) and so far so good. As I have little to no practical experience with an iron, it was a little trial and error, it found 400 works pretty well. I can't imagine almost doubling that.....

[Jediseth]

700.....??? What do you normally work at? I got one of the higher end aoyue's (w spare heating element) and so far so good. As I have little to no practical experience with an iron, it was a little trial and error, it found 400 works pretty well. I can't imagine almost doubling that.....

Auyue 469. If your asking me. It works great, but I think next I'm getting the Hakko.

[Avidgrant]

i got the 937

[Jediseth]

i got the 937

That's probably the one I should have got. I couldn't figure out if it was a better unit or basically the same with just more accessories.

[figgie]

400c for soldering? Yikes! You are going to burn out the flux from all solders at that temp!

lead free soldering?

even when I use lead-free, I solder at 365c TOPS. Flux is your friend.

[Avidgrant]

I try to be quick.....:). I have had a couple times when I've had to redo things, connection issues... it's possible that's why. I will adjust lower on my next couple and see how she does! Thanks.