Recommendations, Anyone?

[samurai_rob]

What would the best soldering station to get when just starting out? I don't want to invest too much money in the tools, but I don't want a POS, either so I'm looking for a happy medium. Any Ideas? Feel free to post me some links...

[Logan Cade]

Just got one from this guy on Ebay. Absolutely love it!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320312204933&ih=011&category=109556&ssPageName=STORE:PROMOBOX:NEWLIST#LIST

[swear000]

check your local radio shack too because they have simple pencil irons (Weller) that are inexpensive and good.

[Jedi-Loreen]

I like Weller products. :)

I have an old Ungar basic iron that has served me in good stead for many years, but nothing as fancy as an actual solder station, like I usually use at the assembly jobs I've had.

I have a basic Weller in the drawer waiting to be used, because when my Ungar tip wears out, I don't have anymore, because the store where I bought it probably 16 years ago, no longer carries them.

If you don't want to pay $100 or more, this (http://cgi.ebay.com/NIB-SOLDERING-IRON-STATION-50W-58W-FREE-XTRA-TIP-SOLDER_W0QQitemZ310093757318QQcmdZViewItem?hash=it em310093757318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318) looks like decent starter station.

I used to use one like this at one job where I worked for 4 1/2 years. http://cgi.ebay.com/936-12-Hakko-Solder-Station-ESD-Safe-Factory-Fresh-New_W0QQitemZ380067473238QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item3 80067473238&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318 (http://cgi.ebay.com/936-12-Hakko-Solder-Station-ESD-Safe-Factory-Fresh-New_W0QQitemZ380067473238QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item3 80067473238&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318)

There's all kinds of stuff on ebay. I never thought to look there.

You definitely want a pencil type of iron, like you'll see with the solder stations, not a gun, like this:
http://i16.ebayimg.com/08/i/001/16/0d/0805_1.JPG
My dad had one of these, but it's not for the type of soldering you'll be doing on lightsabers. :p

And whatever you do, stay away from that stupid Cold Heat gadget, it's a piece of crap. :x

Hmm, I spotted an Ungar tip that fits my iron, but I don't want to pay over $13 with shipping, for one.

I prefer a small chisel type of tip, rather than one that is pointy, I think they are easier to work with, and put more heat on your work, but you need to be very careful when soldering on a circuit board. Too much heat for too long can damage the solder pad or lift it off the board.

If you have any old electronic devices you don't use anymore, I'd suggest finding a scrap board to practice on, don't just practics soldering on wires.

I don't know of the various soldering tutorials mention this, but you should keep your tip tinned, when you're not using it.

To do this, clean your tip one last time, then melt a layer of solder over the tip (both sides, if using a chisel tip) and turn off or unplug your iron, letting the solder cool on the tip. This protects the tip and keeps it from oxidizing when you're not using it.

[Ingchao]

[SIZE=3]And whatever you do, [COLOR=red]stay away from that stupid Cold Heat gadget, it's a piece of crap. :x


I prefer a small chisel type of tip, rather than one that is pointy, I think they are easier to work with, and put more heat on your work, but you need to be very careful when soldering on a circuit board. Too much heat for too long can damage the solder pad or lift it off the board.

If you have any old electronic devices you don't use anymore, I'd suggest finding a scrap board to practice on, don't just practics soldering on wires.

I don't know of the various soldering tutorials mention this, but you should keep your tip tinned, when you're not using it.

To do this, clean your tip one last time, then melt a layer of solder over the tip (both sides, if using a chisel tip) and turn off or unplug your iron, letting the solder cool on the tip. This protects the tip and keeps it from oxidizing when you're not using it.

I'm pretty new at this too but I 2nd that cold heat review, what a waste!!
And thanks for the tips! (pun un-tended);)

[xwingband]

Weller is an extremely good brand as JLo stated.

I use the third one on this page:
http://www.mpja.com/productsdirect.asp?dept=480&main=79&item1=15860+TL&item2=15845+TL&item3=15140+TL&item4=15141+TL&item5=17204+TL

It's been extremely good to me and the tip selection is great. I've used it for well over a year and extremely happy with it. (FAKE EDIT: MPJA appears to rebrand Hakko's like the one JLo linked because the setup is extremely similar)

I don't own this one but I've been very tempted because I sometimes go home and don't want to haul the whole setup with me. It also appear to use the same tip setup as my normal one.
http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=16924+TL

If you don't plan on doing anything small a pencil iron from radioshack will do for a few sabers. If you really plan on doing electronics a good iron is worth the investment.

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

This is what I use:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444190 0259&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672981&bmUID=1225249570006&deptid=1408474396672839&ctgrid=1408474396672857&subctgrid=1408474396672981

The description says that it is 30 watt, but the label on the iron itself says 35 watt. Whatever...

It works pretty well for me, but I find that I have to replace the tip after every few soldering jobs. I'm going to try that tip about tinning my tip when I'm done. That might be the problem. Thanks J-Lo!

[samurai_rob]

Thanks for all the info, guys! I'll check it all out as soon as I can. This was the one I was looking at, let me know what you think.

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-Soldering-Station-Hobbyist/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2HYET28PRPIE&colid=36GAE997G47TE

[Logan Cade]

That was my old soldering iron and it served me well for years. You’ll go through some tips, but nothing out of the ordinary. Just keep it clean and run it about 4-5 on the dial, when it gets dirty it won’t melt solder very well and you’ll have the tendency to want to turn up the settings and that’s where you’ll start ruining your projects.

All in all, a good starter set-up.

[samurai_rob]

Thanks, Cade! I'm gonna do some more research before I buy, and any info helps.:D

[MoonDragn]

I use a cheap $10 radio shack soldering iron. It works. Thats all you need it for.

I rather spend my money on saber parts.

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

I'd hate to bork a $185 CF by using a cheap iron, but that's just me...

[Novastar]

I'd hate to bork a $185 CF by using a cheap iron, but that's just me...I use a Weller iron myself, and I'm going to trust X-Wing that it's a good one, since he's soldered quite a bit more than myself. J-Lo's probably done more soldering than most all of TCSS members put together... twice. :) Apparently, she can spell a lot better as well.

But that's neither here nor there... :D (heheh)

My point is... uh... well, *MY* Weller has a tip that is the size of a Burnt Sienna Crayola Crayon, and anyone who says differently can watch poor Gundamaniac solder with it in the CF Wiring Guide vids. It looks like he's holding a bloody crescent wrench when I zoom in.

Granted, he does just fine, but that doesn't distill the pure torture I put him through which equates to doing fine needlepoint work with a friggin' Halberd from "300".

Still. So, fine. I've also wired up CF with what I consider to be a set of "Og's Tools"... so... if I can do it, so can other cro-magnon-saber-sapiens. :cool:

[MoonDragn]

I'll have you know I worked on $400+ camcorders at sears with said cheap soldering iron.

All a soldering iron has to do is work. If you tin it properly and it heats up consistantly then its useful. Doesn't matter how expensive the iron is if it can't do that.

So $10 iron really is no different from a $100 iron in that respect.

Novastar, I have one of those old Wellers with the big tip. It has been sitting in a box for the last 20 years unused, because it is clunky, you have to hold down the trigger for it to heat up, and it gets too hot for modern electronics. It works great on Vacuum tube circuits though...

I bet I've done more soldering than J-Lo Novastar. Electronics has been my hobby since I was 13. I worked for Sears for 3 years while going to college and did ALOT of vcr, camcorder, stereo and TV repairs. I think I've sniffed so much of that lead solder that I'm permanantly brain damaged, but thats a different story ;)

I actually own about 10 different soldering irons, from the cold heat to wood burners to the Wellers. I've never really seen much difference between the standard plug in ones. The cold heat one is annoying, takes too long to heat up and doesn't solder well. Thats the only one I wouldn't recomend.

[samurai_rob]

Thanks again for all the info, guys! I'm gonna order one next week after I get paid and every little bit helps! Did you guys check the link to the one I was considering? I've got one recommendation for it so far, but would like to know what you guys think, too. I live in a rural area and have to drive 45min to 2hrs to get to any REAL stores so I'm kinda stuck ordering most of my stuff online. We have a local radio shack, but it's a TOTAL joke! The guy who runs it is a total @$$ and doesn't hardly stock anything worth buying. I don't know how he stays in business. Is there any place you guys would recommend for ordering tools or electronics components from other than TCSS? Tim's store is always gonna be my first stop, but I would like a few backup options for when he's out of stock or for items he doesn't carry.:?:

[xwingband]

I bet I've done more soldering than J-Lo Novastar.

Actually... JLo is a professional at soldering. Like whip out the microscope and wear the white clothes to keep hair out soldering in a clean room. I want to say she used to do it for Motorola or something, but I may be imagining that.

You are right that cleaning and proper care of any iron goes a long way but having to solder 1mm wide legs with a radioshack iron would make your life way harder than you need to. I used to use a Radioshack iron before and I kept my tips clean, but eventually they would be eaten away and start pitting.

If you're just doing wires and resistor and only a few sabers then certainly, get a Radioshack iron. It's not really worth it, BUT if you're soldering any of the lightsaber boards we have in the hobby the $40 or so is WORTH it many times over.

Also unrelated, CFs are $143 and change. USD is better now!

[MoonDragn]

Well of course you get the needle tip if you are gonna solder 1mm leads. But you can just use a hot air iron and solder paste to do that.

Yes those are expensive. But look around for a DIY hot air iron mod that is under $20.



Also unrelated, CFs are $143 and change. USD is better now!

Cool if we could jump on it before they are all sold out when he finally puts out some more.

[virus692]

here is a thread on mine...
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=4208
I have had it for a while now and it is great and was under $20 USD

you can find it in X's links I love it.

[Kant Lavar]

I picked this 61-piece kit (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104638&cp=2032058.2032236.2032314&parentPage=family) up for my first set - and being that it's the start of my tool collection (unless you count the Gerbers I've collected over the years) I think I got my money's worth. When I get to a location where space isn't as much of an issue (I'm living out of a foot locker and wall locker in Kuwait at the moment), I plan on picking up an actual Weller station and a few extra tips, but for a starter kit - or a travel repair kit, perhaps? - it's pretty good. (The solder that comes with it is crap, though, but that's a minor thing.)

[MoonDragn]

When I first took electric shop in Highschool back in the 80s. We had these big clunky soldering irons similar to this one:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v103/Spodeley/SolderingIron.jpg

They were fine for vacuum tube projects, but those circuits were no challenge for me so the teacher let me work on a solid state circuit project with some integrated circuits.

Try soldering ICs with an iron that had an almost 1/2" diameter tip.

[samurai_rob]

DUDE! That's Huge! How did you do small work with that thing?

[Danz409]

i got rather creative today. i got tired of having to go though the procedure of putting my iron on my desk so the tip hangs off and contently having to watch for it every time i turn and rushing to pick it up when it dropped.. (too commonly) so with my cheap free iron i got from school i decided to make a station for it. took all of 3 min to do, the power supply i took apart for some parts so happened to have this nice metal shell that looked like it would be of good use. i simply took my handy dandy drimmel and hacked away and bent it and came up with this

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/eletrnoics%20and%20schamatics/powersupplysolderingironstation.jpg

not bad for a free station ^^
no more fumbling to catch a 800 degree peace of metal from burning the carpet anymore... :D

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

Also unrelated, CFs are $143 and change. USD is better now!

Click the button for Canadian dollars. It comes up at $185.02.

I liked it better when our dollar was higher than yours.

Edit:

By the way, nice solution there Danz. I was soldering at my desk once, when my soldering iron swung over and hit my keyboard. Burned a big hole in one of the CTRL keys. You have to love the smell of burning plastic!

[swear000]

neat idea. does the metal get hot?

[Danz409]

not at all. left it in there for several hours turned on and touched the bottom. about as cool as the side of a computer case ^^

[MoonDragn]

That is awesome Danz. The only reason I would get a soldering station is for the temperature control ones. They allow me to dial in different temps for various projects.

I just made a simple hot air soldering station this weekend. I found the project online. You get a radioshack desoldering iron for $10, take the red bulb off, attach a fishtank pump and hose to where the bulb used to be, and now you have a soldering iron that can blow hot air.

[xwingband]

The mini soldering station I saw on MPJA I ordered. I was getting a hot air station and a bunch of other random stuff so I stacked it in.

I think it's great! I'd take it over an RS iron anyday. The iron itself is really small (feels kid sized) and the "station" is about the size of a "wall wart". The tip is made of the same material as my main one so it works great. I'm very happy as this will end up being what I take with me when I go home and don't want to lug a bunch of junk but want to solder.

I actually think the size and wattage is nice because it would limit someone from making huge solder balls and burning other components. I like!

[samurai_rob]

Just ordered my Iron! Should be here thursday! Now if I can just figure out how to use it...:)