Can I get away with using a normal soldering iron for a plecter labs soundboard?

[phook15]

My Radioshack bought $30 soldering iron worked for Hasbro soundboards but do I absolutely have to use an esd safe soldering iron for a plecter labs board?

[minorhero]

/shrug

If you get some static electricity in the mix somewhere your current soldering iron will brick the plecter labs board. That is why folks advocate the esd safe irons. Only you can weigh the risk.

[jbkuma]

Aoyue makes a popular $30 ESD station you can find at microcenter and Amazon.

[MasterStoddard]

I have a non-esd soldering iron and was testing something on an LED strip and it had a static discharge and fried the LED I was connecting the wire to. I would recommend one for using on any of the Plecter Labs boards.

You can get a good esd safe soldering station on Amazon for about $50 US and if you have a prime membership free 2 day shipping or you can try prime for a month to get the shipping deal.

[DarthSkummelavsky]

I have been a bench tech for 25+ years working with small electronic parts. I have seen what some static electricity will do to a micro-processor. A decent ESD safe soldering iron start at $35.00 as compared to a $70.00 Nano-B. What most folks don't understand is that everyone carries a static charge on them at anytime (unless properly grounded). 85% of the time you don't even register the discharge when it takes place but it is happening. There is enough current in the average static discharge that can be seen to fry any delicate circuit many times over and those are the ones you can see.
I recommend dropping the little extra coin for a decent ESD soldering iron. I recently got one from Amazon.com, it is made by Zeny. I paid $37.00 for the iron, iron holder, five different tips and LED temp. control. even with shipping it came in at less than $50.00. So far this iron is very comparible to Wellers (much more expense) I have used in the past. For my saber building hobby, my Zeny is holding up nicely.

[GregTheForce]

Yup, alot of people here suggest the 469 ESD-Safe soldering station from aoyue... I use the Int936 which is the european version of the 469... Anyways I would definitely recommend it too

[Jediseth]

Does the tip that comes standard with the 469 work great for the delicate jobs or do I need to get different tips ?

[darth_chasm]

I ended up getting different tips for it and was much happier.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008J810DQ/

[Jediseth]

Thanks D.C.