tools

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The weller WESD51 is a nice unit. $129 shipped on ebay.

I just get mine at radio shack. They have a good selection, prices are cheap, they work very well, and they are close to me. I get several months out of their irons considering they are on 6 hours a day at least.

They have alot of readily available replacement parts for their products as well. I think I bought my iron and de soldering iron for like $30 out the door and they work awesome even for tinning mosfets and major terminal repairs and such.
 
I use the WESD51 and like it a lot. The $129 is as good a price as you'll find on it. Very good tip selection available for it. I use a Sterling 7420 Pump, and it works alright. Sometimes, when using it on large pools of solder, it can jam it up after it cools. I haven't bought the $5 replacement tip for it yet so I can't comment on its life span.
 
For a desoldering pump, consider just getting the red bulb type from Radio Shack for about $3. Scrounge a piece of stiff wire to use as a poke to clear the nozzle. Most times this works great for me. My spring action pump stays in the toolbox - like a difficult woman, it's too high maintenance.:p
 
My local car audio distribution center whom I fix a lot of amps for also sells Chineese tools. They had a $10 adjustible soldering iron there which looked pretty good, which I bought. It is most excelent, and a lot better than the RadioShack irons I now keep in the toolbox. You may need a bigger iron or a gun for the much larger work though.

Here it is, but I got mine for $10.
http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-V...N70WM/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_2/184-2597974-2462209
 
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Don't confuse an iron with a control that adjusts the power to the heater with an iron that allows you to set the temperature and maintains it. The ones that simply control power will drift significantly in temperature. The ones that monitor the temperature and maintain the preset temperature are MUCH better because the iron doesn't cool when it's on a large solder connection (assuming you're not trying to heat something that sinks a huge amount of heat).
 
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