Soldering iron advice

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#42
RJM1 said:
And you do not need a 200W iron for electronics soldering. Try somthing about 40W.
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Thanks. I have got a 80 watt weller which for some unknown reason has lasted me a few years, and i have put a tempertaure control on it so that it runs at about 30 watts rather than the full 80 watts. Not sure why but running it cool seems to have helped its life expectancy. Thing is, it takes a big chisel tip 11 mm, is there anywhere i can buy a finer tip from, or is it possible to diy a tip. I tried filing a brass rod down, it worked for a short while then eroded pretty quickly.
 
#45
radiogaga said:
Hi, I have several Weller soldering stations with temperature control which worked for years witout any defect. Of course these were expensive and I bought second hand. When starting at my workbench I turn it on and leave it until finished work. Due to the temp control no overheating happens and there is enough power fo even copper plates. When dealing with pc boards having fine copper traces a less powered iron with a fine tip station is recommended. On my station I can use different irons with my Weller WSD 161. Also the Weller EC2002 with less power is very good for me. There are other good brands available nowadays.
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What do you think of this one. I can put a tepertaure control on for different jobs
https://uk.farnell.com/weller/w101-eu/soldering-iron-100w-230v/dp/800661?st=solddering iron
 
#46
Regular tips are iron plated copper, or ceramic coated copper.

The end gets eroded due to Flux and also solder.If you put a small piece of steel or iron at the very end, the solder will not eat steel, and the brass or copper will bring heat from the element to the working area.
 
#47
#49
popeman said:
Would you recommend the T3A over the T3B for THT parts? Also, are you using the T245 tips and if so, are they the genuine JBC ones?
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Yes, absolutely. Higher heat delivery for larger parts. If you want the nicer stand that comes with the T3B it can be purchased seperately.

The tips that came with the station aren't JBC, but are pretty good nonetheless. The tip styles aren't my favourite so I bought genuine JBC ones.
 
#50
DontHertzMe said:
Yes, absolutely. Higher heat delivery for larger parts. If you want the nicer stand that comes with the T3B it can be purchased seperately.

The tips that came with the station aren't JBC, but are pretty good nonetheless. The tip styles aren't my favourite so I bought genuine JBC ones.
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Thank you. I'm trying to decide whether I should go with the T3A or a genuine JBC.

One more question. Can you please tell me how long is approximately the cable between the station and the handle on the T3A? My bench is large and I absolutely hate short cables... Looking at the JBC photos, the cable looks rather short.
 
#51
ahankinson said:
eBay is a pain for stuff like this, since you’re almost guaranteed to be sniped at the last minute. They’re around £120 brand new.

If you want to try and get it cheaper, put in a max bid and maybe you get lucky, but I’ve had my hopes dashed way too many times on eBay auctions that I have a policy of never depending on it for anything I actually need.
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Or use sniping software. I used Jbidwatcher "back in the day". Now I hardly ever buy on ePay, and if I do I seek out auctions with buy-it-now. Too often I find ePay and Bezos' Bookstore offer the items for more than they cost directly from the manufacturer's website (or distributor).

Tom
 
#52
I've just measured mine, cable is 80cm long. It uses a standard connector, so I imagine extending the cable would be simple.

If this is something that you're going to be using all day every day, then get the JBC. But if the usage is more casual, spend the difference on other bench gear or beer 🙂.

 
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#56
I’ve never had issues with Weller and am quite a heavy user (let’s just say I’m a soldering addict 🙂 ).

The heating element will go after 5-8 yrs, but the station should last forever.

I have a TCP (20 yrs old) I use for heavy duty work (powered off a 150 W 22 V laptop adapter) and a new temp adjustable Weller soldering station.
 
#57
#58
A second vote for a Metcal. I have 2 and they are both at least 15 years old. The best recommendation for them was from a friend managing production at a pacemaker company. Tends to validate higy reliablity connections. They are not cheap even used but work really well and are so much easier to use in fine work. Thermaltronics is a China copy of Metcal that seems to work well.
 
#59
UD-1200 by Jabe
Being former user of Hakko FX888, I used to thought FX-888 is good enough at least for amateur wors.
Then after I spent ~$150 for a UD-1200 (with 2 )and another genuine JBC knife-shaped solder tip.

And a new world has been found!

The MCU of UD-1200 controls the tip in JBC-style, combined with genuine JBC tip, it feels really good and can let me
do the PCB soldering work harder than before with higher success rate. I love it so well.

Claim: There is no conflict of interests between JABE and the author.
 
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