For a while now, I have been using the newer type of Chineese made $4 ones. It has a red thermoplastic handle which is strong enough to pry heated leads if necessary. When the tip goes bad, I use a piece of solid copper wire. I just got tired of having to fork over $10-20 each time I ruined a heater element in the better irons. It is a pain to try to solder SMT with such a fat tip, though, even if you trim it at an angle with heavy diagonal cutters. I don't want to forget to mention that sometimes the issue of portability is important where a big base unit is simply unfeasable.
subwo1 said:
If you have a sandpaper handy or a polishing stone you can "sharpen" a cooper tip quickly. It saved me a few trips to the electronics shop.
Still, a ceramic tip is much better.
I know about the shapening part...to make it last a bit longer...you coat it with solder BEFORE you re-use it...you re-coat it by having some slder molten in a tin-can or something and then dipping the whole re-sharpened tip in..after that you take it out...re-attach it and warm it up...before using it again...it's better toi get those ceramic tips thoguh...haven got a trouble with them just yet...
I think we are missing out on the pricing...perhaps you can put what you used...and the approx price u got it last time...
I use a Hakko 936 ESD for pretty much everything except really heavy duty cables / connectors. Simply wonderful.
damonpip said:
Any chances you might be offering those for sale too?😉
I got one of your Hakkos and I like it a lot. Indeed, best $60 spent.
Well, I only managed to get one of the Paces for $20 (It had all the attachments, and I'm keeping it!). I did get a bunch of Paces with just desolding irons though, and you could have one for $120 shipped. (I paid $80 for them).
METCAL! if you have the money ;-) do have it at work, at home only a cheap weller, better go for an ersa analog60
Well, i thought today (and rather stupidly it turns out) that I would try a cheep (£30 new) 50W temp controled iron.
Boy was that a bad idea, i think I could have kept the tip hot for longer by rubbing it on some wood before I used it than the iron could manage by itself. It was so bad, it made my £15, 25W Antex iron look good.
So I gues that can go up on ebay now then
DOH!!
Boy was that a bad idea, i think I could have kept the tip hot for longer by rubbing it on some wood before I used it than the iron could manage by itself. It was so bad, it made my £15, 25W Antex iron look good.
So I gues that can go up on ebay now then
DOH!!
Radio Shack Dual Wattage 15/30W. I think I paid $15 or so for it, i'd like something better but it gets the job done, and being a broke student doesn't allow me the luxury of a Weller or Hakko 😉
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