Temp. vs. wattage in soldering. Which do I need?

[Hogwild]

Hi everyone:

My Weller WP25 iron doesn't seem to provide enough heat to melt solder quickly. It's rated as having a tip temp of 750° F, yet it takes too long to melt even standard low-temp leaded solder. I don't want to risk damaging any components.

I'm using a decent-sized chisel tip, so that's not the problem. I tin the thing constantly. It's shiny, that's not the problem. I know my basic soldering skills quite well. That ain't it.

Now, my question is, does an iron with higher wattage but similar or even lower temperature melt solder faster in the same situation, all else being equal? I ask because I was thinking of getting a Goot px-201 iron, which has a max. current rating of 70W and mostly excellent reviews.

Thanks

 

[rayma]

My Weller WP25 iron doesn't seem to provide enough heat to melt solder quickly.
It's rated as having a tip temp of 750° F, yet it takes too long to melt even standard
low-temp leaded solder.

It's temperature regulated, so either it's too low in power, or broken.
Weller tips should not need tinning in normal use. Do you wipe it
on a wet sponge before each connection? Does it work ok on just a small
pcb pad? Does your solder have a rosin core, and is it eutectic (63/37)?

 

[wiseoldtech]

For decades of service work I, along with most other bench techs, have used the Weller WTCPT soldering station.
I refuse to use anything else.

 

[MAAC0]

If You do a lot of soldering consider a soldering station.
I use this cheap one and works fine.


Soldering Station Pro'sKit SS-216E (110V/220V) - GsmServer


For de-soldering I Use this one with standard 1mm & 1.5 mm tip


DENON INSTRUMENTS, SC7000Z, DESOLDERING GUN, STATIC DISSIP | eBay


There are others for rework & hot air, but I do not much smt's or Plc's soldering.

 

[Hogwild]

It's temperature regulated, so either it's too low in power, or broken.
Weller tips should not need tinning in normal use. Do you wipe it
on a wet sponge before each connection?

YES

Does it work ok on just a small
pcb pad?

Not very well. It's still very slow to melt solder.

Does your solder have a rosin core, and is it eutectic (63/37)?

Yes. I've also tried 5 kinds of solder.

 

[Hogwild]

Ironically, I do very little soldering. But when I do, I want it to go smoothly in terms of not damaging components. The heating element in the Weller is almost new. I can't imagine it's bad. I got it from an authorized dealer. It's also always been this slow, from the first day I tried the iron.

If You do a lot of soldering consider a soldering station.
I use this cheap one and works fine.


Soldering Station Pro'sKit SS-216E (110V/220V) - GsmServer


For de-soldering I Use this one with standard 1mm & 1.5 mm tip


DENON INSTRUMENTS, SC7000Z, DESOLDERING GUN, STATIC DISSIP | eBay


There are others for rework & hot air, but I do not much smt's or Plc's soldering.

 

[rayma]

Yes. I've also tried 5 kinds of solder.

Then there must be a problem with the iron, so replace it with a new one.
My 60W Weller WTCPL has always worked great, even on rather high
thermal mass work.

 

[rayma]

The heating element in the Weller is almost new. I can't imagine it's bad.
I got it from an authorized dealer. It's also always been this slow, from
the first day I tried the iron.

I would return it as defective then. At the least you would get store credit,
if not a refund.

 

[Hogwild]

Any reason I should NOT go for the Goot PX-201? Meaning, will it be likely to melt solder fairly quickly?

 

[rayma]

Any reason I should NOT go for the Goot PX-201? Meaning, will it be likely
to melt solder fairly quickly?

I'm not familiar with it, but availability of spare parts is always a consideration.

 

[mlwebb]

I like my Hakko fx-888d - from cold to 750, 36 seconds, adjustable temp, good tip selection.

 

[Hogwild]

Let's assume my Weller was working properly. Will the PX-201 with much higher wattage be likely to melt solder more quickly?

 

[rayma]

Let's assume my Weller was working properly. Will the PX-201 with
much higher wattage be likely to melt solder more quickly?

It should take only a few seconds (say 2s-5s depending on thermal mass)
before the solder melts, assuming reasonably clean surfaces and tip,
and use of flux. Review some YouTube tutorials on soldering to make sure
that your technique seems ok.

YouTube
YouTube
YouTube

 

[Hogwild]

Like I said, it's not my soldering technique.

 

[rayma]

Like I said, it's not my soldering technique.

Then chuck that sucker.

 

[Hogwild]

And get the Goot in replacement or not?

 

[Indiglo]

The Goot PX-201 is rated at 70watts, the Weller rated at 25watts would have trouble melting a stick of butter.

 

[chris719]

If you can afford it, just get a used Metcal MX-500 or 5000. Tips aren't cheap but it puts most other irons to shame in terms of actual, real world performance and heats up instantly.

 

[wiseoldtech]

If you can afford it, just get a used Metcal MX-500 or 5000. Tips aren't cheap but it puts most other irons to shame in terms of actual, real world performance and heats up instantly.

At around $500 for one of those, I think my Weller WTCP 60W station for $130 is more affordable.

 

[chris719]

At around $500 for one of those, I think my Weller WTCP 60W station for $130 is more affordable.

Yes, and it's not nearly as good. As it should be for the price. BTW they are not $500 used from a quick check. I did say used if you read it completely.