/diy/ - Do It Yourself

Hakko 936

Weller WSD-81

Soldernoob here
What makes a soldering iron good or bad?

>>187583
Not being able to control the temperature makes it bad, at least if you're making electronics.

http://www.elexp.com/sdr_wlc1.htm
I use this one.

>>187583

Good:
temperature control
high enough wattage to maintain temperature
light-weight iron
fast heatup
effective heat reservoir
fast thermal recovery
chisel tips
affordable parts (eg: replacement tips)

Bad:
heavy non-temperature-controlled pencil irons
Radioshack anything

I'd recommend a Hakko FX-888. The Hakko 936-12 is discontinued but they still supply tips/parts for it. It's nearly as good as the FX-888 so that's an option too if you can find one cheap.

>>187583
Also being able to find replacement part/accessory for your iron a few years down the road.

>>187540
1. Buy a soldering *station*, not a standalone iron.
2. Buy some make people have heard of (Weller, Hakko, Metcal, etc)
3. Plan on spending at least $100 for a decent one
4. Always get variable temperature, unless you know for a fact that all you'll ever be doing is splicing wires together.
5. Going to work on actual electronics? Look at the tip selection before you buy. Doing SMT? Consider Metcal strongly.

Hakko FX-888 are awesome if you have some funds and don't mind using a soldering station that looks like it was designed by a clown...

If you need something cheaper, an Ayoue 937+ is a good chinese unit. I use one at home and it works great. It is based on the old Hakko design, and as such Hakko tips are compatible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQYbLFjAx8

>>187671
>looks like it was designed by a clown

hahaha my only complaint about the thing is the fisher-price color scheme.

They sell grey and silver ones now that look a little less silly.

One thing I do not like about the Ayoue is how the iron's connector is inverted (male in the station and female on the cable), which means you can't use a Hakko replacement iron... and let's face it, sources of parts specifically for the Ayoue are going to dry up a lot sooner than Hakko's.

>>187678
>Fischer-Price
I suggest you never buy a Tektronix o-scope, then, because that's what even the >=$50000 models look like now; in fact one place I worked we referred to them as Playskool scopes. XD

I saw. Nobody wants to make tools that actually look like tools anymore.

>>187615

I've always wondered - if Hakko irons are supposed to be pro awesome god tier shit, why do they look like fucking Fisher Price toys?

>>187695

It's just the new ones that look like that. I don't understand the aesthetic direction they took any more than you do, but they're still fantastic to work with.

>>187686
In my own cynical way, I think it's because there aren't any real Technicians in the world anymore. The so-called "tech schools" turn out morons who think you're supposed to actually *use* the "Auto Setup" button on a 'scope instead of actually knowing how the fuck to set it up yourself.

>>187705

Wait, that button does something? I thought they put it on there as a joke.

>>187705
>implying any electronics worth having in todays world arnt too complicated and small to fix yourself

Sorry pops, tube radios havent been used in decades. go ahead and try to use your oscilloscope to fix your smart phone/ e-reader/ laptop. Did you feel that? It's the stale cold breath of the reaper breathing down your neck old timer.

>>187695
Hakkos aren't god-tier, they're just a good bang for the buck for mid-tier hobbyists. I think Metcal has the god tier.

>>187727
>doesn't grasp any of this
>only thing that comes to mind is worthless consumer electronics

That's nice, son.

>>187727
>Doesn't know shit about electronics

>>187731
Yeah, as companies like Apple demonstrate to us every day, there is shit that isn't designed to be "repaired" when it breaks, they just shit-can it and send you another one.

Weller WES51.

Good enough for NASA? Good enough for me.

>>187678
Sucky thing is that you can only get the blue/yellow ones in Australia. The other colours only seem to be available to 110v countries or something.


>>187697
This is the style I use at work, I refused to upgrade to the carnival style as it looks gay.

>>187727
... but I use a oscope daily at work on electronics using the same components as those devices. Yeah, you're not slapping a probe on a micro-BGA, but that's what test points are for.

That aside, soldering irons work fine for SMT parts as long as you have good eyes or decent magnification. And you can get away with the BGA stuff if you have a good hot air reflow station

Metcal. I use it for smt stuff at work all day long, thing's great.

>>187705
This. A million fucking times this. I'm an EE and luckily we still have a small pool of legit technicians who are essentially god mode due to experience. Next rung down on the ladder is complete shit/temp employees who don't give a fuck.

>>187803
and speak minimal English

I personally use a gas powered soldering iron and it works perfectly. It's wireless, and much cheaper aswell - you can even regulate the temperature by adjusting the gas.

>>187804
Actually I haven't run into that too much locally. Granted, working with people in other countries is always a fucking hoot. -.-

>>187678
Yes, I had this problem with an Aoyue iron I bought to add on to a 2nd hand JIC 850 hot air station. I had to replace the connector and also figure out the pins, as the temp and heater pins are switched around too!

>>187976
PS. The JIC 850 is a rebadged SUNKKO 850 2-in-1 which again is a rip-off of the HAKKO 850 design.

not OP.

Can anyone please tell me why you all prefer soldering stations instead of pencil style ones?

>>187807
I had to work with a PCB layout team physically located in a different country. That was a fun few weeks of my email exchange with screen grabs and Visio overlay on top of where and how I want to do the breakout/routing. Talk about fun time. :P

I have a WESD51 with temperature read out at home. I bought it because it was on Back to school sale when I was picking up replacement parts for my Ungar solder station. Cost less than $100 for me.

They put in a PTC fuse for the thermal couple sensor on the wrong footprint inside the WESD51and cause me lots of headache until I resolder it properly myself.

My Ungar was still on it original tip even after other parts replaced after years of heavy usage! I have to replace tips for my Weller probably every couple of years and that was with much less usage. The Weller dealer told me that the newer more expensive models have tip life about a month for production use. :p

>>187806

Those work well enough for most things, but the fact that they basically spill exhaust fumes all over the work causes some problems.

>>188002

They're better at pretty much everything. Plus since the electronics are housed in the base station, the iron itself is very light and easy to work with.

>>188002
One word: Quality.
Standalone irons tend to be lower quality.
However if you're a seriously poorfag and/or all you're ever going to do is splice wires and fix headphones, then by all means by a cheap-ass standalone iron. Just don't expect it to last.

It depends on what you want to do.

I have an age old Ersa Tip 16, 16W, it's still compatible with the new tips.

And it works for through hole and SMD, just fine.

If you try to solder something with large thermal capacity it'll suck, true. But that doesn't happen often.

It's not my main iron, but I still solder a lot with it.

>>188048
Forgot a picture (not mine, I stole this off the internets)

>>187731
>worthless consumer electronics

implying world changing technologies are worthless.

Can I get you a warm cup of Metamucil pops?

Thanks for clearing that up a bit. It's just that the people in the lab in art school that got me interested in electronics almost exclusively use Ersa Multitip 15C pencil-style soldering irons as it seems, so that got me wondering why about everyone recommends otherwise.
They are by no means bad at electronics, just a little bit messy. But I guess portability also plays a role because the teacher sometimes has to run around and fix projects that the students messed up in exhibitions.
And how about temperature control? They seem to get by without (soldering SMD and through hole). So what benefits are there really?
Don't get me wrong. I am not trying to dismiss stations. I just would like to know.

>>188174
>They seem to get by without (soldering SMD and through hole). So what benefits are there really?

You could "get by" soldering with a red-hot poker and a hearth fire. It's just a lot more trouble than it needs to be.

Temperature control with lots of power to draw on and a good heating element in the iron makes it perform a lot more consistently. This makes it easier and faster to use and helps prevent a lot of mistakes, from cold joints to burned parts and lifted traces.

>>187766
I have that exact same unit sitting on the desk next to me.

>>188175
so what you are basically saying is that as long as an iron is able to hold its temperature consistently, it should be no problem? (which in turn means the more Watt the better?)
I leave the temperature regulation problem aside for now since you will only operate in a narrow temperature region anyway.