Soldering Iron

[Anonymous No.1761186]

Help me out /diy/. What is a good quality soldering iron for tech related fixes and repairs? Wanting to upgrade from this piece of shit $10 quick grab for actual useful purposes. Thanks!

[Anonymous No.1761202]

The Hakko FX-888D is the usual recommendation.

[Anonymous No.1761204]

Elenco SL30A blows Hakkos out of the water for like $65

[Bepis !n/ZnkB9jUw No.1761289]

>>1761202
This is what they told me, not like I would know. Seems nicer than my $4 Harbor Freight iron.

[Anonymous No.1761350]

It's a metal stick that heats up. So naturally, you should waste hundreds of dollars on one.

[Anonymous No.1761372]

>>1761204
>Elenco SL30A

amazon review:

I replaced my older Elenco SL-540 with one of these fancier digital readout, temperature feedback soldering stations, and the new one (SL-30A Elenco Soldering Station - LED Display And Temperature Controlled) works OK now, but has been more trouble than the old one. First, the temperature control potentiometer (knob) on the SL-30A was extremely scratchy, so the set temperature would jump from minimum to maximum and it wouldn't hold a temperature at all. Second, I emailed the manufacturer using their web form with no response, so I eventually just opened up the base, figured out the part (a simple potentiometer) that was defective, and replaced it (using my old, reliable soldering iron).

Third, after less than a year of light-moderate use (a couple of hours a week), the iron burned out. Replacement irons are cheap (about fifteen dollars including shipping) but it seems like the original one should have lasted longer. I could probably dork around with some kind of warranty replacement, but I'm not interested in a bunch of shipping and RMA b.s., even if they do respond to me this time.

[Anonymous No.1761381]

>>1761186
Been an electronics bench tech 18 years and I use a weller wes51 (the analog version). Only thing that needs replacing is the tip.

[Anonymous No.1761391]

>>1761186
go with hakko or weller depending on your budget and frequency of use.
>>1761350
sure, just get the cheapest chinkshit available. those chinesium irons never scorch a board or lift a trace and they work flawlessly with all solder types from Sn43Pb43Bi14 to Sn10Pb88Ag2 every single time, giving you perfect results with zero effort.

[Anonymous No.1761406]

>>1761372

Interesting. We use 4 of these on a production line and 2 in the r&d shop without issues. Maybe some sellers are selling bad knockoffs.

[Bepis !n/ZnkB9jUw No.1761444]

>>1761391
There are a million chink irons in the $30-$40 range that looked ok, but the Hakko at $99 isn’t that terrible considering how important of a tool it is and how much you can save the first time you use it.

I definitely don’t need the Hakko, but considering the $5 ones are dogshit, the $40 Weller gets tons of complaints, the chink knockoffs of good ones are $40-$60 and might break on you randomly, spending the extra $50 on an iron with a temp you can trust, knowing it’s ESD safe, and replacement parts will be available for years, it’s not a bad way to spend $100. Not like you’re spending $250-$300 on overpriced lab-assembly line grade.

That TS100 gets shilled a lot too, but they come from random chink sellers on eBay and end up almost as much as the Hakko once you get the power supply and all.

[Anonymous No.1761615]

>>1761186
Ts100 is like 35€ on banggood use an old laptop charger (5.5 2.5 barrel plug), buy anothers tips ts-k for example, install ralim custom firmware and you are good to go...

[Anonymous No.1761625]

>>1761381
+1 for analog wes51

[Anonymous No.1763644]

>>1761381
Classic Weller not much different than the ones I first used in 1981.

[Anonymous No.1763647]

>>1761186
She should stick with making samwiches. Holding a soldering iron that way is gonna burn her fingers. lol

[Anonymous No.1763984]

>>1761186
ts100 if you don't want a station

[Anonymous No.1763987]

>>1761444
The ts100 costs 40€ and a proper 24v power supply something about 16€. That's still a lot less than 100 bucks for a Hakko.

[Anonymous No.1764010]

>>1761186
bro wtf is she doing

[Anonymous No.1764131]

>>1761186
If you’re upgrading, get a solder station with a variable temperature gauge. There are decent ones out there for less than $100
>>1761350
>my cheap piece of entry level shit is no longer fit for purpose so naturally I should buy another cheap piece of entry level shit

[Anonymous No.1764138]

>>1763987
>>1761186
My brother and I both got a good ksger t12 stations. Make sure you get hardware 2.1s. Even 2.01 is much worse, the ground post for the IEC power plug isnt connected and the iron plug is integrated into the pcb instead of being removable. (This is an issue because it causes the screen to be twisted and you cant remove the plug)

[Anonymous No.1764431]

>>1761186
ts100 ts80 or any chink t12 tip soldering station, dont bother with oldschool soldering irons, tips with heating element in it is the way to go

[Anonymous No.1764480]

>>1761186
The only question I have did the photographer knew she's fucking up and let it slid for keks?

[Anonymous No.1764564]

>>1761186
My Weller WES51 cost about $125.

I also got a slightly older Weller with digital display from an estate sale for $5.

[Anonymous No.1764572]

>>1763984
936d is cheaper, more ergonomic, doesn't need an extra power supply, and uses cheaper 900M tips (which also have much more variety).

Does heat up slower though, since 900Ms don't use integrated elements like T12 or TS100 tips.

[Anonymous No.1765226]

>>1761350
>computers are just calculators
>cars are just moving hunks of metal

[Anonymous No.1765567]

>>1761350
Based and redpilled. It isn't rocket science.
>>1763644
>Classic Weller not much different than the ones I first used in 1981.
If you want to buy something actually useful you should be interested in a heat gun, but if you need to with with smd you can just bake them too

[Anonymous No.1765588]

>>1764572
This, the 900 series irons have huge variety. You can get everything from resoldering stations through regular soldering stations down to portable 12V irons that all use the same tips and are all cheap and powerful enough for most types of work. Most of them come with digital temperature control, too. Stations start from like $25.

[Anonymous No.1765589]

You guys are going to laugh at me but I've had the amazon/ebay/chink $8 special 60 watt iron for 2 years now and it's been great. The temperature knob is somehow accurate and the tips it came with were all garbage. I do about 2-4 hours of soldering a month.

[Anonymous No.1765686]

Pic related is my first iron, I got it the other day for 36€ on amazon.
It has PID controlled temperature, with sleep function, and a temperature calibration option if I ever become that autistic. Heats up really fast, if you believe the display. Also, the case is really neat, although I have to remove the tip before storing it.

I just needed it to solder a few wires on my first drone, but it can always be useful in future for something unforeseen.

I think I made a good purchase.

[Anonymous No.1765710]

>>1765589
I'm not laughing anon, those things are great.

[Kevin Van Dam !ZNBx60Gj/k No.1765723]

>>1765686
When are you supposed to use the brass wire and when do you use the sponge?

[Anonymous No.1765895]

>>1765723
>brass wire
Always
>sponge
Never

[Anonymous No.1765898]

>>1765723
Those are low-tier cleaning solutions.
Brass doesn't clean a fuck, in other word, dirt that won't impede workflow
Sponge drops tip temperature significantly and minerals are formed on the tip, unless you use distilled water.
Good old toiler paper and asbestos-impregnated hands clean soldering tip much better.

[Anonymous No.1765903]

>>1765589
honestly if you just clean the tip every 2 minutes it holds up well. Think I've had mine for 2-3 years now

[Anonymous No.1765962]

>>1764138
Be aware, that you can easily buy faked 2.1s, i.e. on bangood they are selling 2.01 flashed as 2.1s.

[Anonymous No.1765993]

>>1764010
It's an ESD-safe technique.

[Anonymous No.1766040]

>>1761186
diy JBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYgjcDbSyRE
okay, actually only the station is diy...

[Anonymous No.1766060]

>>1761186
If you're not soldering 24/7, this will do the job.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/YiHua-936-Rework-Soldering-Station-SMD-Desoldering-Solder-Iron-w-Stand-110V-US/381444146894
You can upgrade the iron portion with a silicone one for about $10 if you'll use it lots.
The station is nice in that it's just one big transformer with minimal components. When you get cheap chinese ones, go for one with a side switch, not front. The front switch kind have a lot more components that are far more likely to fail.
Tips for it are cheap and you can buy hakko tips for it.
I've got one and for my needs it's great.
Digital read out isn't important , approximate temperature is good enough most of the time.
Don't go too cheap on solder.

[Kevin Van Dam !ZNBx60Gj/k No.1766069]

>>1765895
>brass wire
>always
>>1765898
>brass doesn’t clean a fuck

Well that’s informative

[Anonymous No.1766143]

I see reviews of the WES51 from last year but it's not in stock anywere. Has it been superseded?

[Kevin Van Dam !ZNBx60Gj/k No.1766378]

>>1766143
Got replaced by the digital display one. If you can find the old one, it’s gonna be old stock.

[Anonymous No.1766405]

What's the advantage of a proper soldering station over cheaper stuff like the TS-80/TS-100, or even cheaper irons as long as they're temperature-controlled like >>1765589 or >>1765686?

[Kevin Van Dam !ZNBx60Gj/k No.1766440]

>>1766405
Accuracy of the temperature control, quality of tips and a good cord that won’t rip up on you. Soldering stations just have a big transformer in there, and all the electronics are inside the station so less in the handle and easier to be precise. TS-100 irons use a DC power supply so that brick is almost like a station.

I was surprised when I got that Hakko in the mail though, it’s not nearly as big as I expected. It’s heavy though with the transformer and metal build so you don’t melt shit on accident.

Oh and the ESD safe thing, I guess you want to be assured that you aren’t sending electricity through the tip and frying components.*

*don’t take anything I said as fact.

[Anonymous No.1766462]

If you intend to do any significant amount of soldering, particularly on circuit boards you should really get a soldering iron that uses T12 style tips with the integrated heater, and a proper stand with a brass sponge holder too if you want to be fancy. If you are really constrained by budget, or will hardly use the thing a very cheap 936/888 style station will serve you fine. However T12 stations, even the fake ones are a huge step up simply because of the tips they use. They heat up faster, hold heat better, and you can easily change them while hot. The best part however, is that there are unique T12 tip shapes not available or hard to find for the 936, specifically the spatuala and BCM styles. The spatula tips are a godsend for rework, being able to heat tons of pins in a row is huge, and BCM well tips make surface mount a breeze. So yeah, I'd reccomend any T12 iron, even counterfeit ones before any 936/888 station for anyone looking at more serious soldering than just joining wires.

[Anonymous No.1766466]

>>1766069
>>1766378
Don't listen to him, brass sponges are the proper choice for cleaning a tip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyele3CIs-U

Also maybe skip the weller iron.

[Anonymous No.1766506]

I'm trying to fix the jack of a pair of headphones and the tin doesn't melt no matter how hard I press on it or how long I leave the iron to heat.
What is happening?

[Anonymous No.1766529]

>>1766506
Try scuffing the fuck out of the tip with an abrasive sponge or sandpaper. Or smooth cement.

If that doesn't work just twist them together the best you can. Or put a small wire crimp in line with a few strands of wire shoved in to make it fit.

I've got a pair i twisted together. Slid a spare piece of fuel hose over it and filled it with superglue. Bee working for 10 years albeit they don't get used much.

If its the actual plug just find another headphone jack at a thrift store. Dollar general has them near the phone chargers and headphones. Walmart and amazon have them as well.

Hunt amazon for 3.5mm headphone plug with wire. Or something. Maybe 3.5mm headphones. Hell, the Dollar Tree has cheap af headphones you can cut the coord off of.

Hopefully that helps

[Anonymous No.1766536]

>>1766529
Yeah, I'm trying to fix the plug but the tin that it came from the factory with is not melting.

[Anonymous No.1766583]

>>1766506
>>1766536
Is the solder not melting on to the iron, or not melting onto the wires? Headphone wires are often coated in a material that wont take solder. you either have to burn it off with a hot iron, use aggressive flux, or abrade it off with sandpaper like the other guy said.

[Anonymous No.1766585]

>>1766583
It isn't melting onto the tin-like material they used to solder the wires in place. I've been pressing it with the solder, after admittedly I forgot to turn it off for like ten minutes, but it doesn't budge.
Do they use different materials to solder at the factory or I'm just doing something wrong?

[Kevin Van Dam !ZNBx60Gj/k No.1766587]

>>1766585
Lick the tip to make sure it’s hot enough.

After that, put a little flux on dat boi

[Anonymous No.1766591]

>>1766587
i'm not fucking licking that what's wrong with you

[Anonymous No.1766592]

>>1761289
I used the iron in your picture for work. I loved it. Waaaaay better then a nontemperature controlled pencil.

[Anonymous No.1766600]

>>1766591
Could you take a picture of what you're trying solder with the points you're trying to solder circled in mspaint? We may be able to answer your question better.

[Anonymous No.1766608]

>>1766600
Ah, yeah, sorry.
I'll do it when I get back home.

[Anonymous No.1766656]

Okay. Here it is.
As you can see here, the metal of the plug is a light golden color and there are these metallic grey blobs on it that used to hold the wires in place. The thing is that no matter how much I'm pressing on them with a soldering iron, they don't melt.

[Anonymous No.1766658]

>>1766656
A >better picture.

[Bepis !n/ZnkB9jUw No.1766683]

>>1766658
Did you try some flux? Have you tried scraping it with an xacto or something to make sure it’s not a tiny glob of JB-weld type stuff?

>>1766591
I guess you don’t want real advice

[Anonymous No.1766698]

>>1765686 here. After using all the included solder I went to the nearest hardware store and bought the only solder they had available, pic related. I then noticed the 50%, and I assume it refers to a 50/50 tin-lead alloy: is it any good for a beginner dealing with small electronics?

[Bepis !n/ZnkB9jUw No.1766717]

>>1766698
Does it have flux in there? Does it bubble when you melt it? Maybe 50% flux.

[Anonymous No.1766720]

>>1764010
>he hasn't built up his calluses to handle irons like that

[Anonymous No.1766726]

>>1766717
Yeah, it produces smoke, I've read it's the flux burning off, and if I crank up the temperature it kinda sizzles.
>Maybe 50% flux
Have no idea, I couldn't find any information on this specific product.

[Bepis !n/ZnkB9jUw No.1766728]

>>1766726
Grind up a bit and do some bumps. If you get cancer in 20 years, there’s a 50% chance it was 50% lead.

If you work with solder a lot, I’m sure you could tell once it starts to flow. Also melting temp, right? Lead is lower than tin, right?

[Anonymous No.1766742]

>>1766683
>Did you try some flux?
Yes.

>Have you tried scraping it with an xacto or something to make sure it’s not a tiny glob of JB-weld type stuff?
I'll try that now.

[Anonymous No.1766776]

>pick up the first hobby knife I have at hand
>one of the hobby knives from a redline set I bought this week
>it cuts through whatever metal it was like butter
bruh
Now what? Do I need the black plastic parts to be there? Where do I find the schematics for this?

[Anonymous No.1766781]

>>1766776
>schematics
Check for continuity with a multimeter

[Anonymous No.1766783]

>>1766781
i don't have one...

[Anonymous No.1766802]

>>1766783
How can you do electronics without a multimeter? Get an Aneng AN8009, it's dirt cheap and good enough.

[Anonymous No.1766855]

>>1766776
I will take pity on you since it seems like you're getting brutally bullied here. The component you're working is appears to be a 3.5mm TRRS jack, you can google lots of pinout diagrams. The only concern I have is that the plug end has four pins, but the solder side looks to only have three. The largest pin closest to the center is going to be the ground, and the other two will be the left and right audio channels, it'll be up to you to figure out which wires from your headphones correspond to each of those. If you had a multimeter in continuity mode you could put the headphones on and listen to which speaker crackles when you probe it while testing for continuity. You can also just solder the wires on randomly and plug it in to test. You need to use the soldering iron to apply extra solder to each of the jack pins, then tin each of the wires, and finally press them together under the iron to get them to stick, its kind of finnicky but not too hard. Just make sure not to short anything out and put your heatshrink on before soldering.
Also, the plastic rings are insulators, each of the metal connectors needs to be isolated from each other in order to work.

[Anonymous No.1767032]

>>1766855
>The only concern I have is that the plug end has four pins, but the solder side looks to only have three.
I count four of them.

[Anonymous No.1767034]

weird question but humor me... what material is used to prevent the heat from the iron itself from melting the handle and burning your hand? at some point the hot metal must contact the handle to be gripped

[Anonymous No.1767046]

>>1767032
It looks to me like the largest pin on the solder side is connected directly to the ground sleeve, but it might just be the picture.

>>1767034
Most irons use a fiberglass sleeve to isolate the element from the handle, and then the handle itself is made of a high temp plastic.

[Anonymous No.1767048]

>>1767046
Ah, no, the insulator just fell off while I was removing the unmelting factory tin.

[Anonymous No.1767051]

>>1767048
The plastic insulation goes inside the plug itself, it shouldn't be possible for it to just fall off. Maybe its worth buying a proper plug off eBay for $1 in this case.

[Anonymous No.1767052]

>>1765567
>Based and redpilled. It isn't rocket science.
Right, it's materials science. And if you can't tell the difference, it's just a sign you have no skill.

[Anonymous No.1767054]

>>1766462
>If you intend to do any significant amount of soldering, particularly on circuit boards you should really get a soldering iron that uses T12
FWIW, T12 and T15 are the same thing. They're just marked for different regions.

[Anonymous No.1767057]

>>1766698
god no. That looks like plumbing solder, and if it is,,there's no lead in it.

[Anonymous No.1767065]

>>1767057
Fuck! What should I buy then?

[Anonymous No.1767104]

>>1766698
Just try using it. If it clumps up, doesn't want to melt, and behaves like shit, leaves a dull finish on joints and joints are often brittle, then it's shit low-lead solder. Go to an electronics specialty store or order online. Note that the cheap shit on amazon, eBay and aliexpress tends to lie about lead content and also sucks.

[Anonymous No.1767109]

>>1767104
Now that I think about it, I never managed to get those shiny solder joints, like those already on the flight controller board. I did some quick search online and bought pic related off amazon, it was the only available that had a recognizable brand, which also has a positive review online.

[Anonymous No.1767115]

>>1767109
I have exactly that type and it's shit, although I bought it straight from aliexpress so maybe I got worse grade with the same labeling. Local retailers usually sell decent quality solder and it makes a huge difference. Unless you go into the wrong type of store, like anon.

[Bepis !n/ZnkB9jUw No.1767117]

>>1767065
Are you in the US? Proper lead solder isn’t sold too many places, but I managed to find it at some auto parts stores. This company seems solid, I think I got the bigger spool at Napa and them got the same thing in the smaller electronics size tube at Advance Auto or Vatozone.

[Anonymous No.1767121]

>>1767115
>I have exactly that type and it's shit
>mfw

[Anonymous No.1767735]

>>1764480
nobody involved in stock photography really knows what they're doing, the photographer got paid twenty, the model got forty and the jew that runs the service makes a couple hundred grand a year.

[Bepis !n/ZnkB9jUw No.1767771]

>>1767735
There’s another soldering pic with your average affirmative action college student holding the iron like that. Plenty of good /o/ pics with chicks too

[Bepis !n/ZnkB9jUw No.1767775]

>>1767771

[Bepis !n/ZnkB9jUw No.1767776]

>>1767775

[Anonymous No.1768833]

>>1761202
this, best iron out, still have mine from years and years of professional use