Soldering Iron

[Snare227]

I'm looking at getting a new soldering iron.  I've been running with the $10 jobs from Wal Mart and the tips constantly are getting "eaten up" and destroyed.  I've been doing my best to wipe off the excess solder with a damp sponge and keep the tip tinned with fresh solder, but it continues to happen. I am using electronic grade solder with rosin built in. I was wondering if you could point me to a decent iron on Amazon that is at decent price.  I'm thinking I might be better off with a variable heat iron, and I'll probably need to pick up a few different tips until I get my technique down.   Any advice or experience would be great.  Thanks

[Jon the Art Guy]

I just bought a Velleman 50w variable temperature soldering station for $20.

http://www.amazon.com/Velleman-VTSS5U-LOW-COST-SOLDERING-150-480%C2%B0C/dp/B000I40HFQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362756237&sr=8-1&keywords=velleman+50w

I haven't turned it on yet, but I want to do the whole pre-tinning rigamarole, as I had the exact problem you did with my $10 Wal-Mart 30w iron. There's a couple decent Youtube entries when I searched for "proper care of soldering iron". The tinning entry had one suggestion I like, which is to wrap the tip in solder when cold and turn it on with more solder waiting, and goop it on. The iron instructions I got said to leave cooking at low with a blob on it for 3 minutes.

[Snare227]

Awesome.  I probably watched the same video about wrapping it around cold and then firing it up. I tried that with this last tip and it did seem to help.  I feel the cheapo WalMart jobs just aren't meant to be used in this capacity.  Any more suggestions for irons and/or replacement tips?  Thanks!

[Jon the Art Guy]

I wish I could help, but I'm pretty much where you are, experience-wise. The Velleman has a thinner tip which may prove useful on veroboards as it gets kind of tight (at least for me). A wider tip or a chisel for tinning wire may be useful if you're using stranded wire.
This station is about the cheapest I found, and it may bite me in the butt due to bad build quality. If you're going to be building a ton of pedals, do yourself a favor and get a Hakko 888. They're under $100 and they're apparently the best thing for hobby and small-business soldering.
higher wattage soldering irons heat up faster, which is nice. They also hold their heat better. The variable temp control will allow a little control when tinning the tip.
Cleaning the tip? I got some brass-polishing steel wool, only it's copper wool. I didn't want a possible harder cleaning pad than the tip can take, and copper is below iron on the mohs scale. Or buy a container of brass tailings from Hakko or a knockoff company, or use a wet sponge...though the sponge didn't help me at all.

I'm hoping one of the heavy builders chime in on this thread. I could use more tips too.

[dodido]

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[Geiri]

Yeah I used to have a 30w cheapo piece of crap. I call it crap now because I just recently bought a Hakko FX888 soldering station and it's a whole new life!

The little one was about to crap out anyways. It didn't heat up the jack sockets properly anymore.

The Hakko came stock with a pretty wide tip, which I'm unused to but I've gotten used to it right away and it's fine, even on tight veros. I might buy a new tip though later on.

[Jon the Art Guy]

I think the critical issue with the POS iron is that intro tinning, which I didn't do. Seems like it's the step that adds 10x the life or more to the tip.

I found a second tip for the cheapo. I may tin that one properly and use it for offboard or something...

[Vince]

I bought one these as recommended by Mark. Fantastic, I've had it for nearly a year and the tip is as good as new. I had a Weller before and the tips were being eaten away within weeks!

http://www.rapidonline.com/Tools-Equipment/Thermally-balanced-25W-soldering-iron-178125

[motterpaul]

I didn't even know they could do this, but I have had two different soldering irons burn out on me (like light bulbs) in the last few months - one a Radio Shack and yesterday's a brand new 40w Weller.

So, I just ordered the Hakko 888 solder station. I have heard good things.

[Silver Blues]

I'd recommend Hakko, Weller or Xytronic. Everyone here knows my story (and Rocket's) about our miracle Wellers, but supposedly the newer ones have a few quality control issues.

So if you want a station, the Hakko 888 is a nice and commonly recommended choice, and not too bad at a buck and half or so. The Weller WESD51 is another good choice at around the same price point. The WLC100 is another possibility if you're on a tighter budget.

If you just want an iron, I personally use an old Weller WP35. I'm not sure what Hakko has for pencils but no doubt they're good. There's also the Xytronic 200GX and it's lookalikes which are also nice.

You'll pretty much know immediately if your tips will be shit. If you find they oxidize extremely heavily within seconds of being cleaned, they're probably shit.

[motterpaul]

The weller solder stations are $130, The WLC100 iron is a 40-watt for $30. I bought a brand new Weller SPG40 solder iron that costs more than the WLC100 and it burnt out (was only on a few hours).

I stopped using wet sponges and the tips last a lot longer. I just use the copper wool to clean. The Radio Shack 40-watt iron that died I had accidentally left on overnight, so I was glad it died, but I was using the Weller when it crapped out.

Anyway, the new Hakko 888 is on order and was only $90 from Amazon, free 2-day shipping with Prime.

[Silver Blues]

Oh yeah I stopped using the wet sponges ages ago. The brass wool is vastly superior. Cleans better, deteriorates slower, and doesn't subject your tip to silly temperature fluctuations.

Frankly I don't know what they're doing to tips these days that make them fry so quickly. My dad bought what's essentially a knockoff of the Xytronic pencils because it was super cheap, and while it's comfortable to hold and heats up hellishly fast, the original tip died in hours. Hours. We replaced it with another tip from a different manufacturer and it lasted a few days... come on.

[rocket88]

agree about the brass as opposed to the sponge. I used to use the typical weller, but I bought a edsyn and couldn't be happier. It's analogue, but it's under $200, built like a tank, parts are available and cheap, and if you're in the US it's made here. It's made for production lines too, and the iron is 90watts.

[motterpaul]

wow - 90 watts, must be fast.

[Beaker]

Silver, have you tried using genuine Xytronic tips in your dad's iron, if it is a Xytronic copy?

When I bought my Xytronic 137 ESD station eight years ago, I bought four tips - from a big chisel (ideal for trem claw ground points on Strats) down to a small rounded pencil tip (I don't like needle point tips).

I bought a spare tip of each type, and got another four of the same for free as they had a deal on (buy two get one free). I still have eight tips unused in a box, as I have never had to replace any of the original four - they still look brand new when cleaned.

[Frank_NH]

I know people smirk when they hear "Radio Shack" and "soldering iron" in the same sentence, but their digital soldering station has been wonderful.  I've built every pedal except one with it.  And I have NOT changed the tip.  As always, YMMV.

[Silver Blues]

Yeah I'll have to go and find some certifiably authentic ones and see what happens.

[Beaker]

This dealer seems to come up as very highly recommended on any discussion on soldering irons.

They do all the different Xytronic tips.

http://www.howardelectronics.com/xytronic/solderingtips.html

[rocket88]

Btw, here's a link to the one I've got.

http://www.amazon.com/951SXe-Soldering-Station-Temperature-Control/dp/B00LFN17XA



Also, the one frank has is known for being really good. I nearly bought it from one of the RadioShack's going out, but they suddenly raised the price to $80, then took 20% off, so it cost more then if the store wasn't closing. It's actually made by a pretty good company, the only issue that I read about if is that the cable can be stiff. Definitely worth picking up if he price is right.

[Frank_NH]

"...the only issue that I read about if is that the cable can be stiff. Definitely worth picking up if he price is right."

The cable is actually quite flexible and iron itself is comfortable to use.  In fact, since it does plug in, I'm wondering if replacement irons can be purchased for when the original goes bad (no sign of that right now for me...).

By the way, if I were in the pedal building business and selling products, I would definitely step up to a pro soldering station.  But for the hobbyist, lower cost units can work fine.