In need of a decent soldering Iron

USAbro said:

Radioshack or habor frieght tools are good for small wire but no temp control.

Click to expand...

Buying cheapies should ONLY be done if you have no other option-

I picked up what I THOUGHT was a nice soldering station(irons are not worth buying IMO)

At first I was fooled by the brand name 'Veller' NOT to be confused with a good one from Weller-- my 1st clue should have been the 24$ pricetag.

It was NOT grounded for ESD precautions and had a very long wait to re-heat.
another case od BS specs==


Metering showed it was NOT up to spec in Watts..and took way too long to reheat.

I was offered a good used one from 'GreenMechanic' and what a big diff.

If you make a search at Greedbay you may get lucky.
OR place a WTB in the section BS&T.
Another member may ATM need cash instead of back-up soldering station.

another good brand is Hakk- for some ODD reason I felt they were to be trusted simply by their AWESOME name..lol=:na:

I have seen good deals on used ones that only needed a new tip.
Like mine- I got several sizes when I ordered as you may need them.
Mine has a place to attach a wrist band for ESD.
It reheats very fast and was a good investment and has a light ththe at tells me when it has reached the temp you set.

Forget 'pencil' irons--gas or 'pistol' styles==get a station-

hak

sometimes a soldering iron isn't that high on a 15 year olds budget priority list so he goes with the cheapest one that at least works.

If you're going to work with laser diodes, getting a cheap iron will end up more expensive and more frustrating if your cheap iron blows your expensive diode due to tip leakage.

Cheap irons are not grounded and will leak current to the tip and damage sensitive devices. You don't have to get the most fancy solder stations. Just get a decent grounded one.

mine is grounded. 3 prong. your probably right but I didn't buy mine for diode buts I'll just use it to get by.

If ebay linking isn't aloud very sorry, just trying to help...

I have used these for the past 6 years or so. Clone of some hakko model I believe. These are really popular around BLF, grounded and pretty percise control. Also the tips last a very long time (I turn mine on at 9am and it stays on for 12-15 or more hours every single day and a single tip lasts me usually around 60 days or more).
*note I NEVER wipe mine on the wet sponge- that's one of the worst things you can do for your tips, the extreme temp change wrecks them. I use brass wool tip cleaner with liquid flux in the bottom and if needed wipe it on a DRY cloth.

Building lights is my full time job so believe it when I say I use mine A LOT. Over the past 5-6 years I've only needed to buy one replacement iron and never a new controller.

Stahl Tools SSVT Variable Temperature Soldering Station 374 100 | eBay
If ebay links arnt aloud search for "stahl SSVT"
Edit: that's cool this forum software changes my link to the title

I use exclusively the medium size chisle tip so I have dozens of the others since you have to buy those in 4pk's (tho they sell other tip's individually). If anyone prefer's the other and wants to work out some deal where we trade please let me know.

wow guys just wow! This is exactly what I wanted. Again sry for the noob post. I have had a a very busy past few weeks, so sorry for the lack of replies! I am going to have to go through all of this and do some heavy research. Not as heavy without you guys, but I have to make sure I drop the solid hammer. I have been slowly getting parts for my first build so I am sure you will hear about that too. Thanks to you people I am a laseraholic now! ("you people? what you mean you people?!") hehe

ok guys I finally made a decision!!!
Aoyue 937+ Digital Soldering Station - ESD Safe includes Spare Element UPDATED VERSION!! - Soldering Iron - Amazon.com
I hope that auto links for I am on a macbook that i HATE(my gfs laptop). I probably wont fix if not sorry. AGAIN I HATE THIS LAPTOP
I went for this one for a few reasons...
* decent price with esd and digital
*looks solid and not flashy- the hakko seems kinda fisher-price like. They seem to have spent there extra production cost on looks.
*almost exact reviews on both

That's all I really have right now. I am not a noob to soldering- I'm actually pretty good on the lowest quality dirtiest tipped one you can give me, so getting a decent one is kinda exciting.
I have also been getting my parts collection under way. I guess I didn't realize buying the right laser parts can be cheap. I've gone overboard a few night and will have parts to build about 4 lasers soon/when possible

so anyone got a link on decent solder? HA naw dont worry. I'll do a search but last time i did that I went on a 2 hour side track mission. Way too easy on this site!


Again thank you all so much on the very informative information!

Hakko seems fisher price-like? Are you really judging the build quality of something off the colors in the picture? Hakko is renowned for quality, and I can tell you from my own personal experience (I have a hakko station), the iron holder is all metal and the controller (or whatever you want to call it) is hard, durable plastic.
Color scheme=/=quality.

That is not how I meant it by any means. I do apologize how that came across. It was my second pick for sure and I had to elaborate my reasoning. I am a laser noob. I read the reviews on amazon and LPF and made a decision. Worst case I will have to end up buying the other one. Again thank you and sorry if I came off the wrong way.