Soldering Iron

ok, well since I am a laser hobbies and plan on doing DIY builds I need to get a soldering iron and thats why I need your help. I was reading somewhere and they said 25W irons are good for a laser hobbyist but I will ask you guys to make sure I get a good one.

What one should I get

The most expensive so probably the best
Amazon.com: Weller WLC100 Soldering Station for Hobbyist and Do-It-Yourselfer: Home Improvement

25W Iron
Amazon.com: Weller SP23LK Marksman 25 Watt Soldering Iron Kit: Home Improvement

60W Iron
Amazon.com: Sinometer 60 Watts Soldering Iron, UL listed: Home Improvement

30W Iron
Amazon.com: Mastech 30 Watts Soldering Iron, UL listed: Home Improvement


Alright, theres the 4 I was looking at. Any help would be appreciated.


Thanks,
Trever

Here is what I use and love it.:beer:

Amazon.com: Weller P2KC Professional Self-igniting Cordless Butane Soldering Iron Kit: Home Improvement

I have the same weller sp23LK 25W iron. However I would love the soldering station in your first link.

For small electronics such as diodes and flex drives the 30W and 60W might be a little too much heat.
The nice thing about the temp controlled solder stations is that it keeps the heat constant and right at the tip. You will find that these non temp controlled irons heat up and continue to heat up and not just at the tip.

I built a small outlet with a dimmer switch for my iron. It's not the same but can help by keeping your iron a little cooler when not in use. I was burning through tips pretty fast before I started using the dimmer switch. Now my current tip still looks brand new.

DTR said:

Here is what I use and love it.:beer:

Amazon.com: Weller P2KC Professional Self-igniting Cordless Butane Soldering Iron Kit: Home Improvement

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DTR would you also suggest this one. its almost identical to the one you have Amazon.com: Weller P2C Professional Self-Igniting Cordless Butane Solder Iron: Home Improvement

i also recommend the 25 watt iron. also i tend to use the thinnest possible solder. remember to pre tin all your connections. keep the tip of your iron clean before making any joints. and touch connections as short timed as you can. you can accomplish this by using the blob technique. meaning before soldering apply a small blob to the tip of the iron.

and you do not want to use torches, or that weird "cold touch" one.

So you guys would all agree that this Amazon.com: Weller SP23LHPK Marksman 25 Watt Soldering Iron Home Project Kit: Home Improvement would be a good one to buy. And remember Im not going to use it hard core at all. At this point i would even be afraid to solder leads onto a flexdrive. so once I get one I would have leads soldered on already. So the main reason i will be using this for is just soldering wires together

trever22 said:

DTR would you also suggest this one. its almost identical to the one you have Amazon.com: Weller P2C Professional Self-Igniting Cordless Butane Solder Iron: Home Improvement

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Sure it just does not come with the extra tips and I do not use them that often anyway in fact I do not even use the main one. I went with the PPT1 tip that does not come with it.

Amazon.com: Weller Portasol PPT1 .94" Single Flat Soldering Tip For P2C: Electronics

The workstation looks nice to but I wanted a cordless solution and this one has adjustable heat as well. Also since I began this hobby I still have only gone through one bottle of butane. I also this is the unit that Jayrob uses and suggested to me when I started out.:beer:

This would be my pick to do the job right for the least amount of money.
Weller WES51 Analog Soldering Station, Weller WES51 - at the Test Equipment Depot
but for a few dollars more you won't have to worry about that little knob on the front any more all you have to think about is getting good at soldering
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/weller/solder/wtcpt.htm

Flaminpyro said:

This would be my pick to do the job right for the least amount of money.
Weller WES51 Analog Soldering Station, Weller WES51 - at the Test Equipment Depot

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hey pyro, sorry I just dont have that kind of money. And for the stuff im going to be doing dosent need to have this nice of a soldering iron.

Thanks for the thought though

I got this iron.
"X-TRONIC 4000" HOT AIR REWORK SOLDERING IRON STATION - eBay (item 120571221985 end time Dec-13-10 10:25:26 PST)
Best thing i ever bought.
If you can save the money and get a real iron.

This is what I'm used to as I said I do a lot of soldering and have so for about 40 years now
I have owned the little orange weller you are looking at on ebay and it will do the job but you must set the temp (it has no self temp controll) and for an experanced guy this iron would be no problem but someone with no experance in soldering MIGHT have a bad experance with it and it realy is not weller quality I think it's made in china and if I was weller I would be ashamed to put my name on it.
But it is about the best one in that price range out there. I would like to say if you plan on doing any more soldering in your life time ever then you should save up and get the one I suggested or one comprabale to it, it realy will make all the differance for a unexperanced person to have a temp controlled iron and one like this will last a lifetime with minium care !
I know times are hard but this is my advice for someone that is going to be soldering for the rest of there life as I do

I don't know where you are in life but I will put this out there, another way to think about it is my suggestion has resale value and the orange one dose not !

Bottom line you pretty much get what you pay for, some time there are rip off's for sure but I have used these types of irons for a long time now and do know a bit about them or I wouldn't be taking the time to explaine this now !
You have a good day


@ Kiyoukan That one looks like a good deal and if you are happy with it that is all that matters, I have been wanting to get some hot work equipment myself as I have a need every once in a while.
Have you used the hot air equipment side of it and if so how do you like it ?

trever22 said:

hey pyro, sorry I just dont have that kind of money. And for the stuff im going to be doing dosent need to have this nice of a soldering iron.

Thanks for the thought though

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This is what I have and has worked great for the past 2 or 3 years: LED DISPLAY DIGITAL SOLDER STATION ZD-929C-MPJA, Inc.
It's cheap ($45) and I think most people don't need anything more than that.

I think one a digital one is the way to go because it allows you to see what temp it's currently at, as well as what temp you've set it to.

I have the WLC100, I like it a lot. One time I lost the fastening screw and cooper hand tools (weller) sent me some new ones right away. The tips are pretty common (the store down the street from me has some) and there are plenty of options.

I'm glad you like your iron and you are probly right about most peoples needs but if you had one like this it would be more like, Why do you need to see what the temp is set at if your iron is controling the temp then all you ever have to do is solder and use the correct tip for the work you are doing, now dosn't that sound a lot easier never worring about what the temp is of your iron cuz it's always right on !
They put them read out displays on soldering irons cuz people will buy them cuz they think they are cool, it's realy just a waist of electronics, who cares what the temp is if it's always correct and that is what a good soldering iron will do for you.
I have been soldering for 40 years and only for about 2 years did I ever use a soldering iron that had a readout in it and I didn't even own it.
I will put my soldering job up aginst any ones here any time ! just ask DR. Lava he knows my work and I'll use my old 25 year old Weller WTCP soldering iron with out a read out.
To each his own every one has his or her standards and I try to set mine as high as I can when I am working for some one else or my self it's nothing less than the best it can be

laser_freak said:

This is what I have and has worked great for the past 2 or 3 years: LED DISPLAY DIGITAL SOLDER STATION ZD-929C-MPJA, Inc.
It's cheap ($45) and I think most people don't need anything more than that.

I think one a digital one is the way to go because it allows you to see what temp it's currently at, as well as what temp you've set it to.

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