Question for the solder jockies

On3s&Z3r0s

I'm gearing up to do some crossover work and want to make sure my toolkit is up to par. The first thing I think I probably should do is replace my $15 Rat Shack special soldering iron with an upgrade of some sort. The thing takes forever to heat up and doesn't seem to maintain a very constant temp based on some other work I've done with it.

So, my question is are there good irons to be had for under $50 or are they all pretty much the same until you get up to a $100 Weller or something like that? And are there any particular tips (like skinnier conicals or maybe flat tips) that work well for XO's and other PCB's?

Thanks!

Joe08867

I would be interested to see what you guys use as well. I have a weller with the big flat tip that I shaved down to make a V like shape.

ben62670

I have a few and some of my friends have them.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=374-100
They work great for the small investment you pay. Big tips tend to hold the heat better than the small ones.

pitdogg2

ben62670 wrote: »

I have a few and some of my friends have them.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=374-100
They work great for the small investment you pay. Big tips tend to hold the heat better than the small ones.

I concur this is a very good station for the buck. I've used it on my crossover rebuild it did a very nice job just keep the ring collar tight for the first few times you use it.

jinjuku

The Stahl Iron is a good bang for the buck. It's a 40 watt iron that gets most jobs done.

With that said I am going to order a 70 watt station since there have been a few times the Stahl has tuckered out on a few larger jobs.

mhardy6647

I still like the Weller controlled temperature stations, but they're 'spensive.

zingo

I have the Weller WP25 Professional, and it's been able to solder everything but solid copper chunks.

On3s&Z3r0s

Thanks for the recommendations! I'm surprised but happy to hear another $15 iron is up to the task. 70 watts sounds like overkill for the kind of projects I'll be working on and the nice Weller stations are more than I'd prefer to spend. So I'll give the Stahl a try. Too bad it looks like PE's out of stock on them until March. But I have lots of other stuff to shop for, so I'll pick that up last. Thanks again.

quadzilla

I love my Weller WD1.

JimAckley

It's nothing special, but I use a Radioshack 20w iron, cat. no. 64-093 and I love it. It's smaller than a lot of irons so youre not waving around a larger stick. Give it a look sometime.