Yes, another soldering iron thread.

[alanp]

Am I just a cheap bastard? I mean, I've found I can do pretty much anything with my forty-watt pencil-style iron. Temperature adjustment is either on, or off. No in between. This iron can put together medieval-era turretboard valve amps, and clinkerbell size SMD chips like LQFP48. (It's also a dab hand at guitar pedals, too!) This is with the original tip, which is more like the tip of a 2B pencil you'd've used at school than anything else.

But the universal cry on all DIY forums is that one should ditch this style of tool, in favour of a base station style one, like the FX-888. You can't do anything *real* with the pencil irons, you need a posh one. And tips. Lots of tips. Preferably the highly expensive ones.

It's starting to get to the point in my poor brain where I think I'd be some kind of class traitor to get a posh iron, like McGuyver saying, "I don't need this old swiss army knife, I'm going to carry around this new Leatherman with custom FancyCorp cutting edges." Or the drivers in The Italian Job going, "Hell with these tiny cars. This is Italy, I want to do the job in a Countach."

No, no real point to this... other than maybe cheap pencil irons aren't completely awful sources of leprosy (As long as they are grunty 40W models, 15W irons are piles of lukewarm snot.)

[TGP39]

Why fix what isn't broken?  If your iron works for you that is all that matters. Besides, it's not the iron, it's the person behind the iron and who doesn't love Mcguyver in a tiny Italian car!   I've seen your work Alan and it is top notch.

Steve.

[kgull]

I did a lot of work with a cheap ratshack 40W iron for awhile and it is perfectly serviceable. It's still in one of my bags somewhere for occasional use. My Hakko is what I use at home though. It is probably overkill for the kind of stuff we do (Most of the components we're likely to encounter are not heat sensitive and those that are usually get socketed) but man is it nice to use.

It's all about getting from Point A to Point B. If your pinto gets you there, then there is no real reason to trade it in. If you ever get the chance to try out a decent station though, don't pass it up. Even McGuyver can appreciate a Lambo

[Stomptown]

For the longest time I used the 25W radio shack iron.  I must have gone through three irons and 20 tips over a three year period.  It was hard to actually try something else because I grew a custom to using it and never had issues with heat.  That being said, I would've been better off investing in an iron with a quality tip. I think I spent $89 dollars in my Haako station and I don't foresee replacing the iron or tip for a long time.  If your not going through irons and tips like crazy like I did, I say stick with what works.  Otherwise, I would just bite the bullet. 

[pickdropper]

Yeah, some of those old Radio Shack irons just consumed tips.  The plating on them was pretty bad.  It's much less of a problem with a nice station.

I find is your technique is good, you CAN solder with most stations.  I personally enjoy the process a lot more with a nice station and I solder enough to justify it.  The value of this is up to each person, however.


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[jubal81]

Don't regret buying the 888 for a second. Best money I've ever spent on a tool.


The biggest benefits:
Heats up from off to working temperature in about 20 seconds.
Maintains temperature when solder to large, heat-sinky things.
After a few years and a lot of work, the tip is still perfectly fine.
Higher temperature means I can get in and out faster on each joint - especially those ground pads.

[peAk]

I can honestly say that out of every investment I have made since starting pedal building, the purchase of a FX-888 has made the most difference. It just absolutely blew away what I was using before.

I started with a $15 Radioshack, then bought a $40 Weller, then bought the Hakko FX-888.

+100 for the FX-888

[mrclean77]

I went through a few tips on my Radio Shack super cheapie and decided I was doing enough to warrant getting a station (I actually tasked Santa Claus with the purchase). I have zero feelings of 'you HAVE to have ___ iron to be in the cool DIY kids club', which is kinda how the OP sounded. If you solder well with what you have and aren't having to change tips weekly, who cares?!

I got used to using Radio Shack solder and keep saying I will try again, but about a year or so ago I got some Chandler or something and it felt WEIRD, haha. Loads of people use the Kester, so I will try it, but I feel I do decent with the RS stuff and I know I can zip across town and get another pile of it should I run out.

[dropanchor812]

... I do decent with the RS stuff and I know I can zip across town and get another pile of it should I run out.

I felt the same way... until they closed. 

I've used my 40+ year-old American Beauty iron station since I started building with good results.  I've had some frustrating issues regarding shorts in the pencil's cordset, but thats just due to age.  I will say my harbor freight 40 watt iron I used during those frustrating times has worked great except the tip was a piece of junk.  After making my own tips out of copper wire it actually turned out to be a pretty decent iron!

[mmlee]

Yes! Thank you, I always feel like I'm missing out a bit when people talk about their posh soldering irons, buy the truth is I feel like I can do anything with the same 40 watt Antex iron I got at maplins 8 years ago. I got a pointy narrow tip thing at the time and its still going strong. At uni we had Weller irons and tbh I thought the nicest thing about the Weller was this little tube that was next to the tip to suck up the smoke.

[pickdropper]

... I do decent with the RS stuff and I know I can zip across town and get another pile of it should I run out.

I felt the same way... until they closed. 

I've used my 40+ year-old American Beauty iron station since I started building with good results.  I've had some frustrating issues regarding shorts in the pencil's cordset, but thats just due to age.  I will say my harbor freight 40 watt iron I used during those frustrating times has worked great except the tip was a piece of junk.  After making my own tips out of copper wire it actually turned out to be a pretty decent iron!

The American Beauty stations actually can work pretty well.  I assume yours is resistance soldering, right?


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[jimilee]

I have a $19 adjustable temp iron I got for $15 from parts express that I got 3 years ago. Works like a champ.


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[dropanchor812]

The American Beauty stations actually can work pretty well.  I assume yours is resistance soldering, right?

No, mines a normal iron.  I got it off ebay a few years ago, it was sealed in the original box and had never even been turned on.  It was a little bit of a gamble, but I lucked out it seems.  I have seen AB's resistance irons though, I don't exactly understand how exactly they work or what applications they're best suited for.  I would probably never buy a new AB station though since they are crazy expensive- well made, apparently- but expensive.

[pickdropper]

The American Beauty stations actually can work pretty well.  I assume yours is resistance soldering, right?

No, mines a normal iron.  I got it off ebay a few years ago, it was sealed in the original box and had never even been turned on.  It was a little bit of a gamble, but I lucked out it seems.  I have seen AB's resistance irons though, I don't exactly understand how exactly they work or what applications they're best suited for.  I would probably never buy a new AB station though since they are crazy expensive- well made, apparently- but expensive.

I've been considering picking up one of their thermal stripper handsets off of eBay since I have a power station already.


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[Scruffie]

Been using the same 25W iron with original tip I got off ebay for about £5 since I started this hobby 6 years ago and i've done commercial product soldering during that and have no qualms soldering a sensitive part in under a second with it, the tip is justtttt starting to look like it might need replacing... or just cleaning.

The only thing I wish was that it had a stand so it stops trying to burn things when I set it down.

My wire clippers were free instead of £100 too... you know who you are