suggest what type of soldering iron to get

[dream]

EDIT: The way some of the members here have desperately tried to identify my location and nationality for whatever reason they believed was needed for by asking an admin to check my profile logs and researching me by the content of my posts has been very creepy and unnecessary. So bye.

[araugh]

I'm a big fan of the hakko fx-888d for a hobbyist setup. It heats up very quickly, holds it's temperature well, has lots of available tips. The only problem is that changing tips isn't super fast and convenient, but overall it's a great iron.

[skot]

I bought a butane one years ago. I'd reccomend not to go that path. I found the tip didnt last very well. I use it now just for the blow-torch part for heat shrink.

If I had my time over, I would've just bought a decent iron first up.

[lightlinked]

Weller, you can get tips locally (USA) Mine is a EC2000 from 1983, older than me, still going strong, still can get tips at multiple different local parts stores.

[sugeek]

Metcal will be my next soldering station. For most small work my old Weller irons do fine but soon a Metcal station will replace them.

[SaltyRobot]

Thanks for the suggestions. Right now I feel like getting the same cheap iron though, I don't see a reason for a station (controllable temp) and now for a butane powered iron and heat up time of mine is acceptable.

I would highly recommend considering the controllable temp. I have a three channel PACE with extractor and pencil pump. Its way over kill for the majority of what I do but the controllable aspect of the iron is by far a necessity. I use the iron at around 650F for most applications but when I have lead free boards I need to modify I have to raise the temp to around 720F or so. When you buy the iron that just plugs into the wall it is far to easy to burn the PCB or even damage small traces. I would never solder SMT with that type of iron. Its kinda of one of those things where once you use a controllable temp iron for the first time you will never want to go back.

[norty303]

Best thing i ever did was buy a cheap temp controlled soldering iron. You don't have to spend a lot and the one i got is ESD safe as well.
You can probably get these by different brands all over the world, depends on whats available in your region. Budget for another stand, the one that comes with it isn't great.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/60W-Profes...item1c318746ec

[Draco]

I would NOT suggest a cheap non controllable iron, use one that has a grounded tip that is ESD safe, i have used a number of irons my self, Hakko, Edsyn, Metcal, Pace and a few that are hard to find in the united states. I cant friken remember the station i love and is a major competitor to Metcal. I personally don't like Metcal but i can't remeber the name of the damned station that i like as there competitor. I think it was JBC, the heating element and the tip are one unit and have a tool older on the station and are quick to swap and heat up in less then 5 seconds if memory severs, they are small and cheaper in cost then Metcal. but that's my own personal preference.

The crap i personally use my self is an older Weller EC2002M station i inherited when my company switched to JBC. The Weller is generally cheap, easy to find parts and tips. That's would i would recommend for casual personal use. If you don't need a station the W60P works well and the temp is controlled by the tip, it has a magnetically controlled temp control
For De-soldering I own a Edsyn ZD500DX that has it's own self contained vacuum pump and builds vacuum when you lift the handle to you have instant vacuum when you pull the trigger, they are dated in style but have a very good thermal mass in the tip and can remove solder from multi layer boards otherwise thought to be not removable.

Gas operated tools i only use there is no power and find the Solder-it solderpro 120 to work well, i have had mine for about 12 years

[White-Light]

I would NOT suggest a cheap non controllable iron, use one that has a grounded tip that is ESD safe, i have used a number of irons my self, Hakko, Edsyn, Metcal, Pace and a few that are hard to find in the united states. I cant friken remember the station i love and is a major competitor to Metcal. I personally don't like Metcal but i can't remeber the name of the damned station that i like as there competitor. I think it was JBC, the heating element and the tip are one unit and have a tool older on the station and are quick to swap and heat up in less then 5 seconds if memory severs, they are small and cheaper in cost then Metcal. but that's my own personal preference.

The crap i personally use my self is an older Weller EC2002M station i inherited when my company switched to JBC. The Weller is generally cheap, easy to find parts and tips. That's would i would recommend for casual personal use. If you don't need a station the W60P works well and the temp is controlled by the tip, it has a magnetically controlled temp control
For De-soldering I own a Edsyn ZD500DX that has it's own self contained vacuum pump and builds vacuum when you lift the handle to you have instant vacuum when you pull the trigger, they are dated in style but have a very good thermal mass in the tip and can remove solder from multi layer boards otherwise thought to be not removable.

Gas operated tools i only use there is no power and find the Solder-it solderpro 120 to work well, i have had mine for about 12 years

JBC ones are here if you want to see if any match what you had:

http://www.kindustrial.co.uk/shop/JB...-Stations.html

They are expensive though at least in the UK.

[norty303]

I set the temp by trial and error. If it doesn't flow the solder in the required time then increase the temp.
Forgot to mention there is a 3 tip pack for the one I linked for about $10 which provides some nice variants for different jobs and it has 3 user definable temp presets