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rouge

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Joined: 19/05/2010
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Posted: 04:54pm 19 May 2010

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Hi, I'm looking into purchasing a soldering iron, I have am not planning to do extensive soldering, it will be just more of a hobby than anything. So should I purchase a more expensive soldering iron? Is it worth it? or should I just stick with a simple cheap one? For example I'm looking at a couple different ones,

http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp /B000I30QBW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1274285384&sr=8-5

http://www.amazon.com/60-Watts-Soldering-Iron-listed/dp/B000 6NGZK0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1274285384&sr=8-3

I realize that 50 bucks isn't really an expensive tool, but its alot more than the one that goes for 10 or 15 bucks.
any help would be terrific,

Thanks

Fixed the links for you. Glenn.
http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp /B000I30QBW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1274285384&sr=8-5
http://www.amazon.com/60-Watts-Soldering-Iron-listed/dp/B000 6NGZK0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1274285384&sr=8-3 Edited by Gizmo 2010-05-21

GreenD88

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Joined: 19/05/2009
Location: United States
Posts: 104

Posted: 05:27pm 19 May 2010

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What do you plan on soldering? If mainly just minor repairs then go for a cheapy, but if you plan on building decent circuit boards the better ones will make life easier.

Licensed Master Plumber / EPA 608 Universal License / 410a Safety Certified / Medical Gas Brazer/Installer

niall1

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Joined: 20/11/2008
Location: Ireland
Posts: 331

Posted: 06:10pm 19 May 2010

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i,d agree , for fairly regular work on circuit boards some of the cheapy ones often burn the tip coating up fairly quickly which makes delicate work very awkward and often unusable..the better quality ones have more stable temp....

if your going to be soldering unusually big copper wire connections your need a bigger wattage iron with a meatier tip

the first link iron does look nice....and should be fine for circuit board and average copper wire (coils) ...wish i had one ....

i cant see the second link though

ps...i,ve had a little cheapish antex 15w iron for years now and the tip is still in nice condition for hobby circuit boards , for the donkey work i have an old weller 120w which seems to be lasting forever ...i looked at the reviews of the the iron in your link after and they do seem a little mixed , some people really like it and others arnt so sure Edited by niall1 2010-05-21

niall

Gizmo

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Joined: 05/06/2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 5024

Posted: 10:15pm 19 May 2010

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The adjustable soldering iron looks nice, and I think it takes the standard tips, so you can replace them when they wear our. I have a adjustable iron, a cheepie from Dick Smith, had it about 20 years now.

The other 60watt iron would be too big for any circuit board work, but will be fine for automotive wiring or metal soldering.

Glenn

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
JAQ

oztules

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Joined: 26/07/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 1686

Posted: 10:53pm 19 May 2010

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Well Rouge, your avatar says buy the proper one, your description says possibly the cheapie will do.

If you ever intend to work on boards as pictured in your avatar, then the dearer one is mandatory.

I suppose it is possible to use the biggie with a light dimmer and tone it down for those occasions, but the extra 40 dollars for the dearer one would be a better long term investment.

I find when buying tools etc, buy one too big, and it will do the stuff I want to do easy, but it is not always the best (sometimes you need small). In this case, if you work on boards with heavy tracks and big lands you need a powerful small iron.... temp controlled, and seconds later be soldering delicate stuff.

The expensive one is still capable of driving 45 watts if needed, so is a good compromise... power and size..... but you won't be glueing up the cars radiator with it either....

..........oztules

Village idiot...or... just another hack out of his depth

GreenD88

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Joined: 19/05/2009
Location: United States
Posts: 104

Posted: 01:35am 20 May 2010

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All I have is a cheap 15$ radio shack one and a 20$ butane powered one. All I ever use them for though mainly is repairs. Haven't had the time to mess with building circuits lately, too many other projects first lol. But I've been playing with and learning electronic schematics/circuits for over 10 years since I was in elementary school.

Licensed Master Plumber / EPA 608 Universal License / 410a Safety Certified / Medical Gas Brazer/Installer

KarlJ

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Joined: 19/05/2008
Location: Australia
Posts: 1178

Posted: 02:37am 20 May 2010

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I've got five or six cheapies of various brands plus a BIRKO...
the Birko god knows how big it is (W)but I can solder 0 gauge cable into car battery terminals.

Obviously useless for other things -but it will do those radiators too OZ!!!

I have a little iron I have grown very fond of, its also a cheapie but holds temp well, warms up fast and doesnt glow when you leave it on too long (like the crappy jaycar one I bought)

For my money, if I was going to do it again.
I love to justify a flash soldering station, but I just do much more hack work and hence the flash soldering stations are no-good for dragging around the workshop.

I must say I'm not a big fan of the butane one, its more useful for shrinking the heatshrink!

Good luck

Luck favours the well prepared

KarlJ

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Joined: 19/05/2008
Location: Australia
Posts: 1178

Posted: 02:40am 20 May 2010

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Cancel the above
at $50 for the station go for it.
a decent one out here is $300 in the shops.

they are nice to use .....

Luck favours the well prepared

Downwind

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Joined: 09/09/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 2333

Posted: 03:30am 20 May 2010

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I was talked into buying a Weller base station iron some 20 years ago by the store salesman for $200.00, i left with my new toy feeling i had done the wrong thing and spent to much money.

I have flogged the guts out of the thing ever since and can only thank the salesman over and over again for his advise.

I use a 0.6mm tip on mine and it is capabale of fine and heavy work without a problem.

One word of warning............not all base stations are exactly that, as when i looked around recently for someone else, i found many was just a standard mains powered iron wired through a base station with a switch on the front.

The ones you want to find is with a transformer in the base station so the iron runs off around 24v to the heating element.

You will notice they are heavier to pick up but will work much better and will heat is 10s of seconds rather than 10s of minutes.

The most important thing from my propective is to be able to buy replacement tips in the course of time as they will burn out, and in a year or two will that brand be supported.

So what ever you buy now, get some spare tips (the finer the better)as you might end up with a useless toy otherwise.

Note.. to Glenn ....Get some spare tips NOW as DS is dropping the line and spares will not be available.

Pete.

Ps... the last i looked the links didnt work, but now fixed i to say spend the bucks on the base station as the other is mere junk.

Mine is like the Weller a little further down the page for a mere $95.00 now days.

Edited by Downwind 2010-05-21

Sometimes it just works

rouge

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Joined: 19/05/2010
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Posted: 03:53pm 20 May 2010

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Thanks everyone for your input i appreciate it, I don't plan on doing anything to big with it, I'm a college student and all I plan to do with it is to solder some printed circuit boards and see if my education has taught me anything. thanks once again

cboy2us
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Joined: 25/05/2010
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Posted: 07:41am 25 May 2010

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That Aoyue unit is identical to the one I purchased not quite a year ago. I've used the thing weekly, and it is often on for 8+ hours at a time. It heats up quicker than any other glorified wood-burner I have ever had the "privilege" of using, and the tip and heating element has lasted longer too. If you get it from ebay (I did, but I'm in the US so not sure how it works elsewhere) user Randyruby will probably give you a discount for education. I got 10% off mine from him. PM me if you would like any more details.

I recommend this if you plan on using an iron more than once a month or for more than an hour or two at a time.

Also, the brand is a knock-off of sorts of hakko. If you want other tips (I still haven't pitted the original) hakko 936 tips are identical and far from short supply. I believe the wands and at least some of the internals are identical too, but can only confirm the tips as I purchased a hakko chisel tip for faster heatsink removal.Edited by cboy2us 2010-05-26

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