Soldering Iron help please

kPATm · 9 Sep 2017 at 02:00

So Iv been using a Dremel Versa Tip Butane Soldering Iron for a while. Now the Catalys has worn out and they are hard to get a hold of and they are expensive :-(

Im looking at replacing it with a wired soldering iron with temp control and if the price is right a hot air gun.

I know for a decent bit of kit you are looking at a fair few £ but I only have a small budget of £50. Thanks

Rroff · 9 Sep 2017 at 02:24

I've been using a Maplin 48 watt mains solder station - seems about as good as you get in that kind of price range.

Generally for soldering I find it works pretty well - way better than the normal unregulated ones - did find the sponge tray on it started to corrode though so bought a stand alone tip cleaner and the bit can be a bit difficult to remove/swap if you've been using it for awhile.

kPATm · 9 Sep 2017 at 02:37

Been looking at that one. Are the tips readily available?

hyperseven · 9 Sep 2017 at 02:39

this is the fella I have been using for the past few months, heats up quick, seems solid enough and bigclive approves

@£26 delivered, bargain

Rroff · 9 Sep 2017 at 02:44

kPATm said:
Been looking at that one. Are the tips readily available?

Maplin sell a 3 pack of alternative/replacements but in my experience they aren't as good quality as the bit that came with the iron - I'll probably just rebuy the whole station once the original bit dies. I've built around 20-30 projects with around an average 60-65 components to solder for each - mostly on prototype board so soldering in a lot of links as well and the original bit is still going strong.

Sliver · 9 Sep 2017 at 06:56

I've found friction of the male member provides sufficient heat for most situations.

kPATm · 9 Sep 2017 at 08:27

Im afraid my member isnt big enough to cause ANY friction :-(

kPATm · 9 Sep 2017 at 10:20

What about this one

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-W...388477&hash=item1c8717e5d0:g:tf8AAOSw8HBZNMUT

xldeane · 25 Sep 2017 at 01:01

Dont get the one with the split nib, electric ones they are crap....

xl..out

kPATm · 11 Oct 2017 at 17:05

Thought I posted already. I ended up getting a TS100 portable iron. Crackin little bit of kit. £50 from Amazon UK

Feek · 22 May 2018 at 16:58

Bumpy bumpy, Aldi have a soldering station up for just twenty quid at the moment. It's worth a punt.

paradigm · 22 May 2018 at 17:25

kPATm said:
Thought I posted already. I ended up getting a TS100 portable iron. Crackin little bit of kit. £50 from Amazon UK

These really are unbeatable for £45~

It’s replaced my soldering station completely now, portable iron or otherwise!

Even Louis Rossmann rates them in the same league as a Hakko or Quick.

Rroff · 22 May 2018 at 17:36

Saw a couple of videos recently on those TS100s seem an interesting bit of kit.

Don't really have much use for them personally though as I get reasonably good results from a cheapy USB iron that I can stick on a power bank if I need something on the go and rather use my temperature controlled solder station for fixed use.

Been thinking about getting a hot air rework station though as I've been doing a bit more with VSSOP lately

and pondering a design that uses QFN32 ICs :s