Poll: Poll: Do you have a soldering iron?

Do you own, or have access to a soldering iron at home?

  • Yes

    Votes: 382 78.3%

  • No

    Votes: 106 21.7%
  • Total voters
    488
I have a cheap entry level plug in one that doesn't do temperature control. Built a simple desktop audio switch so I can go between headphones, mute and speakers.

Soon to be getting into RC flying. Specifically foam based planes and fixed wings. Will see how I go but will likely need a Hakko or similar if I really get into it.
 
Own a Metcal SP200 iron. Worked in electronics industry for 10 years so yes, very confident in using it. I can manage to remove and replace most circuit board components excluding BGAs obviously. :)
 
Have had a couple of the cheaper variants for various electronic hobbies.

I learnt to solder at secondary school for some very basic projects.

Oddly enough when i did electronics at college, it was all on a breadboard, so no soldering required.
 
Feek said:
My main iron is a very old Weller PU-3D, with different sized tips it does everything I've ever needed from a soldering iron.

I've had this for over thirty years and even though I say so myself, I'm damn good with it :)

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I know exactly how long it takes to warm up to operating temperature. I switch it on, walk to the bathroom to wet the sponge and by the time I get back, it's ready to go.
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Wow! I haven't seen those in ages! That is an excellent station providing the iron input socket doesn't get knackered!

Weller WD2 station with a WP80 iron here. Use it to repair laptops and old electrics folks seem to thrown my way. I'm a mechanical/acoustics engineer who has worked in defence/manufacturing for a long time so I spent a ton of time setting up production lines etc. Weller are too expensive since they moved their ops to Germany a good few years ago :/
 
Due to my work and my hobbies I have several, and last year I bought a (very) expensive RF powered Metcal that even as I handed the money over gave me a sense of reckless squander. But within a week I could see exactly why colleagues had raved about them, and if it was irreparably damaged today I would buy another. Instant warm up, a small tip can solder large connectors. It's hard to describe just how much better they are than a resistive element soldering iron. I do some SMT work so have soldering tweezers and suchlike, but nothing that's as mind bogglingly good as the RF Metcal iron! For back up service and off the shelf spares nothing beats Pace though. Weller have made so many models with subtle changes and a policy of early obsolescence that getting spares from them is very costly and a PITA as it's either NLA or out of stock.
 
I have a few, got 1 electric and 2 gas powered, use them for hobby stuff, rc cars etc.

Used to do a lot of soldering when installing audio equipment some years ago so I'm pretty good at it :)
 
neodude said:
Own a Metcal SP200 iron. Worked in electronics industry for 10 years so yes, very confident in using it. I can manage to remove and replace most circuit board components excluding BGAs obviously. :)
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BGAs are an art. We do a fair few at work and it takes a bit of trial and error getting the heating profiles right. Small BGAs I can do with a heat gun and pcb heater.
 
I have one somewhere, was competent but having not done anything for at least 15 years maybe not so much now. I also used to use mine for pyrography, mainly on walking sticks for my granddad when he was around.
 
I have a soldering iron and can solder well. Mainly just bring stuff into work to solder as use one there as well. Started soldering when i was about 6 or 7 years old to fix broken scalextric cars/motors!
 
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