Soldering iron vs station

[jpaul]

Proper solder for real men

inhaling proper flux too - dipping wires, or even bit itself, although it is supposed to be very acidic eating the bit iron cladding.

thought it was ironic thery were even doing soldering on Eastenders the other day - didn't rewind for model.

Personally antex for life, with heavyweight mug to clip it onto, genuine wire holder always seems to act like a heat sink.

 

[andy_mk3]

Kid at school finally snapped at being bullied and in a D&T class held the bully down and pressed a soldering iron to his face - I just remember the teacher in total shock and not knowing what to do.

Wow that's a pretty severe attack. The pain must have been unreal. It's bad enough just catching your finger.

 

[azazl187]

I picked up a soldering iron with soldering wire from the rain forest for under 20 quid for repairs of house hold items and it's been great. Cheap but does the job just fine

 

[Vince]

inhaling proper flux too - dipping wires, or even bit itself, although it is supposed to be very acidic eating the bit iron cladding.

thought it was ironic thery were even doing soldering on Eastenders the other day - didn't rewind for model.

Personally antex for life, with heavyweight mug to clip it onto, genuine wire holder always seems to act like a heat sink.

I use a mug as well and antex iron

Got a thread going here: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/vinces-ebay-repair-thread-console-repairs-mods.18940033/

On recent repairs

 

[robj20]

I picked up a soldering iron with soldering wire from the rain forest for under 20 quid for repairs of house hold items and it's been great. Cheap but does the job just fine

Definitely don't need anything fancy for occasional use. Use mine less and less at work, at one time it was used on every product to configure it such as drive resistance, balanced or unbalanced, drive offset. These days is just to repair old units, dry joints, blown fuses, worn relays.
Anything bigger like BGA repairs we just send back to our factory for them to repair it.
Still do a lot of soldering for things like wiring looms and potentiometers that sort of thing.

 

[Feek]

I picked up a soldering iron with soldering wire from the rain forest for under 20 quid for repairs of house hold items and it's been great. Cheap but does the job just fine

Do you mean ‘solder from Amazon’ rather than ‘soldering wire from the rain forest’?

 

[Rroff]

Wow that's a pretty severe attack. The pain must have been unreal. It's bad enough just catching your finger.

What happened while she stood in shock and after it?

Burnt right through the top part of his lip and he had scars after - I don't really remember much other than the teacher's shock - I think some of the other kids ran and got another teacher.

 

[azazl187]

Do you mean ‘solder from Amazon’ rather than ‘soldering wire from the rain forest’?

Um yea I guess so.....

 

[Mike_J_Smith]

I got a “Yihua 939D+ III Soldering Station” recently and have found it a good step up from the cheap irons I’ve used before. If I recall correctly there is a version with a hot air tool on the side too.

 

[hyperseven]

Can't find a link to it now, but I have one of these below. Does me fine for the occasional use it gets. Calibrated it and it does everything I can ask of it.

Bought the same after seeing Clive's vid. Use is mainly for RC and the odd single board project, can't fault it.

Anyone link to some decent 60/40 flux core as bought some right crap in the past.

 

[Rroff]

Bought the same after seeing Clive's vid. Use is mainly for RC and the odd single board project, can't fault it.

Anyone link to some decent 60/40 flux core as bought some right crap in the past.

I've just been using MULTICORE/LOCTITE 0.7mm 60/40 stuff from Farnell for most stuff - though probably not the best person to advise.

 

[hyperseven]

I've just been using MULTICORE/LOCTITE 0.7mm 60/40 stuff from Farnell for most stuff - though probably not the best person to advise.

Cheers, always forget about CPC as Amazon has brainwashed my buying decisions

 

[NickK]

The main issue with lead solder isn’t in use, less so manufacture but in disposal.
Landfill with PCBs with lead solder leach the PCB chemicals over time. That flows out into the ecosystem and accumulates in plants and animals, then up through the food chain.

 

[Rroff]

The main issue with lead solder isn’t in use, less so manufacture but in disposal.
Landfill with PCBs with lead solder leach the PCB chemicals over time. That flows out into the ecosystem and accumulates in plants and animals, then up through the food chain.

Be nice if they made some actually useful lead-free solder to replace it though - I've got one, no name brand from Amazon, which is OK though not great which I have a sneaky suspicion might not be actually lead free. The rest I've tried are literally trash and worthless using.

 

[NickK]

Stannol and MG Chemicals are two I’ve seen described as reasonable. Probably others but I have decent sized spool so happy at the moment

 

[DHR]

I'm in the market for the first time in years for an iron and a separate heat station.

All I can say, is unless you're spending serious money and going branded with Weller etc. it's near impossible to make a decision. I'm allowing myself got around £80-120 to play with at the moment, and even at that price point there are way too many options

 

[Chris Wilson]

Kid at school finally snapped at being bullied and in a D&T class held the bully down and pressed a soldering iron to his face - I just remember the teacher in total shock and not knowing what to do.

Good lad! Did the bullying stop?

 

[Rroff]

Good lad! Did the bullying stop?

No idea - was like 25 years ago.

 

[d_brennen]

I got a Maplin branded iron ages ago and it takes cheap, readily available tips. It's a rebrand of another make but the name escapes me. Do long for a hot air gun sometimes but I only dabble in electronics when needs must