Soldering Iron Recomendations

[jfr0]

Whats a good soldering Iron for vmoding.
Right now I have a SD 203 http://www.austinelex.com/ae_121.htm same as on that page.
But I think my tip is too big, and I dont know where to get another one.

[T07N]

Those are 50w soldering irons, they will burn any chips they touch. =) (sarcasm)

You need to get a 15-25w soldering iron. They are good for working with intergrated circuitry. Get one at Radioshack.

[craig588]

I have been using a 45 watt one for the longest time and I have never had anything die from it. (though part of it is that I'm fairly experianced with soldering and I never let it touch anything for more than a fraction of a second)

If you wanna be safe you can get a 15/30 iron from radio shack for around 15$.

[celemine1Gig]

If you want a quality soldering iron, then try to get a "Weller" or "Ersa" or something similar.;)

[jfr0]

I thought that a 50 watt regulated solder station if turned down would operate similarly to a 15wat unregulated one?

[enzoR]

yea it 'll be fine... set to a low heat

[Ragnarok]

for electronic work, cant go pass Hakko or Goot..

Wellers just dont have that Japanese refined quality

[reject]

cheap 25w. i scorched my pcb with it and no problems :)

[lalPOOO]

I have that iron/basestation or a VERY similar one to it. Don't know why you guys are talking about scorching your boards and stuff, its adjustable. You just set it to somewhere between 650-700ish and solder away. Another thing I love about this iron is that theres no question about when its ready or when its not, it has an indicator light which flashes to tell you. Also warms up really fast, especcialy coompared to a plain old plug into the wall direct iron.

[T07N]

Or you can get one of these..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=48745&item=3817071379&rd=1

hahaha

No seriously, you can probably get those Hakko soldering irons on ebay. Do a search you should get some good prices.

[SPL15]

I'd rather have a nice hot iron and do the job quick and easy than have a low wattage iron that cools down with anything you touch and gotta hold to the solder for longer periods of time... I've done research on this, The hotter irons damage heat sensitive components less because of the short time needed for connection. I've lost hundreds of dollars in revenue due to semidamaged semiconductor components from prolonged iron contact from low heat irons. Hot irons have reduced this issue to a non issue for my company.

I exclusivly use Hakko products for my business. I used to use another brand (Which I wont name due to legal reasons) and found they worked, but not for the money I paid for them. I highly recommend hakko, Never had issues with their products so far.

But again hot irons (Within Reason) are better for clean solder jobs. weller and crap you get at superstores and radio shack are cheap for a very good reason... You get what you pay for.

[duKe]

i really cant agree with your statement about weller. neither they are cheap nor they are crap. sure they sell unregulated irons that are low priced, but that arent intendet to solder such sensitive components.
as you said, "you get what you pay for"...

[TheJackal]

I use a 15w Antex, but it currently needs a new end :(

[craig588]

I just bought this new 15 watt one. (bottom) My old 45 watt one is on the top. I really like it for PCB soldering, but I still use the 45 watt one for wire soldering because I dont need to wait for it to heat back up agian after every use.
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/3166/DSCF1314.jpg

[Lithan]

Anyone have any experience with the portable gas irons (butane are they?)

[eshbach]

Originally posted by Lithan
Anyone have any experience with the portable gas irons (butane are they?)

yea they're pretty nice, actually... but i don't like the smell :sick:

i use a 40w regulated.

[Jesus]

How thin should the tip be? I have an old 30W and its preetty crappy caise the tips are quite large.

[craig588]

you can just sand the tip down. Thats what I did for my cheap 45 watt radioshack one.

[CaTalyst.X]

get a 20/40W switching soldering station from radio shack. I think its like 12.00. Me and malves use radio shack irons :P LOL

-CaT

[101]

You can't go wrong with a metcal MX-500

[STEvil]

325w weller is what i've been using, gotta pick up a station sometime quick, though.

[LikwidKool]

Is there a big difference between grounded and non grounded? I was using the 15/30 radio shack job, and then saw a 25w grounded iron and picked that one up. To be honest I like the 25w better, and figured the groun was extra protection.

Anyway, what do you guy's think of this iron?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1200&item=5911833575&rd=1

[Jade]

Hey craig what is that new 15w iron you have?? I love the short tip with fat grip. My iron has a long tip and I find it causes me to shake around more. Like trying to write really neat while holding your pencil by the eraser.... :(

[STEvil]

not bad for $70.

Shop I visited yesterday wanted $160 for 60w station :rolleyes:

[craig588]

Originally posted by Jade
Hey craig what is that new 15w iron you have?? I love the short tip with fat grip. My iron has a long tip and I find it causes me to shake around more. Like trying to write really neat while holding your pencil by the eraser.... :(

It was like 10$ and it was sold as a plastic cutter, but it works fantasticly. It makes doing board work a breeze, but you can only do like one mod solder per minute with it. I think the brand is Lenk, thats the only marking on it and I have seince lost the packaging.

[RocKer]

I have a 15w Weller just a week ago,and dit my first step to solder pcb and a most say its very tiny to do a good job,but a will get there.

Am using a old 8rda3+ to learn it on,and the first real thing a will do is my Hercules R9800np@XT vcore and vdimm,wish me luck guys,i hope a wont burn it to dead:D .

Enybody have good tips to solder.

[Ragnarok]

keep the tip clean, use plenty of flux or rosin and a bit of common sense :)

[RocKer]

Flux?

The guy in the shop says taht it isnt nesesere to juse flux,because its already in the solder stuff i give to me,will i need to use it anyway.

[Jade]

get a tub of that tip tinner stuff :)

[erik9287nl]

I just use a simple 15 Watt Weller soldering iron. Easy for small mods. For large wiring i usa a 60 Watt Weller.
15 Watt with a 1mm tip and the 60 Watt with a 4 millimeter flat tip.

[cwatson]

My 25w weller just died at the wrong time :(

[The Mofo]

So is the Hakko 936-12 ESD a good one to pick up? I got some money i can invest in one.

[masterofpuppets]

I use several Weller irons. Various wattages and tips for various things. Cant go wrong with a weller. :)

Also, for anyone who is worried about burning pcb's: I have several burn marks on my motherboard. I got a black mark where I attempted to solder the loops for the northbridge cooler back in (that was a nightmare. luckily it came off while the machine was off!) and the burn was right over an insulated circuit, but the board is fine. Just don't hold the iron there for longer than you need to.

I haven't used many soldering irons other than my collection of wellers, so I don't know what the Hakko 936-12 ESD is like.

[xtremetheme]

I got a black mark where I attempted to solder the loops for the northbridge cooler back in (that was a nightmare. luckily it came off while the machine was off!) and the burn was right over an insulated circuit, but the board is fine. Just don't hold the iron there for longer than you need to.



Let me guess it was an Abit board right? :p:
Because i also had to solder it back on my BH7. What W iron did you use?
I use a ERSA 16W iron and never managed to burn anything, because it has so low W i guess. But im confident with it, just using it for hardware modding.

[Juicy629]

I have no clue where to find it but i ordered a cold/hot soldiering iron off the tv. The second it touches solder it heats up instantly and the second you take it away its cold to the touch..pretty neat..ive yet to get it but it said it would take 4-6 weeks. I ordered the xtra fine tip. You could try a google search? *shrugs*

[Juicy629]

https://www.asseenontvnetwork.com/vcc/coldheat/coldheat/115804/


Found it ^^^^

[Barr3l Rid3r]

Does anybody knows something about the Pro's kit 30W Ceramic soldering iron?

[Nohto]

Cold Heat soldering tool
Soldering Tool FAQ

2. Are there kinds of soldering jobs for which the tool is not recommended?
We do not recommend it for soldering of large metallic components that require a lot of heat transfer or for soldering sensitive electronic components that may be damaged by fast-rising temperatures or high electrical current. (Momentary high-amperage current will be created during active soldering.)

[craig588]

Is it the worlds weakest arc "welder"?

[MaxxxRacer]

My dad making audio components professionaly and owning like 10 soldering irons, as well as purchasing hundreds of others, Edsyn makes the BEST soldering irons in the world. Wellers are ok, but they are nothing compared to edsysn.

Personally I use a Edsyn loner model. Its 70watts and it takes about 20 seconds to get up to full heat. The iron is over 20 years old and still runs great to this day. Now that is quality.

One thing to note. The Edsyn irons are adjustable. So if u need lower heat just turn the dial.... and you got it. and my particular model has a light that tells you when it is up to full heat.

All or their products are made in their factory in Los Angeles california. Ive been over to their plant a few times to pick up some soldering irons that were getting repaired.

[Stang_Man]

radio shack 25watt for 14 bucks here

[Skeet]

picture (http://www.clasohlson.se/images/products/S/hi/B/308101_X_2004-06-30_130212.jpg)
It's 15W with a 3.5mm tip will it do for PCB work like soldering a wire to a ISL(a simple voltmod)?

[Ragnarok]

too big... get a finer needle tip..

[wfarid]

i have a dollarstore soddering iron 30w and its great... fine tipped and everything... I also have a really expensive 20w battery operated soldering iron and its ok, it does a decent job for REALLY fine jobs..

[gkiing]

the cheapo red handle 30w irons work well for almost everything, even the really small stuff as long as your careful. Radio shack has a 15w-30w 2 in 1 iron thats good too.

[Maelstrom2160]

The standard iron i use is a antex xs25 the tips on these antec irons last for AGES massive range tip types and sizes (0.12mm - 6mm)

dont buy a piece of crap cheap iron, the tips dont last they tend to start disintergrating after 7+ hours of use

if ya do tons of soldering i would have assumed you would have bought ya self a decent station so there aint much point recommending a expensive station to ya, so pick up a half decent 25w standard iron (you'll be able to solder dinky IC's/mlccs with it), if ya need something for heavy duty work ya can pick up budget 50+W monster iron later

[gastro54]

Get a Hakko Clone. I have one and it works great. It's available from circuitspecialists.com
EDIT: Cheap too for $35

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v289/gastro54/936Clone.jpg

[blinky]

radio shack 25watt for 14 bucks herei use the same one

i cant if i either really suck at soldering, or i need to use flux, or the iron sucks, but soldering stuff is really hard for some reason the solder never sticks to the wire, and then the wire never sticks to whatever pins i want it to :( so i just kind of brute force it on :P

[phobos]

I can only suggest Weller soldering irons / stations. In our laboratories at university we also only use Weller. The only bad thing on Weller stations is the shabby early 70th design ;)

[craig588]

i use the same one

i cant if i either really suck at soldering, or i need to use flux, or the iron sucks, but soldering stuff is really hard for some reason the solder never sticks to the wire, and then the wire never sticks to whatever pins i want it to :( so i just kind of brute force it on :P


You really need flux, it basicly makes soldering in your sleep possible. It's like a magnet for solder.

[SPL15]

Here's my US$30,000 Infrared Solder rework station. has a nice camera on it to masively magnify the tiniest things and shows it on the 13" CRT on the right of the unit. I can solder ten billion pin IC's with not problem with this sucker and the best of all is that it all looks factory fresh.

Edit: For the post above mine about the flux. Use no clean fluxes that dont use the goopy nasty contaminating resins.

No clean fluxes are alcohol based and leave almost no residue and in my experiances work the best. Also the quality of your solder makes a massive difference in how well your solder joints look. cheap solder looks dull like aluminum and doesnt hold up well to stress. A good solder joint should be slightly shiney and nice and smooth.

[cetoole]

Anyone use this (http://www.web-tronics.com/didisostc.html) iron? Looks like a Hakko clone, and I think I saw somewhere that Hakko might actually manufacture them.

[Rix2357]

i use the same one

i cant if i either really suck at soldering, or i need to use flux, or the iron sucks, but soldering stuff is really hard for some reason the solder never sticks to the wire, and then the wire never sticks to whatever pins i want it to :( so i just kind of brute force it on :P

I used to have that problem when I first began soldering. Some stuff to check before hand and you shouldn't have any problems with getting solder to stick to to your wire
1. Make sure wire is clean. If it is oxidized, strip it some more and cut off the oxidized part.

2. Make sure solder tip is properly tinned when you first use a new tip. It keeps the tip from burning up. Also, clean the solder tip by using a damp cloth and wiping it. It should be shiny when it is clean. Clean it whenever it turns dark and before you get ready to solder again.

3. Make sure you have good solder. I've had some solder that was just crappy to work with. Usually it looks dark and rusty, and it isn't so great for electronics. The stuff you should use should look relatively shiny when you use it

4. Solder will only stick to the wire when it is hot enough. If the solder doesn't stick to the wire after first three steps, then your not heating the wire enough for solder to stick in the first place. You shouldn't need flux since most solder comes with enough of the stuff.

[Tekdemon]

Sorry about ressurecting this thread from the dead...but I heard about this new "cold heat" electric cordless soldering iron from my friend. But then again there's something weird about a soldering iron that's "as seen on tv". Anybody have any experience? https://www.asseenontvnetwork.com/vcc/coldheat/coldheat/115818/
And yes, part of its appeal to me is not burning myself while soldering. I can be kinda clumsy, and my current soldering iron came with this shoddy sheet metal stand thingy (plus I dunno where I put it).
Hmm found a positive review here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6151688/ but it mentions that the pointy conical tip is an extra $10, and that's the one I usually use...dammit!

Hmmm...found it on Amazon and noticed the horrible reviews (mostly complaining about the tip being fragile)...although I it does seem like some of the bad reviews were nonsense (like the one about it eating too many batteries...I dunno which idiot wouldn't use rechargables)
Hmm...a LOT of negative reviews after reading through all the listings on Amazon, but also a few respectable reviews that gave it 3 stars or so, and said that it's only good for small electronic work like PCBs, which is what I'd be using it for.

Apparently you can get it under Radio Shack's own brand at Radio Shack so I'm gonna go guinea pig myself lol.

[Nubius]

don't get that cold heat crap dude lol. They have like 25w pencil tip irons at radio shack for like $8

[CaTalyst.X]

Cold heat will break stuff :P

-CaT

[SPL15]

Sorry about ressurecting this thread from the dead...but I heard about this new "cold heat" electric cordless soldering iron from my friend. But then again there's something weird about a soldering iron that's "as seen on tv". Anybody have any experience? https://www.asseenontvnetwork.com/vcc/coldheat/coldheat/115818/
And yes, part of its appeal to me is not burning myself while soldering. I can be kinda clumsy, and my current soldering iron came with this shoddy sheet metal stand thingy (plus I dunno where I put it).
Hmm found a positive review here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6151688/ but it mentions that the pointy conical tip is an extra $10, and that's the one I usually use...dammit!

Hmmm...found it on Amazon and noticed the horrible reviews (mostly complaining about the tip being fragile)...although I it does seem like some of the bad reviews were nonsense (like the one about it eating too many batteries...I dunno which idiot wouldn't use rechargables)
Hmm...a LOT of negative reviews after reading through all the listings on Amazon, but also a few respectable reviews that gave it 3 stars or so, and said that it's only good for small electronic work like PCBs, which is what I'd be using it for.

Apparently you can get it under Radio Shack's own brand at Radio Shack so I'm gonna go guinea pig myself lol.


if you need a soldering iron that protects you from human stupidity, then you shouldnt really be soldering in the first place :D . Soldering Irons can be very dangerous in soooo many ways, if you need one that shields you from the dangers of soldering, then well Maybe you should where a helmet when walking too :D .

But seriously, I would go with a normal quality iron. Bad soldering Irons just destroy the PCB or make it very difficult to make good joints and destroy the PCB.

[jaguarking11]

I use two irons personaly. A 25w iron for soldering on pc's and small things that too mutch heat would destroy and a large 140w soldering gun that I use for soldering wires and such as it heats up quick and makes easy work. I have also goten used of the larger gun and I dont burn wires anymore. In the past I have burned wires completly to the point where the shielding on the wire was completly striped.


EDIT: WOW magic number 69posts.... :toast:

[komer]

i bought yesterrday weller 15w soldering iron for 25€ and i made my own tiny needles to solder small pins on my mbo...only problem is that is hard to get mbo out of case because so many things in...but sure i will do vdimm mod for nf7 soon

[koei]

What's a typical tip size one would want to use for modding video card?

[phobos]

What's a typical tip size one would want to use for modding video card?

That really depends on your habits and likings. I personally use a really thick one, about 2mm thick.

[hansbroken]

On the subject of soldering irons (I'm a novice at soldering) .. is the "standard" tip optimal for doing 'light' soldering, like say a drop mod on an Asus P4c800e (using Macci's mod)? I noticed that the solder points are rather small -- and the definition of 'standard tip' seems widely variable in their size. Therefore, I was wondering if an iron with the standard tip would work, or if a fine tip would be better.

I was thinking about something like this 25 watt one ( http://store.yahoo.com/webtronics/thbaprsoir2.html ). This place has other ones too .. this one seems to have a smaller tip, but looks cheap (http://store.yahoo.com/webtronics/ecgelco25was.html). And this one has variable control, but the tip looks rather large (http://store.yahoo.com/webtronics/phcovatesoir.html).

I wanted to check one out a my local Radio Shack BUT .. they have really gone down the tubes in terms of what they carry and advice / assistance (at least in my area -- the last good one closed and the alternative one by me is very small and does not have much). For example: This evening, I wanted to pick up a 50K Pot to do this drop mod. The one dude had no clue and called for some other guy to help find them. Once found, this other 'knowledgeable' fellow tried to tell me that the 10K Pot they had would work fine. He pointed out that it said "10K- Ohm - 15 turn" at the top, which he said "every turn will adjust the current 10k per turn" ... Ahh, yeah. OK … I’ll pass, thank you.

I have to say, I don't know a whole lot about Pot's and resistors etc.. But I DO know that what he said was so wrong.

Ok, sorry. I'm off topic .. But my point is: I was not going to ask about soldering irons after hearing him tell me about my 10K pot.

Anyone have any suggestions? Tanks!

[clkProject]

What you need is definately a Weller soldering iron. I have tried many other brands, and I have found out that Weller tops all of them.

[eshbach]

What you need is definately a Weller soldering iron. I have tried many other brands, and I have found out that Weller tops all of them.

weller is fine but it is not nearly hakko quality.

[hansbroken]

So, would this be a good choice then: http://www.all-spec.com/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=showitem&w3site=ALLSPEC&w3path=cat&w3product=SP23L

I suppose 25 watts is about right for small soldering jobs on MB's or to just splice some fan wires etc.. Which is about all I plan to do at this time.

However, They do have a variable control unit on sale that looks sweet (http://www.all-spec.com/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=showitem&w3product=WLC100&w3path=cat&sp=weller), but I don't think I'll be doing enough soldering to justify $40 price tag. Then again, I do hate to buy cheap tools. And the accessories look good -- and variable heat control is a plus... I know when I used to work on car engines back in my younger days, whenever I cut corners on a cheap tool, it either ended up stripping a critical bolt head or would just plain break. So I stuck to Snap-on (when I could catch the truck that is...) & Craftsmen and paid the extra $$$$

Ahh, decisions, decisions ... :D

[SPL15]

weller is fine but it is not nearly hakko quality.


I totally 110% percent back this up!!!!

My corporation has had lots of problems with weller and pace solder systems due to them needing lots of maintenance, expensvie replacement parts, Poor durability of the tips, Poor durability of the silicone rubber seals, and just poor performance and design in general.

We've switched over to hakko and we've saved tons of money, time, and headaches. You really notice the thoroughly thought out engineering when you look at the desoldering stations. If you looking for the best of the best in soldering equipment, hakko is not possible to beat. The soldering tips hakko uses last about 2 months for my technicians, Pace soldering tips lasted several weeks if that and cost more.

I can't say enough bad things about Pace soldering stations. But Hakko, I find it hard to think of any issues I've had since switching to their solder/desolder stations.

[elec999]

A iron with temperature control would be nice, and also with a small nipple end.
Thanks

[hansbroken]

Thanks all for the advice. Wow, some of those Hakko products can be pricey (for just occasional soldering work that it). But, they look pretty nice. Had to search around more to find just a basic iron and not a station type.

Here are two that simple models that are not too much, but still look like quality products:

1) simple "blue" 40 watt (I especially like the small & precise looking tip): http://www.electrowisehsv.com/cms/?p=423
2) A possibly nicer one (for just a bit more) .. converts from a pen to a gun -- the 30 watt one looks good: http://www.electrowisehsv.com/cms/?p=426

Wish they had one in this price range with variable temp control though (like 15w to 30w or something like that).

[delilah]

I am a newbee at all this and need to ask a question. I know zip about soldering irons, however, I read a few posts here and it seemed like a good one to purchase was a Hakko model. So, for a B-day gift to my brother I ordered a Hakko FP-102-01 model. Did I make a good choice or would some other model have been better? Has anyone had a bad experience with this model?
Next, I had no clue about tips to buy. I found out the station didn't have any, so I purchased several: 2 Conical and 2 Chisel? Did I do the right thing there? Should I have bought what they call a knife tip? I am sure each tip depends on how or when it is used, but I honestly do not know what a good array of starter tips would be to buy. Any help and/or comments here will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.:confused:
Ps/ If I submitted my question the wrong way, that is, as a answer insted of a new post, I apologise. This is all new to me.

[Asazman]

i like my weller, not good for really small stuff when you need to be accurate, but it's dependable as hell