Roger Ford Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 My soldering iron seems to have given up. It was a fairly cheap one from Maplin - this one, I think, costing under £20. It has served me well, but I've never seen the point of temperature control - I always whack it up to maximum. Is temperature control needed when dealing with sensitive electronics, rather than the wiring, connectors and occasional I/C leg I deal with? I feel I ought to get a good one to replace it. I already have a decent gas iron for portable use, so no need to get one of those - I want a desk one, preferably with a stand similar to the old one and no massive control box. I'm willing to spend a lot more than £20, but don't want to get silly. Anything over £80 seems excessive. Edited by - Roger Ford on 14 May 2013 19:57:08 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnty Lyons Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Any decent Antex iron is what you want with spare tips I would get two a big one for desoldering heat sinks and a small one for delicate I C work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny. Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Roger.......Weller are the business Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderlane Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 If you can live with the massive control box, I recently bought one of these -> http://www.circuitspecialists.eu/csi-deluxe-60w-digital-soldering-iron-station-csi-station3dlf and am very pleased with it. It's basically a clone of a Hakko unit I think, but good value and has worked very well for me. A real upgrade from the cheap version I had before. It gets up to temperature in just a few seconds and the tip temperature doesn't really fluctuate. I've never really adjusted the temperature but I guess it's nice to have the facility if I needed to. Get a pack of spare tips in different sizes for various applications. Cheers Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted May 14, 2013 Author Share Posted May 14, 2013 Thanks for those. Mark, that one looks interesting, I'll have to see if I can find the space on the workbench. Weller seemed the obvious choice, but I couldn't seem to find anything that wasn't either ridiculously expensive or very large. Antex seem fairly cheap so I'll take a look at those too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titanium7 Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 If your interested in any of the Antex range give me a blatmail as we are a reseller for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted May 15, 2013 Author Share Posted May 15, 2013 Mark - your one here: http://www.circuitspecialists.eu/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/500x500/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/c/s/csi_station_3dlf-1.jpg appears to be identical to Maplin's one http://images-cdn.maplin.co.uk/300/A55KJ.jpg But significantly cheaper (though it's not as clear-cut as it seems after factoring in VAT, postage, Maplin offers and TopCashBack). Actually, looking a bit further afield, it's also at Tesco and Farnell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pikey Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Antex are OK but Weller are better. I have various Weller irons but the one I use most of the time is this one it's not cheap but worth every penny. Also whatever you get make sure you get real lead/tin solder and lots of spare tips because as soon as the chrome or whatever the coating is wears off you work will become dull. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted May 15, 2013 Author Share Posted May 15, 2013 Well I've had a bit of a stock-check, and found Weller 15W Weller 25W, with a very knackered and rusty tip. I somehow killed it getting the tip out. Clarke 30W Clarke 100W solder gun Portasol gas iron Snap-on Blue-point gas iron None of these are really what I need though. So what's the difference between the £120 Weller 40W one you linked to, and the Weller SP40L which can be found for less than £20? Is it just the temperature control? Do I need that? I've never turned my previous one down from maximum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Woods Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I bought a solderpro 70 from Maplins here a couple of years ago when they were on offer . i dont do much soldering but its a massive improvement over the 25W Weller i used to have . There is also a more powerful '120' version here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted May 16, 2013 Author Share Posted May 16, 2013 I've gone for the standard Weller 40W one for now. Might think about something a bit posher at a later date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbod Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 I've got a few ancient Weller PU-2D stations/iron. I've had them for years and they just go on and on (thats torn it) and solder very nicely with a decent tip. Last one I found at a boot fair for for £5. Assuming Weller quality is still the same, your should do you very well. I'd like an ERSA - probably the nicest soldiering irons I have used - but they can get very expensive so they are out for home use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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