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Registered Member #3781
Joined: Sat Mar 26 2011, 02:25AM
Location:
Posts: 701
This was a fantastic investment for me! It's a little on the costlier side but it's very well made and there is a big assortment of tips that can be easily replaced. Plus the hot air is nice to have.
Registered Member #3943
Joined: Sun Jun 12 2011, 05:24PM
Location: The Shire, UK
Posts: 552
Thanks for all of your suggestions! Looks like weller may be a good choice.
@Proud Mary I will definitely consider one of those antex irons.
@Daedronus I mean that the tip has basically started to wear away and it has gone blunt (it used to be very pointed). I always kept it clean and tinned too. Maybe it was becuase it was a cheap one?
Registered Member #543
Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992
Alex, bits made of copper alone erode because the copper slowly dissolves in the hot liquid solder. This process proceeds more quickly at the higher temperatures needed to melt lead-free solder. An eroded face on these bits is made good by filing the soldering face flat again and re-tinning.
The use of iron-plated copper in most modern bits greatly reduces the rate of wear. If these bits are filed down or otherwise have the iron plating damaged, they will erode like the copper-only bits.
Iron-only bits aren't very effective because iron has much less thermal conductivity than copper.
Registered Member #30
Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706
The tips on cheap soldering irons do wear out pretty quickly. Once the iron plating wears through, the copper core gets eaten by the solder and the tip just disintegrates.
Temperature controlled ones have three advantages: They cost more so the tips tend to be better quality, they don't get any hotter than necessary, and many of them even set back to a low temperature if you haven't used the iron for 10 minutes or so. All this adds up to much longer tip life.
We use all Weller stuff. I've heard mixed reviews on the Aoyue gear. A technician I used to work with hated their vacuum desoldering rig, but I saw their hot air rework station in a quite respectable electronics factory.
Registered Member #2292
Joined: Fri Aug 14 2009, 05:33PM
Location: The Wild West AKA Arizona
Posts: 795
I'm going to have to put a bid in for the Weller as well. I used to use cheap radio shit irons and they died about every month. I now own a 50W Weller station, best $120 I ever spent.
I've owned my Weller for about a year now and I'm still on my original tip!!!
Registered Member #1062
Joined: Tue Oct 16 2007, 02:01AM
Location:
Posts: 1529
I use an Aoyue for soldering and hot air (0402-> solid copper blocks) , and they work great. Ive also used Weller( The only advantage I really saw was the handle was cushioned, whereas Aoyue uses a hard pencil grip.
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Can anyone recommend a good soldering iron?
