Need help picking a new soldering iron

bte2

Hello, I have an old Ungar iron that I paid about $600 for in the mid '90s. I like the iron but it is approaching old age and I am looking to replace it now.

I'm somewhat interested in Hakko's FX-951, but I would like to see one before I commit.

Anybody here have any suggestions?

Thanks, Bryan

W9GFO

I have two Hakko 936s, they are very good. I think they have been replaced with the FX888s. Stay away from the Hakko clones. There have been reports of them being miswired - improperly grounded.

Heater.

bte2.

If you have time you might like to wade through an ongoing thread about soldering, soldering irons, soldering stations etc: http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/156620-Need-tips-on-soldering

But as we are here...WTF?! Six hundred dollars for a soldering iron?!

I do hope you mean a soldering station. Even then that is a lot of money. Are you doing this commercially or just for a hobby?

For light professional and heavy hobby use I really want a Hakko FX888D like so: http://www.adafruit.com/products/1204
Sadly it seems impossible to get the analogue version and almost impossible to get a Hakko in Europe at all.

Next up I want this an Antex 660A like so : http://www.antex.co.uk/soldering/soldering-stations/660a/ or the digital version http://www.antex.co.uk/soldering/soldering-stations/690d/

Certainly anything more than 100 dollars for a soldering station has be thinking very hard.

On the other hand, having watched a bunch of teardown videos and reviews on the utubes I'm really loath to buy any cheap station from China.

bte2

It is a station in that the iron and the power supply are separate, but it has been a great iron. I'd buy another one if they still made them. EXCELLENT thermal recovery, great feel, worked like a champ doing high-volume work for 20 years. The biggest reason I'm replacing it (besides unavailability of tips) is that the iron itself is getting worn.

I haven't seen any that I like, but I'm big on 'feel'. I just really like the way it felt while using it, and it was nice being able to go from IC pins to copper planes with the same iron.

Heater.

More and more I'm convinced that the way to go is a DIY soldering station.

Get a good 24v iron like this: http://www.antex.co.uk/soldering/soldering-stations/tc50/

Then build your own controller like the one made by Vitaly K here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dbI8-c7ROE

Do watch the video, it's awe inspiring. A soldering station should not be boring.

Of course it should be managed by a Propeller:)

Ron Czapala

I have the Hakko Fx888D and it is great. Kimco has it on sale for $91.35 with free shipping.

http://gokimco.com/hakko-fx888d-esd-safe-digital-soldering-station.html

bte2

So, for the record, I ended up buying a Hakko FX951. I hope I like it.

Heater.

That Hakko FX951 is no doubt a great machine. Much too expensive for 'er-in-doors to approve though. Possibly a bit big for my usual work spaces and I worry that the actual stand is a bit inconveniently high of the work surface. I'm going to be jealous anyway

Perhaps you could report back here on your experience with it after a bit of use.

RDL2004

Hakko soldering irons are very well made. I know, I have several. The 951 is maybe a bit more than most hobbyists need, and costs more than most want to spend. I'm sure you will be well satisfied with your purchase.

I have a like new, never used FX888. It's the non-D model with the nice analog knob to set the temperature. I only opened the box one time to look at it. All the parts still have all the original factory clear plastic wrappings in place. Now that they are no longer made, I think I'll just leave it unused and new in the box. Maybe someday it'll be worth a fortune on eBay.

Heater.

RDL2004,

How right you are. I have been searching high and low for the old analogue HAKKO. Not one to be had anywhere. Not that it's easy to find a HAKKO in Europe at all.

Just now I thought I'd found one, from a place in the UK that has only the analogue version in it's catalogue. But no, not available any more, only the digital one. And they quoted me a hundred GBP for that which is 168 dollars! Grrr...

So now I don't know if I want to go with that HAKKO or the very nice looking Antex 660A analogue station which is even more expensive at 150 GBP. More grrr...

Looks like me and my old Weller will have to get along together for a bit longer.

RDL2004

Heater,

I thought JBC and Ersa were two of the big names for soldering tools in Europe (well, and Metcal if you have the money). Have you looked at either of those? I've heard Hakko is hard to get over there, probably some kind of conspiracy.

Heater.

Strangely enough Ersa and Metcal are names I have only heard about recently. "JBC" is new to me.

As far as I remember....

When I used to be in environments where there was a lot of soldering going on, for production or development, it was all Weller and Antex.

One thing is for sure. For my current projects soldered up on my kitchen table or in our office I don't want any big, ugly, crude, expensive station. I can make one of those for myself if need be.

No, for that kind of money it had better look and perform like some one cares about what they design.

Tor

I've used temperature-controlled Weller stations all my soldering life. At work we now have Metcal irons, but (unlike some) I don't actually like them. Except for the ease of changing tips. Would still use a Weller if I had a choice.

Funnily enough, when I'm in Japan I use an old Weller-style (well it's kinda blue at least) soldering iron without temperature control and I don't miss it. Not sure about its wattage, probably not more than 30. I rescued the old soldering iron from where it had been stored for more than ten years, removed the rust and got it working. I don't miss the temperature control at all. I simply hold the tip a moment on the wet sponge and the temperature is "just right": I momentarily move the tip near my face now and then (maybe 10 cm away) and I feel the heat somewhere between my nose and my upper lip, and I know when it's right. Been happily soldering together lots of through-hole parts with it. Presumably all those years of soldering subconsciously taught me about temperature. The only thing I miss is that because it's not a "soldering station" there's also no metal spiral holder or anything to hold the soldering iron when I'm not actively soldering, so I have to be a bit careful about where I put it when I'm busy looking for the next capacitor or IC socket.

Genetix

Heater, if space in your place is so precious then just get a higher wattage hand iron for bigger jobs. Save the real estate for more important things that a base.

Tor, I agree with you, I prefer Weller but I will use something else if that's all there is. Everyone has their preference but I have always seen at least 1 Weller even if it's been stuck over in a corner.

Heater.

Genetix,

I guess you are right. I should save the space and the money for that Rigol oscilloscope I have been promising myself for ages.

Tor,

I don't miss the temperature control at all. I simply hold the tip a moment on the wet sponge and the temperature is "just right": I momentarily move the tip near my face now and then (maybe 10 cm away) and I feel the heat somewhere between my nose and my upper lip, and I know when it's right.

You are far more "in tune" with your tools than I can ever aspire to be.

I have noticed that despite the high technology and automation available today when it comes down to serious high precision work it still requires the "feel" of a human to achieve it. I first noticed this in a factory where they were building lathes and it was down to the humans to decide if the bearings were true enough.

Now you can see it in the building of the "Worlds Most Spherical Object" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMByI4s-D-Y Mostly ground by hand!

Oh yeah, this is soldering we are talking about. Perhaps not so critical...

Genetix

Heater, I am lucky to have a solder station otherwise I would just use my hand iron. I would love a scope but they are not cheap, but you make due with what you have. If you are doing mostly simple soldering then you don't need a solder station. Solder stations come in handy when you solder small and large connections since you can adjust the temperature accordingly. If you solder SMT parts though then you should be using a solder station. I would make due for now and get your Hakko when it's on sale.
I am amazed at skilled assemblers especially with SMT parts which I suck at.

Heater.

Genetix,

It's that "make do" thing that is bugging me now. I started out playing, literally, with electronics before I was 10 years old. I have been "making do" with soldering irons since soon after that. That is more decades ago than I like to think about.

I've decided I'm done with welding through hole components too strip boards. I'm going SMT. I just discovered that soldering SMT parts is not much harder than through hole. It's so cheap and easy to get boards made now. It's time to catch up with 1980's technology at home:)

The scope is another thing. Always making do. I've had a few scopes in my time. Mostly old tube scopes rescued from the trash. I wish I still had that big old 1960's Tektronix all tube monster I salvaged in the 1980's. Mostly "making do" meant not having a scope. It's amazing how you can get buy with an LED "logic probe". Or listening to your circuit via a capacitor and head phones. Or putting a transistor radio near your creation.

Mostly I did not worry about the lack of a scope because there was always some very nice scopes in places I worked at. Since we seem to have stopped making anything in the western world that is more and more rare.

But now, I find you can buy some really amazing scope technology from a couple of hundred dollars up. I mean really, a 100MHz bandwidth and two giga samples per second for 600 euros or so. Incredible.

I'm really looking to up my whole game here. Without going totally crazy with the cash of course.

__red__

yeah, I just bought a DS scope a few months ago. Love it.

I left my smt station in Vegas so I'm in the market for a new one. Considering another X-tronic as the last one served me so well. Also looking at solderwerks and the possibility one with a built-in PCB pre-heater.

Genetix

Heater, if you've made do with the same iron what is a few more months. Keep your eye out and when you find something get it. The holidays are only a few months away so who knows what good deals might come up. If you've made up your mind on the Hakko then if you don't see a deal I am sure someone else will. I wouldn't be surprised if someone starts a post with a title such as, "Heater, Hakko on sale." or something like that.

bte2

So to follow up, I received the FX951 a couple days ago, and so far I really like it. It is nice and light and feels good in my hand. If you are considering one, I recommend it.

That is all :-)

__red__

My followup, I picked up another xtronic: http://www.xtronicusa.com/home/#!/~/product/category=6092502&id=25881615

So far so good.

Publison

__red__ wrote: »

My followup, I picked up another xtronic: http://www.xtronicusa.com/home/#!/~/product/category=6092502&id=25881615

So far so good.

That's a "lot of stuff" for a cheap price.

Keep us up to date on how it works.

Heater.

I mean wow! That X-TRONIC 5000 has everything. Not a bad price either. Let us know how it all works out.

__red__

I've not done a crazy long stint with it yet but, like I said before the 4040 from them had been my workhorse for years previously.

One of my hesitations was that they'd moved the air-pump from the box to the actual hand-held nozzle. I was concerned that that was going to compromise power or something. If anything, the opposite.

The only "down" is the pre-heater is incredibly slow to get to temperature but, it's a pre-heater so it's not meant to be rapid.

In just over a week I'll have the prototypes back for the SkyDogCon 2014 badges and will be assembling a few of them for testing. I'll put together some video showing the pre-heater and hot-air in use to add to this thread.

Thanks,



Red