Solder Station

I’m in the market for a soldering station. Did a search and most of the info is a little old and some of the links are dead ends. The one I like best so far is the Aoyue 469. Found on amazon Amazon.com

Anyone know of something similar that I should check out? Don’t mind ordering one from China either.

What is it about that station you like? what do you like to see in a station?

This is what I use—- I actually have 2— one each with the two main tips I use—Buy some Hakko Original tips—This is all you need

Yes, I did look at that one and I like it. The only thing I didn’t like was the $10 shipping. Maybe I’ll take another look.

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WE1010NA-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B077JDGY1J/

Wow! very nice. also out of my price range. I think I want to stay under the $50 mark.

Ah, I see, should have said that in OP :slight_smile:

I would buy something like this and spend the few bucks more. You will be surprised at how many uses the hot air gun is.
I have one that is real similar, mine has buttons that control up and down on a display instead of knobs.

Wow that is nice! Might have to save my pennies for that one!!

I have the Aoyue 937+ and like it a lot. The Hakko tips I’ve bought, cost more than the station, but they are worth it.

I have the 936 RobertB purchased several years ago. Works like a champ, I actually think the iron heats up faster and solders better than my newer 2 in 1 992d.
jigsaw this might interest you. Industrial Soldering Guns & Irons for sale | eBay?

It’s definitely worth it.
Also 70W instead of the typical 60 for a bit extra power :slight_smile:

I have the same model that 007 linked to in post #8.

Very nice unit. I’ve had it about a year without any problems.

This model seems hard to find in europe… :frowning:

Maybe because the “na” version is for north america, you need to look for a different model number for EU.
Also it’s relatively new, only released like a year ago or so.

exactly what i have and very satisfied with it. found it on ebay last year just under $50.

I second that: hot air helps often. But moderator007, do you have experience with that particular one?
I ask because I heard advices to avoid cheap dual stations. Bought one (from Yihua, which is among recommended brands) regardless. It does hot air just fine, but iron is bad. I ended up buying also a TS100…

Find the money and get a genuine Hakko or Weller. Watch out for fakes on Amazon and eBay.

A Weller WTCP will last a lifetime. I use a WTCPT/TC201T I bought at Fry’s in the early ’90s and a 240V WTCP 51 I bought 10 years ago.

The TCPs use a magnastat in the tip to set temperature. When the tip heats up to the set temperature, it looses its magnetism and opens up the switch powering the heater. Simple reliable and bombproof. It is 50W, which is plenty of power for most uses. There is a wide range of tips in various shapes and temperatures. I mostly use 700F.

It isn’t flash but it works very well.

I’ve been using a Hakko 888D for the past couple of years. I paid under $100 for it. I like it better than my Weller WESD51 since it has 70 watts vs 50. Plus it gets up to temp a lot quicker.

Here is a detailed thread of mine (it's in German, use google translate) regarding the Mini TS100. It's not a 50$ iron if you really want to get into soldering and want to use it at full power. More like 100-130$. It's still very easy to recommend though because it's cheapest iron compareble to an expensive JBC (if you use it with the custom firmware).

Also, here is a thread in the EEVBlog Forum with lots of reccomendations:

[TIP] Best budget/cheap soldering stations and tools

The new Pace ADS200 is also a very good option depending on where you live.