Solder Station

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.

So many choices I hadn’t seen before. I may have to re-think my budget. As far “eye appeal” the Hakko 888D and the Weller have my vote. I’ve been soldering for over 40 years and have never used/owned a quality iron. I’m anxious to try one.

You can’t go wrong spending a little extra and getting a quality solder station. :+1:

I bought one of those around 1980. It served me well. Never gave me problems. I sold it to a buddy of mine after I purchased the WESD51 about 10 years ago. It’s still going strong after all these years.

I don’t have that exact model but mine is very similar. These things are like most of the budget stuff that comes out of china, you can have thousandth’s of people review them praising how great it works but you could still end up with a lemon. My 992d was purchased from ebay with no brand name at all. I’m pretty sure most of these budget stations are made by the same company and they will put what ever name you want on them if you buy enough.
You could replace the element in your iron if that’s the problem.

Having used a few of the irons with integrated tip heater cartridges, the JBC, Aoyue 2930, and TS100 are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. They really are just better than the old slip on Hakko style and with the TS100 being pretty reasonably priced it’s hard to suggest something else if that’s your price range. Haven’t used a TS100 yet but the Aoyue and JBC just heat up crazy quick, so much more efficient at transferring heat from the cartridge to the tip if there isn’t a gap in there. Personally I’ve got the Aoyue and while I love it the handpiece can be slightly wonky in making a good connection, need to work on that at some point.

I’d forgotten about Pace. I wish you hadn’t posted that link. I want one. :slight_smile:

ADS-200 / 8007-0580 is £205 from Farnell UK. Looks very nice from the specs and video. 120W. Lots of metal. Simple to use. The iron stand is clearly better than Weller. I like the tip change too.

I have two handles so I don’t have to change hot tips. But if I only had one handle changing tips would take time.

Their video targets the Weller magnestat irons. I didn’t realise they were still popular.

I’ve soldered for like 10 and only used a crappy 30W all in one iron.
Was a great upgrade to get the 1010.
It’s like the lowest end weller model but from the new digital series, so even though it is “low end” it’s a brand new design and still got more power and features than almost any other station at that price.
Heats up in seconds, tip lasts a long time, very precise temp control, etc.
This thing should last me decades of soldering :slight_smile: