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Soldering Iron

AnthonyLouis

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Can anyone suggest a decent soldering iron? Lost all my tools in Hurricane Sandy a few years back and haven’t had the need to solder anything in ages... not looking for anything crazy, just one that’ll get the job done making mods!


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fightinggoat

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Look on amazon or at a hardware store for a weller, they are good performers with a long history, and not as expensive as some of the high end irons.
 

AnthonyLouis

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Look on amazon or at a hardware store for a weller, they are good performers with a long history, and not as expensive as some of the high end irons.

Greatly appreciated friend


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The Cromwell

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This one is pretty good for small stuff. ~$40 at amazon

Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station
 

f1r3b1rd

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Yep that is a nice rig.

I bought it for school, and wouldn’t think of using anything else. The nice part is that it’ll last me a lifetime.
 

f1r3b1rd

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f1r3b1rd

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Yeah and if over 5 years old you only get 1/2 of what you paid for it.

Oh, I know... that’s why I had 10k invested in a car stereo when Katrina hit


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CrazyChef v2.0

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Any tips (no pun intended) for someone new to soldering? I'm thinking about re-purposing a couple of my mods into new enclosures.
 

f1r3b1rd

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Any tips (no pun intended) for someone new to soldering? I'm thinking about re-purposing a couple of my mods into new enclosures.
I’m doing that right now, myself.

Tin your connections before you solder them. Use a good resin core solder. Clean your tip often and remember you don’t need to max the power to get a good
Joint. Also, a third hand comes in handy. I use one with a magnifier; because -old.
 

f1r3b1rd

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Crap: to add:
Don’t hold the heat on the board, for obvious reasons. Heat the wire then tap with iron and pull the iron straight up to create a nice joint. It doesn’t take much. Personally I roll my iron up.
YouTube probably has a few tutorials for new users. Hell, you could probably get your EE through YouTube now. Lol
If you’re soldering two wires together twist them together then solder the joint.

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Iliketurtles

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Tin the bit first every time you solder. Make sure connection points are clean before you solder them. If you are doing boards, surface mounts components etc make sure you have the iron at the right temperature or you will destroy everything. Try not to burn yourself too often.
 

CrazyChef v2.0

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Tin your connections before you solder them.
I don't know what that means.

Use a good resin core solder.
Any suggestions on good quality brands?

Clean your tip often and remember you don’t need to max the power to get a good
Cool, thank you.

Also, a third hand comes in handy. I use one with a magnifier
I have this one:
krKcRPc.jpg


because -old.
Me too. :eek:
 

f1r3b1rd

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I don't know what that means.


Any suggestions on good quality brands?


Cool, thank you.


I have this one:
krKcRPc.jpg



Me too.

Tin: heat the iron and put solder on the tip, clean and repeat. I did my tip until it started to change color the first time. Now I just heat and solder clean and repeat once. Think of it like seasoning a cast iron skillet. But you do want a fresh dab before you actually solder.

For joints, I put a dab of solder on the joint I want before I try and connect it, to tin it.

I use “kester” rosin core.

@thecromwell and @Sonar505 are probably 2 of the most knowledgeable people here

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fq06

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Can anyone suggest a decent soldering iron? Lost all my tools in Hurricane Sandy a few years back and haven’t had the need to solder anything in ages... not looking for anything crazy, just one that’ll get the job done making mods!


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I've used this Hakko knockoff for about a decade and it's still going strong. Pick up the tip kit for smaller soldering jobs. You can find this on ebay and a bunch of other places too but here is where I got mine.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/soldering-station-with-adjustable-heat-range-us-warehouse.html
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/soldering-iron-tip-set-10-pcs.html

And a solder sucker will be needed at some point in your soldering journey... probably sooner than later.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/de-soldering-suction-tool.html
 

jwill

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Any tips (no pun intended) for someone new to soldering? I'm thinking about re-purposing a couple of my mods into new enclosures.


This is by far my favorite solder ever. It is leaded so you want to try avoiding breathing the fumes but it is good stuff and you get good strong solder points and consistent flow.

amazon.com/KESTER-SOLDER-24-6337-0027-WIRE-183°C/dp/B00DE2QVIG
 

f1r3b1rd

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This is by far my favorite solder ever. It is leaded so you want to try avoiding breathing the fumes but it is good stuff and you get good strong solder points and consistent flow.

amazon.com/KESTER-SOLDER-24-6337-0027-WIRE-183°C/dp/B00DE2QVIG
That’s exactly what I use!
The stuff goes on like buttah!
 

fightinggoat

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Get some flux aka soldering paste, it helps a bunch getting solder to stick to things like 510 connectors, and makes all the soldering much faster so you don't have to hold heat on it.

I dip the tips of my wire in the flux, and melt a little solder onto the top of the iron, and tin the wire by applying the melted solder to the bare fluxed wire, it evenly coated the wire in a very thin layer of solder.

Then I dip in flux again and melt some more solder onto iron, put my wires together and apply iron, it only takes a couple seconds.

Makes a very strong connection.

Same basic principle for soldering other connections including circuit boards, except with boards, you don't have to tin the holes, but a tiny bit of flux helps make it stick without needing to hold the iron on it.

I don't use resin core solder, just some solid lead free solder for electrical use from the local hardware store, works great for me.

Be sure to keep the tip of your iron clean, once it's starts to gunk up you will notice it doesn't transfer heat very well and makes everything harder.

Once mine gets a little crust built up, I sand it down to the metal with a little emory cloth or the metal file in my leatherman.
I then like to stick the tip of the iron in my flux paste and melt a little solder on the exposed copper to keep it from oxidizing before my next use.
 

jwill

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That’s exactly what I use!
The stuff goes on like buttah!


I love this stuff. Its pretty much all I use for general soldering and it has never let me down once.
 

jwill

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I use one of these a lot because I have to use certain solder on electronics that has a higher melting point and my solder station just takes too long. The temperature isn't exactly accurate but it is inexpensive and gets used 5-6 times a week for the last 3 years so its a good cheapy.


With this one I have also been able to make super fine points with ground down nails to get into some very small boards and re-solder tiny chips and fuses. I train all my new engineers on this one because it makes it easier to pull away from the solder without pointing up the pool and to learn to control applying the solder.

You can get a pack of blank PCB board like this


Some scrap wire and a good pair of helping hands and have the basics down in a couple of days.
 

Zohmbiebuilds

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Get some flux aka soldering paste, it helps a bunch getting solder to stick to things like 510 connectors, and makes all the soldering much faster so you don't have to hold heat on it.

I dip the tips of my wire in the flux, and melt a little solder onto the top of the iron, and tin the wire by applying the melted solder to the bare fluxed wire, it evenly coated the wire in a very thin layer of solder.

Then I dip in flux again and melt some more solder onto iron, put my wires together and apply iron, it only takes a couple seconds.

Makes a very strong connection.

Same basic principle for soldering other connections including circuit boards, except with boards, you don't have to tin the holes, but a tiny bit of flux helps make it stick without needing to hold the iron on it.

I don't use resin core solder, just some solid lead free solder for electrical use from the local hardware store, works great for me.

Be sure to keep the tip of your iron clean, once it's starts to gunk up you will notice it doesn't transfer heat very well and makes everything harder.

Once mine gets a little crust built up, I sand it down to the metal with a little emory cloth or the metal file in my leatherman.
I then like to stick the tip of the iron in my flux paste and melt a little solder on the exposed copper to keep it from oxidizing before my next use.
I just felt I need to make a correction so no one gets the wrong item. Solder paste and flux paste are different. Solder paste is flux with solder, in past form, for SMD parts making shit much easier to reflow. It needs to be refrigerated. While flux paste is flux. I know you probably meant this and I knew what you meant as most people do, but it's worth mentioning.

Also, even with flux you need to heat the joint. Flux makes bonding easier due to its cleaning properties. All metal needs to be heated properly for a solid connection.

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Zohmbiebuilds

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You'll know when it's connected properly because it will "flow". Meaning it'll melt uniform and not have a hard edge. An edge is caused by improper flowv due to a lack of flux, and or the flux and metal has not been properly heated to the correct bonding temperature.

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casketweaver

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Weller or Hakko. Any model really.

Weller if you want an original and long lasting soldering station. I have a Weller in the garage that's 13+ years old. Works like a champ.

Hakko if you want bleeding edge in soldering tech. I feel they're a bit overpriced but the reviews are good on them.

Good wire, good flux paste, and plenty of room. Also a good bit of circulation doesn't hurt either. Don't forget, amazing eyesight.

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First you need to decide what the soldering iron will be used for.
If you use a soldering iron once or twice a year, you can take any inexpensive one. To solder the wires, you can use the Weller 9400PKS or more powerful soldering gun. If you are soldering electronics, you can pay attention to the soldering station Hakko FX888D-23BY or Weller WLC100. If you are making stained glass :) you need a good soldering iron with a ceramic tip, the top of which can be found here https://solderingironguide.com/reviews/best-soldering-irons-for-stained-glass/. Something like this.
 
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jwill

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I do a fair bit of soldering and have some nice irons but the last 12 months I have been using a no name soldering station that was picked up on Amazon. I like it because it does very high temp for pin soldering and repairing tiny fuses on wave soldered micro boards.

You can make anything work if you keep the tips clean and sharp. Just grab one and use it till it dies or you have a need for something else.
 

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