soldering station info, from a guy who does it all day: slightly OT

[Steve Jackson-5]

I am fortunate enough to have, either at work or at
home, at least one each of the several top-grade
soldering stations.... Pace, Metcal, Hakko, Edsyn,
Weller ... and several versions of each of these
manufacturers' product lines as well, in some cases.

As you'd expect, for professional use, the Pace and
the Metcal are the most costly - and the "best" at
what they do.  In general, some of these stations cost
far more than a completely loaded K2, putting them out
of consideration for someone doing hobby work!

And, for hobby work, the reality is that almost any
decent, temperature-controlled iron will do nicely.

Your K2 (or any Elecraft kit) is REALLY engineered to
be straightforward to do, and doesn't take much in the
way of specialized tools.  It *IS* much easier with a
good iron, to be certain, and such can be had for
$40-$125 new, depending on how fancy you want to get,
or a fraction of that cost used.  

Definition of a 'good iron' is one that isn't a $10
non-temp-controlled pencil, and which also has a tip
suitable for use on common DIP parts, and which is
used with a suitable way of keeping the tip clean and
tinned.

To answer the next question ... what do I use myself,
since I do this for a living?  Well, at home, I have
two WTCP- series Wellers, plus a Metcal 500
dual-output unit, with an RM3 iron using 700 degree
tips, and Talon/TATC tweezers, and a Hakko 808.  At
work, my personal bench hols a pair of Weller
stations, one WSL2 and a WSL, supporting two irons on
the WSL2 and hot tweezers on the WSL, and another
Hakko 808.  The manufacturing shop uses top-line Pace
gear, mostly, and some trusty old Edsyns too, which
don't get the applause they deserve.

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[Craig Rairdin]

> As you'd expect, for professional use, the Pace and
> the Metcal are the most costly - and the "best" at
> what they do.  

I'm curious what makes one unit better than another other than the obvious
differences between a temperature-controlled iron and a $10 radio shack
unit. Are you thinking of technical issues like recovery time and supporting
multiple irons/accessories or is it subjective issues like size, weight,
feel, cord length, etc?

I've got a Hakko 936 that does a fine job, and I'm having a hard time
imagining what else it could do that would make it "better".

Craig
NZ0R
K1 #1966
K2/100 #4941

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[Ron D'Eau Claire-2]

Craig, NZ0R asked:

I'm curious what makes one unit better than another other than the obvious
differences between a temperature-controlled iron and a $10 radio shack
unit. Are you thinking of technical issues like recovery time and supporting
multiple irons/accessories or is it subjective issues like size, weight,
feel, cord length, etc?

I've got a Hakko 936 that does a fine job, and I'm having a hard time
imagining what else it could do that would make it "better".

----------------

If you look at the soldering stations offered by these manufacturers, there
is little difference in price or features compared to the Hakko.

The Pace and Edsyn soldering stations are in the $130 range. The OKI (was
Metcal) soldering stations like the Wellers with front-panel temperature
controls get up near $200. Of course, they all have special purpose tools
that cost much, much more, but which do different things such as provide far
higher heats one would ever use on a PCB (up to 1000F), desoldering tools,
etc.

Like you, I have a Hakko 936. The reason I like it over the Weller in a $100
soldering station is for the Hakko's front-panel temperature control instead
of changing tips to change temperatures. Of course Weller offers front-panel
temperature change too, but at substantially more money than the Hakko.

In the sort of work I do servicing and building I find that it's important
to crank up the temperature for soldering large pads or those connected to a
ground plane, or for those fairly rare occasions that I use desoldering
braid instead of my pump. Maybe I'm a bit lazy, but if I'm faced with
changing a soldering tip to change temperature, it's too easy for me to try
to use the cooler tip for those things and "cook" the pads longer than I
should. The danger of debonding a trace or pad has to do with how long it is
kept hot as well as with how hot it gets. Indeed, keeping the time the pad
is hot at a minimum may be more important the temperature used.  

With the Hakko, I crank up the knob to 800F and by the time I've grabbed the
iron and got it to the work, the tip is up to the requested temperature. Set
it back to 700F for routine work and it's ready to solder small pads and
joints without excess heating of the PCB or parts.

Ron AC7AC

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[Bob Nielsen]

On Apr 14, 2006, at 12:40 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

>
> The Pace and Edsyn soldering stations are in the $130 range. The  
> OKI (was
> Metcal) soldering stations like the Wellers with front-panel  
> temperature
> controls get up near $200. Of course, they all have special purpose  
> tools
> that cost much, much more, but which do different things such as  
> provide far
> higher heats one would ever use on a PCB (up to 1000F), desoldering  
> tools,
> etc.
>
> Like you, I have a Hakko 936. The reason I like it over the Weller  
> in a $100
> soldering station is for the Hakko's front-panel temperature  
> control instead
> of changing tips to change temperatures. Of course Weller offers  
> front-panel
> temperature change too, but at substantially more money than the  
> Hakko.
>

The premium for a Weller soldering station isn't quite that much if  
you shop around a bit. There are several variable-temperature Weller  
models available.  The one which is most like the Hakko 936 is the  
WES-51.  I bought the predecessor WES-50 for about $90 a few years  
back and a quick Google search found the WES-51 for $99 at Action.  I  
also have a Xytronic which is quite similar and was in the $60 range  
when I bought mine about ten years ago.

73,
Bob, N7XY


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[Alexandra Carter]

There are cheapie soldering irons made by almost everyone, including
Weller. The minimum Weller model is the WTCPT, the minimum Hakko is
whatever model is in that same price range. 73 de Alex NS6Y

On Apr 14, 2006, at 1:16 PM, Bob Nielsen wrote:

>
> On Apr 14, 2006, at 12:40 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
>
>>
>> The Pace and Edsyn soldering stations are in the $130 range. The OKI
>> (was
>> Metcal) soldering stations like the Wellers with front-panel
>> temperature
>> controls get up near $200. Of course, they all have special purpose
>> tools
>> that cost much, much more, but which do different things such as
>> provide far
>> higher heats one would ever use on a PCB (up to 1000F), desoldering
>> tools,
>> etc.

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