Soldering Iron Recommendations?

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Each to their own, but the WLC100 is ok...

Jim Thompson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

here's some user reviews;

It says the iron (at the tip) is UNgrounded.That's not good.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

Static build-up? Might be handy for "live" soldering ;-) ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

I have one, good for general stuff. Temperature control isn't really good, looks like just a triac control to the heating element. As a result its easy to burn thru tips. If I had to do it again I'd go with WES51 or the WESD51. Or a Hakko

Cheers

WES51 looks AOK, ordered, Thanks! ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Oh, come on, you're not living until you're soldering on live equipment, and that tends to be rather more difficult when the tip is grounded! :-)

Fix it! That's what I did when mine fell apart, and I couldn't be happier.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

"Jim Yanik"

** That model appears to only on sale in the USA and Canada. With the AC supply connected direct to the heater and no safety ground it would likely not pass safety standards that are compulsory for such irons in most places.

That aside, low voltage irons operating via isolation transformers ( plus electronics) can safely be left with no earth on the iron - and it is often desirable to do so.

In fact, it is dangerous to have an earthed iron when servicing electronic equipment cos of the very great risk that it would be accidentally applied to a circuit which is still energised.

.... Phil

What kind of soldering station would you reccommend to do the repair work?

--
Paul Hovnanian     mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
Stupidity kills. But not nearly often enough.

I splurged on an Edsyn 951SX about ten years ago, and running it

8/5/365 I've gone through two tips in all that time.

It is a real workhorse.

Jim

I was just trying to solve the Zen puzzle of how one would fix a soldering station with itself.

--
Paul Hovnanian     mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com
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Hit any user to continue.

It would cost more to re-cable, re-connector, replace the cracked base, than to buy new.

I ordered the WES51. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Wow!!! Ten years ago, and they are still on the market.

Not a bad price scale either. If I was looking, I'd buy one.

Bill

I recently bought an Xytronic 168-3C that I think is a very good deal for the money:

It is 60W, but there is a 30W handle available that fits the same controller. However, you can get tips down to 1/64" with the 60W handle. I prefer the analog temp display to digital ones which I find to be distracting. I also prefer the smaller diameter 30W/60W Xytronic handles over that of an (older) Weller model I once used.

It uses a very fast heat up nichrome heater and isolated 24VAC zero voltage switching with grounded tip. It also has a long (4ft) silicone (burn resistant) handle cord.

Many tips are available (Xytronics 415 series) at a reasonable cost:

401 1/32" conical bevel 402 1/32" semi-chisel 403 1/64" sharp 404 1/16" conical chisel 405 1/8" semi-chisel 406 3/64" long conical chisel 410 3/16" chisel 411 3/16" chisel 45 degree 430 7/32" 5mm SMD blade 438 4mm SMD hoof, chisel 45 degree 439 3mm SMD hoof, 4mm chisel 45 degree 440 2mm tapered SMD hoof 443 3mm SMD hoof, 45 degree bevel "mini-wave"

Note the 443 is a special "mini-wave" tip for use with solder ball dragging:

The 404 is the standard 1/16" chisel tip included with new units.

These 415 tips are available with a J suffix for an extra thick iron cladding for extra life and are probably worth it (50% more cost, 100%+ more life):

The 60W replacement handle is the 207ESD:

and the 30W is the 206ESD:

which uses the smaller 413 series tips:

Jameco carries the regular tips as well as replacement heaters (XY37) and handles (XY48) for a very reasonable price:

I don't know how the Jameco XY48 handle compares to the 207ESD.

One fellow really gave the 168-3C a rave review (note the newer models are 60W not 40W):

"it changed my life!" LOL.

Anyway, I've been happy too with the 168-3C so far.

Cheers,

Mike Shell

Zen can't solder worth a damn, no matter what he uses. ;-)

--
Greed is the root of all eBay.

Is the iron still good? I have a spare base (or more) but no irons left. A so called 'engineer' recently bragged about throwing away about

35 irons that were intermittent. He was happy that the other irons three worked. Sort of. Most of the time. :(

--
Greed is the root of all eBay.

Key question is where is the soldering iron made. If it is sourced from China, run.

"Phil Allison" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:

This model is NOT a "low voltage" iron. In fact,you can plug in any 120VAC iron and control it,the base is just a triac controller,like a lamp dimmer. If you plug in a -grounded iron-,it will be actually grounded.

What DUMBASS solders on circuits that are energized? How safe is that?

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

I do sometimes, of course only when you know what you're doing and circuits are powered from low DC. I agree 99% of the time it is stupid.

M