Choosing a soldering iron: Weller W61 or Antex CS18?

Well that happen in 1970 (Weller Electric sold to CooperTools) Moved plant from Easton, PA to Apex, North Carlonia shortly after this.

2002 announce they are going to Mexico. Mexico plants open 2003 - rough start with change - and then retooling for No Lead initaitves. They have had their ups and downs - Cooper Tools was trying to sell Weller after 2000 ... seems like they changed their mind lately

European Weller products are being made in Germany.

The Weller TCP series (Magnistat) have been around forever (over 40 years now) - EU design (handle, etc.) a bit different from NA - but the switch (SW60) part is identical

I can't speak for Antex - very small presence in North America. Haako and Oki(MetCal) are 2 big Far East suppliers plus Solomon for low cost OEM products (Taiwan)

I've used Antex for many a year and they may look fragile but certainly aren't.

I'd go for the TCS model (if you really don't want a low voltage TC one due to the transformer) - 50 watt 230 volt - and temperature controlled without being any bulkier. About 40 GBP. Plenty of power for any electronic work with a wide range of bits.

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*Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
                  To e-mail, change noise into sound.

If this is to be your iron for some years to come, I would strongly suggest a temperature controlled one, preferably with a temperature readout. The reason that I say this is that for the last two years or so, manufacturers have been changing over to using the hateful new lead-free solder, in readiness for compliance with the new directive regarding this, and other lead-bearing components, which comes in next month.

This dreadful stuff has a higher melting point, and poorer 'workability' than traditional Pb/Sn solder, and you need a hotter iron to work with it. If your interest is purely amateur, then this will not affect you directly, as there is no legal requirement for you to change over, if you are not selling stuff on. Likewise, you should not have too much trouble continuing to obtain leaded solder, as there are many commercial exemptions to the new rules.

However, if you are likely to be working on commercial equipment from the last couple of years, and from now on, it will almost certainly have been manufactured using lead-free, and from July, will definitely have been. You must then use lead-free to stay within the law, if your repair is for commercial purposes. It is actually recommended by most authorities on the subject, that equipment manufactured in either technology, should be repaired using the same technology, to avoid possible alloy-mixing problems in the future, from a reworked joint.

All that said, I have used both Weller and Antex irons for many years, and both are fine companies, producing good equipment well up to the rigours of daily workshop use. You may also like to look at Pace, who also produce a good range of hand soldering equipment.

Arfa

Hi,

Thanks for all the useful advice. I think I'm leaning towards the Antex unregulated iron at the moment, mainly because it's slimmer than either the Weller TCP or Antex TCS. I don't plan on using lead-free solder so that shouldn't be a problem.

Best wishes,

Chris

Whether or not you use lead-free solder, is your choice, provided that you are not doing any repair work commercially, but bear in mind that any gear you buy, or have bought in the last couple of years, will be made in lead-free, so if you have to repair it later on, you might struggle a bit to remove solder from the component that you want to replace. If you are just building stuff, and intend using only leaded solder for that, then the unregulated iron will be fine. I don't think you will be disappointed in an Antex.

Arfa

I would get an Antex temperature controlled iron. One of the reasons I would choose the temperature controlled one is that the bits will last much longer. An un-temperature-controlled iron will actually run much hotter than necessary when it is sitting in its stand, and that will damage the bits fairly quickly.

Chris

You are right in that this certainly was the case a few years back, when soldering iron bits were predominantly pure copper. I'm not so sure that it is still so, since they have been iron or nickel plated. My workshops are at the place I live, so my benches are on from 9 in the morning until 2 the next morning, six days a week. The non-temperature controlled 15 watt Antex that I have, is on all that time, and sits in its stand for the most part, but it only needs a new bit perhaps once in 8 or 9 months. My Weller magnastat-controlled iron, needs a new tip about every 3-4 months, but this iron is the workhorse, that is used for most general soldering jobs. My Weller desoldering station's magnastat-controlled iron, also spends a lot of its time in its stand, but there is little sign of the nozzle tip burning away, normally. This one gets a new nozzle every couple of months because no matter what you do with nozzle clean-out tools, they still clog, and the whole station becomes ineffective.

I would agree with you on getting the temperature controlled iron, just for the increased versatility of being able to jack the temperature up for soldering big connectors etc, and back it off for delicate work with fine gauge solder. The Antex temperature controlled station that I also have, is excellent in this regard.

Arfa

I've got a home built one based around a Pace SX80 hand piece and keep a pin drill standing by to clear it. Wonder if a larger hole would help as the old Royal I had rarely blocked, and was more easily cleaned?

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*Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
                  To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Hi Dave

Mine gets used in anger, a couple of days most weeks. I repair some commercial boards for a company, and part of the repair involves a modification where three resistors and three TO220 transistors are removed. In normal operation, these devices run so hot, that the resistors have a tendency to burn out, and the soldering on all 15 legs becomes very 'aged'. In order to stand any chance at all of removing the solder cleanly, it is necessary to first add some fresh solder. This seems however, to have a slightly detrimental effect on the overall consistency of the molten solder, and by the time I've repaired 400 or so boards over a couple of months the nozzle has begun to get blocked. I have the proper clean out tool, and use it every few boards, when the vacuum gauge on the base station starts to indicate that it needs it, but over a couple of months, the tool gets tighter and tighter in the nozzle as flux residues and such, slowly build up. At that point, a new nozzle goes on, and everything is hunky dory again.

I have experimented enlessly with different nozzle profiles and hole sizes, but the one that I use, which is just slightly larger than the TO220 device legs, seems the best compromise between reliably removing them, the resistors, and occasional other components that have to be removed to repair the boards. A new nozzle is only a few quid from Farnell, and as I'm making good money from the repairs, I figure that this small extra expense every couple of months, is not going to hurt any. :- )

Arfa

I have an Antex XS25 and a CS18, both are good little irons and I use both with lead free solder without problems, both good at unsoldering as well. The CS18 I use for small components where thermal overload is an issue, and the XS25 for the heavier duty work. I think I paid less than £20 for the CS18 from maplin, but it was just for the iron as I already had the stand from the XS25 and plenty of side tools. I cant really say if its better than brand x as I only have these two to go by in recent years, but i'd say they've both been good value for money.