Solder iron recommendations

gr8legs said:
Ah, this discussion brings back fond memories of the Allied Radio catalog and Weller 8200 soldering guns of my mis-spent childhood, and the smell of rosin core flux wafting hither and yon. <sigh> And I was amazed when the radio shop guys I haunted in my youth showed me how to make my own tips out of 12-gauge copper house wire. A miracle!

You can't go wrong with Weller - I still have two W-TCP units (and what is I think my original 8200 somewhere) but replacing the tips or replacing the whole shebang got way too spendy for my pocketbook. Sadly, the Asian units are quite good and at about $25 per complete station they last a year or so and can be thrown away without much remorse.

Check eBay and search for '936B' and 'soldering' and a bunch of pretty decent clones of the Hakko solder station will turn up. Thermostatically controlled and adjustable, fast heating and mucho cheap-o.

The tips are cheap also - but with the new-fangled lead-free solder they need to be a bit hotter and oxidize faster so don't last as long as you'd like. If you can stay with 63/37 solder you'll be much happier.

Regarding NiCad batteries - there's a rather corrosive but miraculous flux (used to be marketed under the name 'Sal-Met') that will almost solder anything to anything with tin-lead solder. I've used it with great success on battery terminals. just clean the bejeesus out of it after soldering to neutralize the flux. The 'Sal-Met' flavor of flux now seems to be marketed by Esab as All-State #509: Soldering Flux for Aluminum and Dissimilar Metals.

Just my $.02

Stu
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Ah yes, Allied Radio. I was always impressed by how quickly the kits showed up.
 
Hard to find any "weller" than Weller....large selection and good value throughout.
 
I have soldered wires onto dozens, maybe hundreds of AA NiMH and NiCd batteries using nothing more than a 33W old school non-temperature controlled Ungar pencil. Clean the battery terminals first with skotch bright and wipe off with a paper towel wet with alcohol. A small amount of liquid flux on the battery terminals may help. Then I clean the soldering iron tip, let if heat up fully, and get the tip wet with a small blob of solder to aid heat transfer. Tin the battery, tin the wire, then make the connection. Clean off the flux with an acid brush and alcohol.

I have access to Metcal and conventional temperature controlled stations at work. They are nice, but I feel their advantage is over rated.
 
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And unless you are building things for sale in Europe, use leaded 63/37 solder like Kester 44.
 
I bought a used Hexacon precision temperature controlled soldering station from the Tektronix surplus store 30 years ago... I have always regretted it... I should have bought 4 more of them! No clue what I would use 5 soldering stations for but it was a great deal and the one I bought has worked perfectly for 30 years now. I bought a variety of Hexacon tips off ebay and use the soldering station for everything from surface mount to 10 gauge stranded. I have an even older Weller and it does a great job but the Hexacon is the one that is always on my bench ready to use.
 
Rick S said:
My go to soldering iron is a butane powered unit by Porta Sol. The convenience of not having a cord is a handy when doing trailer wiring and repairs out of the shop. I have used it for everything from antique radio repair to plastic welding. It has multiple tips and an adjustable heat range
They are available on Amazon and I'm sure other vendors. Portasol 010589330 Super Pro 125-Watt Heat Tool Kit with 7 Tips
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Yeah I got one of those 20 years ago to use on my boat. The boat is now gone but I still use that Portasol. It sure has its uses. A very versatile tool.
Randy
 
I upgraded to Hikko FX 888, really like it. I comes up fast. Still have the Welles, doubt I would go back.
 
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