Soldering irons

[Tony Clark]

> On the subject of soldering irons, may I recommend the Antex CS17. It isn't 
> built to the standards of the Weller irons, but then it only costs 
> about 35 USD 
> (I'm translating from UKP here) It is rebuildable, you should be able 
> to get the 
> parts from the catalogues, and I know, having done so recently that you can 
> leave it on overnight without the handle getting hot.....It's nice and 
> small in 
> the hand, has some small bits, runs off mains voltage. It's disadvantages are 
> that it lacks the variable heat control of the big Wellers, it has 
> problems with 
> groundplanes as it doesn't shove enough out to melty solder onto them 
> unless you 
> wait a few minutes and it is a disgusting shade of yellow. That said, 
> nearly all 
> the electronics hobbiests I know want a Weller, but own an Antex, for 
> hobby use it's a very good compromise..

   Hi,

   Thought I might share my experiences with Weller irons since these 
were mentioned above... We use them at my work place almost exlusively 
and they aren't that much more (about $70-80USD I think).  They also do 
not have a temperature control on them.
   I might explain why we don't use variable temperature irons.  They 
aren't very fun to repair when they break.  The temperature is usually 
controlled by a little circuit board inside these variable temperature 
irons.  And from my experience, they are flakey as hell (at least the low 
cost models are), and my recommendation is to STAY AWAY FROM THEM!
   Instead, get a soldering iron that controls temperature by magnetism!  
These irons work by using a special soldering tip (don't worry they don't 
cost much) that acts as a magnetic switch AT its operating temperature.
   The only electronics in it is a transformer and a heating coil.  The 
rest is purely mechanical action.  They are easily fixed if something 
goes wrong (we tend to wear out iron cords the most) AND you can easily 
change soldering tips to suit the job (500-700 degrees).
   I don't know how that Antex works, but if it works like our Wellers, 
then it gets my vote!
   BTW, the Weller model is WTCPT.

   Tony

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