yea you are very right with this...
the difference is amazing...
i have a good station with a ersa 60watts iron.
i made the control circuit and the transformer a time ago in school.
it was more expensive than buying one complete i think (even at that time).
I simply can't use a cheap not temperature controlled iron any more.
i have one of this dumb 100watts pistol type irons with me when i go out
for repairs where i don't expect needing soldering. it works for some
joints and it is much lighter than
the station. but whenever i expect soldering on a pcb i take the trusty
soldering station..
the third iron i regularly use is a 100wats straight iron with no
temperature control.
it has a large copper body and enogh power for big joints (like soldering
batteries).
the tips of these stations are amazing, compared to plain copper they last
forever.
i mainly use a 1mm pencil and a 3mm flat one.
NEVER EVER clean these tips with abrasive materials (file, steel brush).
it will damage the coat and you can throw it away.
luckily these tips seldom need cleaning...
i also strongly recommend never using acid flux solder (if you want to
solder steel wire or so).
this may damage the tip too....
a soldering station is definitely worth the money..
and different tips for it maybe too..
suggestion: buy one where you can adjust the temperature.
if you set it a bit hotter it is much easier to solder these thin
"transformer wire"
with laquer isolation. there is a kind where the laquer melts on soldering -
but only if hot enough.
also a bit below normal temperature setting is good to make "solder jumper
bridges" on proto boards.
but most time you need no adjustment.
regards
stefan
On Sun, 24 Aug 2003 20:50:26 -0000, ghidera2000 <
ghidera2000@...>
wrote:
> I've been quite dissatisfied with my $20 soldering iron, takes upwards of
> half an hour to get hot, the tip oxidized in no time despite frequent
> tinning and solder seemed to like it waaay better than the parts I work
> on.
>
>
> Yesterday I picked up a Weller WTCPT station. Nothing fancy, no
> temperature knob or calibration touch-spots but I gotta say WOW. What a
> difference!
>
> Heat up time was minutes, not exactly sure how long as I wasn't paying
> attention. I picked it up shortly after turning it on just to see if it
> was warm and damned if it wasn't already at full temperature.
>
> Solder almost leaps away from the tip. What little I do pick up is easily
> wiped away. Quite wipe on a wet sponge and its shiny as all get out.
>
> Heat transfer is way better as well. About 1 second and the deed is done,
> the old iron took as much as five seconds to heat a DIP leg.
>
> Moral of the story - if you're still using a cheapo iron, DUMP IT NOW and
> go buy a real soldering station - the difference is amazing.
>
>
>
>
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