Soldering station
Nil wrote:
Can anyone recommend a good, moderately priced soldering station for
general electronics, including guitar and amplifier work?
Stay away from Radio Shack. Look at the Hakko stations and the Weller
stations. You don't need a temperature display, but you do need adjustable
temperature.
The Weller WES51 is a good first station. It's got good temperature control,
and can deal with everything from DIP stuff on up to octal sockets. Hakko
makes a comparable iron though I don't know the part number. The Hakko will
be cheaper.
You will need a smaller iron for surface mount stuff, and a larger iron for
soldered ground on steel chassis, but 90% of what you need to do you can
do with one of these.
Avoid the Weller WTCPT stations, which require changing tips to change
operating temperature. These things give very precise temperature control
for production work and last forever, but they are a pain for rework where
you will be needing to change the tip temperature often.
Don't forget to get several sizes of 63/37 solder, a Paladin solder sucker,
and a bottle of liquid rosin flux along with it!
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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