"G-Dawg" wrote in message
"Nil" wrote in
message ...
Can anyone recommend a good, moderately priced soldering
station for general electronics, including guitar and
amplifier work? Howzabout this one?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=190194925345
or this?
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062751
Nil,
Been wondering about this myself. Been looking at the
Weller solder stations, nice but expensive. I believe
they are the "standard".
The standard brands in soldering irons are Weller, Ungar and Hakko
What I'm wondering is, they have temperature settings...
What temp is what?
There's a right temperature for every soldered joint. It the one where the
joint heats up in a few seconds, the solder and rosin flow quickly across
the joint together, and the solder wets large area of both pieces to be
soldered in a few seconds more.
The right temperature depends on your soldering style, the mass of the tip,
the items being soldered together, including what metals are being soldered.
That's the beauty of an adjustable iron, you can adjust it to get the action
that suits the job and your style.
I've always gone by iron wattage for soldering work.
The wattage of an iron is a gross indicator. Tip size and wattage tend to go
togehter.
I have an AB763 amp build ready to start, I need a good
solder station
Tubed equipment soldering wants more heat and a larger iron. More like 50
watts, less like 15.
and a good multimeter.
For this one job or the rest of your life?
I don't think that you need to invest in an expensive Fluke if this is going
to be your one big electronic project for this life.
Looking at fluke
meters... Need to go to 1000 volts DC I guess, which
equals $2-300 dollars. Ouch!
Really? The Fluke 17B does 1,000 volts DC, and runs well under $100.