Need soldering gun

T

thewooster

Gawd
Joined
Jan 12, 2006
Messages
512
Hi, so I'm pretty new to soldering, actually I haven't done any yet. I do have the basic idea, but don't know what brands are good, or even how much that matters. So, what would you all suggest a beginner get? I'm thinking of spending $20-30. It would be mainly for smaller projects for now. Thanks all!
 
Are you soldering metal parts or electronics? The former needs a higher powered soldering iron than the latter. When you use the term "soldering gun", it suggests that you want a high-powered iron for solder metal. For electronics, you'd want a soldering pencil.
 
What you pick for an iron depends on what you are soldering. If you are only doing through hole components and easy stuff, the $10 pos radioshack iron will fit the bill. If you are going to be making boards with sensitive components or surface mount devices you are going to need a better iron with temperature control, such as a soldering station from a company like Weller.

These: http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/item/IR-360/570/60_WATT_SOLDER_STATION_.html
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/item/IR-379/570/SPECIAL--TEMP.CONTROLLED_SOLDER_STATION_.html

are pretty decent. Good enough for most stuff but probably not good enough for the Space Shuttle.
 
To effectively solder computer PCBs you need to get about a 40 watt or higher soldering iron.

Other than that be sure to get plenty of solder stuff and don't forget to get the crazy copper braided cleaning metal stuff.

A soldering iron with a nice fine tip will do wonders as well. You might also want to invest in a decent large watch makers magnifying glass stand thingy as well.
 
Metcals are great solder stations. Find a used one on ebay as they are pricey!
 
Ok....yeah more like electronics for now.......$10...really? Now that would be more for just if i was messing with circuits and pcb boards etc...?
 
I like my Hakko 936 soldering station for small, light work. Picked up a pair of them cheap on e-bay, just needed to replace the heating elements, sold the other one, nearly free in the end for me :D

(as a side note, does any find it ironic that replacing the element required another soldering iron? :p )
 
Vertigo Acid said:
I like my Hakko 936 soldering station for small, light work. Picked up a pair of them cheap on e-bay, just needed to replace the heating elements, sold the other one, nearly free in the end for me :D

(as a side note, does any find it ironic that replacing the element required another soldering iron? :p )
Click to expand...

+1 Best soldering station i have ever owned

picked one off of ebay for 35 shipped

weller makes a decent station for 35 new i forgot the model number i had it for years
on the work bench at the r/c /slot car track i use to work at


this is a knock off of the hacko uses the same tips and heating element

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ESD-Safe-So...ryZ57012QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

a lot electric r/c guys use these over the hakko since there about 15.00 less retail nib then the hakko's

a little out of the price range you want to spend

but if you buy a good station you wont have to deal with the iron getting to hot to hold since most cheap irons end up to hot to hold at times



Edit

here's the weller i was talking about

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Weller-Sold...yZ109556QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

a buddy of mine has had his for 5 years big time slot car nut leaves it on for at least 9 hours every sat night when he's racing
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
here's the weller i was talking about

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Weller-Solde...QQcmdZViewItem
Click to expand...

I can describe my experience with that station in one word.

Garbage.

The 936 clone has a different hand grip then the real 936 and gets rather hot when you crank it up to solder battery packs together. ;)

Spend the extra cash on the real 936.
For some things I actually like it better then my Metcal SP200
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Its nice to hear from someone that used the knock off

i sold my hakko before i moved to FL

I'll pick up another hakko when i get back to NY

As for the weller my buddy is using it on piano wire on drag chassis works great for that
 
i have owned several different cheap ones and i got a new battery operated one for 10 at radio shack a weller bp645 so far i like it since you said you were new and it would be used for small projects i recommend this type of iorn.

but if i were to do any real soldering i would grab my radio shack station and use that...

i also have several butane soldering irons and a cold heat pos the cheap butane ones leak or their tips burn up after a number of uses. Cold heat despite the commercials are absolute crap. They can barely melt the thinnest gauge soldering wire and they are cumbersome to get them to melt right. Not to mention they are not suitable for the one thing they might be good at because they pass voltage through the solder to melt it. You would fry any component on a pcb if you used it to do it.
 
I been thinking about getting a solderng Station as well. a while back this was one of the recomended ones. http://www.web-tronics.com/cispdeesdsas.html I believe it is a Hakko Clone.

My main quistion is what tips should I get to start out? Icant aford to get them all, but I dont want to get into a project and not have what Ineed.

I may get the real Hakko if I can find a decent deal on one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top