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Capn Trips Expert
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 3990
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 1:04 pm Post subject: Soldering Iron recommendation |
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Rob,
You have frequently discussed your soldering adventures and offered recommendations on how to get the best results. I seem to recall a thread about a "cold" (or was that "cordless") soldering iron, even.
Without resorting to a search that will return MANY hits (I already did it), what is your recommendation for an inexpensive, but effective and reliable iron for occassional (read: infrequent) domestic electronic project/repair use?
Every search for soldering iron reviews results in any number of sites, which provide "reviews" touting their own brand, and I'm not smart enough to glean the wheat from the chaff. _________________ Beginners - Read this thread first
READ BEFORE POSTING or your post will be DELETED!
Remotes: OFA XSight Touch, AR XSight Touch
TVs: LG 65" Smart LED TV; Samsung QN850BF Series - 8K UHD Neo QLED LCD TV
RCVR: Onkyo TX-SR875; Integra DTR 40.3
DVD/VCR: Pioneer DV-400VK (multi-region DVD), Sony BDP-S350 (Blu-ray), Toshiba HD-A3 (HD-DVD), Panasonic AG-W1 (Multi-system VCR);
Laserdisc: Pioneer CLD-D704.
Amazon Firestick
tape deck: Pioneer CT 1380WR (double cassette deck)
(But I still have to get up for my beer) |
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The Robman Site Owner
Joined: 01 Aug 2003 Posts: 21234 Location: Chicago, IL |
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xnappo Expert
Joined: 30 Dec 2003 Posts: 861
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 8:55 am Post subject: |
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Do yourself a favor and buy a nice one:
http://www.amazon.com/product/dp/B000AS28UC?tag=j0df-20
This guy is a great deal and will last you a lifetime. It is VERY nice to have a real soldering setup - and this Amazon price is a steal.
You will want to buy an 'ST7' tip too.
xnappo
P.S. The 'cold' soldering irons are not recommended for use on sensitive electronics |
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The Robman Site Owner
Joined: 01 Aug 2003 Posts: 21234 Location: Chicago, IL |
Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 10:07 am Post subject: |
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I've been using my cheap little Radio Shack iron since we started the JP1 effort back in 2000 and I still love it. I do have a stand also, somewhat like this one ($8 shipped on ebay) ...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280341516035
Whichever iron you get, if you're going to be soldering things like small surface mount EEPROM chips into remotes, i strongly recommend that you get an iron with a "pencil" tip.
_________________ Rob
www.hifi-remote.com
Please don't PM me with remote questions, post them in the forums so all the experts can help! |
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zaphod7501
Joined: 02 Aug 2004 Posts: 533 Location: Peoria Illinois |
Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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I have temperature controlled irons and stations, but I use them professionally and may leave them on for hours on end. Temperature control helps tips last longer but may give a false sense of safety to the occasional user, thinking they won't overheat components. Too low of a temperature often results in much longer contact times.
For home use I use basic small wattage irons like Rob describes. They are over 20 years old and work fine.
A propane iron (for automotive and remote use) repairs is handy and mine includes a hot air tip for heat shrink tubing. _________________ Just call me Zaphod (or Steve) --- I never should have started using numbers in a screen name but I just can't stop now. |
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