Time to replace my no longer in biz soldering station

[G+_Eddie Foy]

Time to replace my no longer in biz soldering station. (can't get tips anymore) $500 if killer, preferably at or under $200  (Dual being an big want, but not need)  SMD/SMT not needed have that equipment.

Suggestions thus far are;

Hakko

Weller

Metcal (for a price!)

Edsyn (need to research company/longevity)

[G+_John Mink]

Whatever is recommended, I'd run it  by (or at least check) EEVblog!

[G+_Eddie Foy]

EEVblog is a great source!

(chances are I will be buying at Hamvention next week)

Or at least will bring my tip now and see if any other MFG's fit.

(still Love my P2C Weller butane.  Have 2 of them.  Perfect for quick around the house.  One for soldering, other for heat shrink.  Sorry padre, but a lighter/flame on heat shrink=BAD form)

[G+_610GARAGE]

I love my Hakko FX-951. I have yet to find a situation that the iron could not handle. With a fine tip, it works great for delicate, circuit board work, and a large wedge tip for large wire and bullet connectors. I even have a knife tip for cutting rubber and plastics. It also heats up fast (less than a minute) and has a sleep function in case you forget to turn it off.

[G+_Jeff Gros]

The metcals are awesome because they have sensing in the tips so that the iron stays at temperature even if you are heating a giant ground plane. However, that is why they are so expensive! We use them at work and hunt ebay for cheap replacements.

 

However, at home, I've got a ceramic element iron because I'm cheap. Like the other posters, I followed Dave's advice at the EEVBlog and picked up a Hakko FX-888. You can pick them up at sparkfun, adafruit, amazon, etc. I've also used Weller. At the risk of starting a flame war, I'd say Weller = Hakko = "Works Just Fine For the Price". Hakko/Weller is also cheap enough that you can get a bunch of different tips for around $5 a piece. Nice!

[G+_John Phillips]

How keen are you to keep it ? Just a thought but have you tried looking at other brands of tips to see if they might fit, is it a screw in type or some other type?

[G+_Eddie Foy]

I will bring a tip with me to see if any might fit.  I'd rather keep it, it works  (they really are nothing but a hot point)

[G+_A Alto]

Weller WES51 is what I use at home. Price is right, many different size tips available. I have an older Weller station in my work truck that gets bounced around traveling to mountain top radio sites and is about 15 years old and still going strong. I have had the Wellers with the digital temp display before and the controllers fail on those, I would get the one with the analog control knob.

[G+_Eddie Foy]

I bit the bullet and ordered a Metcal 2220.  Its a dual, but only ordered a single pen with some extra tips.

[G+_Jeff Gros]

I think you'll be happy with the metcal setup. Good choice. Now that you've got some proper kit, now you've just got to keep it in working order.

In particular, negligence can force you to scrap your expensive tips.

 

Don't forget to turn off the iron when you are done as you can burn them out if you leave them on repeatedly night after night. I have to repeatedly browbeat one of my coworkers about this who is used to having others pick up after him.

 

Secondly, I would recommend coating the tips with solder before you shut them down. Then when you startup again you can just clean the tip before use after they heat up. This will keep them from oxidizing if you haven't used them for a while. If it does oxidize though, you can always GENTLY scrape it off with a razor to revive the tips, although I think this is best avoided.

[G+_Eddie Foy]

Jeff Gros    My old set up was proper.  Just company was out of biz and couldn't get tips.  It lasted  20+ years and is still works sans new  tips)

 

Yes, leave it hot and sitting is a bad, very bad,  thing.  (that's the one thing I don't like about the Metcals, no temp control.  I usually drop the temp if I need to do other work for a spell before soldering again.  But the ~20 second heat-up time on the Metcal overcomes this downside.  And is still quicker then turning down and up a 'standard' station.)

 

 

I like your suggestion of leaving a bit of solder on the tip.  But one should do that with NON rosin/flux core solder.  The flux is acidic.  (that's its job, to do that last second cleaning and help the flow.)

[G+_Stephen Vincent]

I solder hundreds and hundreds of boards every month.  A used metcal mx-500 is hard to beat.  You can pick them up on ebay for around $200  with a handpiece if you watch closely.  The smart heat works incredibly well when you touch a large trace designed to sink heat.  I've never used an iron that works as well as this when trying to heat up large heat-sink pads.

[G+_Eddie Foy]

I bought a Metcal 2200.  standard pencil and smt tweezers.

 

Oh, and my old out of biz one?  Its an OK Industries, who owns Metcal now.