Decent soldering iron
Posted by: Mick P on 19 November 2005
Chaps
My son wants a soldering iron and I have talked him out of buying some tat from Argos.
Does anyone know of a good place to buy one. He is looking for a good quality one for domestic use.
Regards
Mick
My son wants a soldering iron and I have talked him out of buying some tat from Argos.
Does anyone know of a good place to buy one. He is looking for a good quality one for domestic use.
Regards
Mick
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by NaimThatTune
Hi Mick,
My Soldering Iron was bought in a local electrical shop of the non-chain variety (think of the corner shop run by Ronnie Barker in Open All Hours but dealing with electrical bits and bobs instead of groceries).
Anyway, I digress, its made by Antex, is 25w, came with a stand and has been going strong for nearly a decade now. It has removable tips such that you can change them for other shapes, and I've been very happy with it. It was even made in the UK, though I don't know if that would still apply today.
I guess if I was buying again today, I'd probably start at a Maplin store.
Regards,
Richard.
My Soldering Iron was bought in a local electrical shop of the non-chain variety (think of the corner shop run by Ronnie Barker in Open All Hours but dealing with electrical bits and bobs instead of groceries).
Anyway, I digress, its made by Antex, is 25w, came with a stand and has been going strong for nearly a decade now. It has removable tips such that you can change them for other shapes, and I've been very happy with it. It was even made in the UK, though I don't know if that would still apply today.
I guess if I was buying again today, I'd probably start at a Maplin store.
Regards,
Richard.
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by Mick P
Richard
Many thanks for that.
Would the 25 watts be capable of soldering something heavy such as NACA5 ?
Regards
Mick
Many thanks for that.
Would the 25 watts be capable of soldering something heavy such as NACA5 ?
Regards
Mick
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by Stephen Tate
Hi mick,
If you want a good soldering iron i would go for a metcal soldering station.
I have one and would not swap it for anything!
mine cost me £850 about five years ago.
IMO: there is not a iron that would touch it.
you can add on fume extraction and desoldering paste guns, far more effective than a crappy solder sucker and braid.
Also it takes easy push in various fibre optic tempreture controlled many size tips, and takes 5 seconds to reach maximum tempreture.
IMO: there isn't anything better!
It will solder anything with ease without over heating because it thermally regulates any thing it touches.
It's the naim audio of soldering irons.
regards,
If you want a good soldering iron i would go for a metcal soldering station.
I have one and would not swap it for anything!
mine cost me £850 about five years ago.
IMO: there is not a iron that would touch it.
you can add on fume extraction and desoldering paste guns, far more effective than a crappy solder sucker and braid.
Also it takes easy push in various fibre optic tempreture controlled many size tips, and takes 5 seconds to reach maximum tempreture.
IMO: there isn't anything better!
It will solder anything with ease without over heating because it thermally regulates any thing it touches.
It's the naim audio of soldering irons.
regards,
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by count.d
Mick,
A "Weller W range Magnastat solder iron,230V100W" will be perfectly suitable for all your soldering requirements for the rest of your son's life. Be sure to buy at least three different temp tips with it, as using a tip with too high rating can ruin the piece you are soldering.
You can buy this at RS with an ordering code no: "RS Stock no: 337-4118"
I hope this information is better than Stephen's advice to spend £1,000.
A "Weller W range Magnastat solder iron,230V100W" will be perfectly suitable for all your soldering requirements for the rest of your son's life. Be sure to buy at least three different temp tips with it, as using a tip with too high rating can ruin the piece you are soldering.
You can buy this at RS with an ordering code no: "RS Stock no: 337-4118"
I hope this information is better than Stephen's advice to spend £1,000.
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by Stephen Tate
quote:Originally posted by count.d:
Mick,
A "Weller W range Magnastat solder iron,230V100W" will be perfectly suitable for all your soldering requirements for the rest of your son's life. Be sure to buy at least three different temp tips with it, as using a tip with too high rating can ruin the piece you are soldering.
You can buy this at RS with an ordering code no: "RS Stock no: 337-4118"
I hope this information is better than Stephen's advice to spend £1,000.
My iron earns me a living!
i used to build pcb kits from scratch for british aerospace.
i do alot of suface mount rework hence the iron.
Weller is suitable, however for intricate work they are to bulky.
For your son at home a weller would be perfect.
regards,
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by count.d
No offence intended Stephen. I just like to see Mick gets offered a well balanced choice of wine rather than a Grand Cru Classe realistically only fit for the cellar.
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by Stephen Tate
hi count.d,
No offence taken! your advice is correct and a metcal is over the top unless you do alot of rework.
Mick did say whats a good iron and i replyed a bit gung ho especially for a novice,it was not meant.
But i stand by metcal as being the best irons.
I suspect naim have one in the corner somewhere where only certain trained users are aloud to use it to do all there rework.
p.s, sorry mick.
regards,
No offence taken! your advice is correct and a metcal is over the top unless you do alot of rework.
Mick did say whats a good iron and i replyed a bit gung ho especially for a novice,it was not meant.
But i stand by metcal as being the best irons.
I suspect naim have one in the corner somewhere where only certain trained users are aloud to use it to do all there rework.
p.s, sorry mick.
regards,
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by Stephen Tate
hi mick,
tap up metcal on msn.
they do much cheaper ones.
regards,
tap up metcal on msn.
they do much cheaper ones.
regards,
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by Martin D
Hi guys
I use a small weller pyropen gas one for small electronics at work and a larger 50 watt one for NACA5.
Mick - have a look here and do some searching
http://rswww.com/cgi-bin/bv/rswww/home.do?cacheID=ukie
I use a small weller pyropen gas one for small electronics at work and a larger 50 watt one for NACA5.
Mick - have a look here and do some searching
http://rswww.com/cgi-bin/bv/rswww/home.do?cacheID=ukie
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by NaimThatTune
Hi Mick and All,
Sorry for the slightly slow reply.
To answer your question, yes, you could solder NACA5 with the iron I mentioned, because I have done so. However, I would say it is at the very limit of its capabilities and you'd have to be quite patient. If you're doing it once in a blue moon, then OK, but for only a few punds more you could probably get a slightly more powerful iron that would manage something like NACA5 better/more quickly.
Antex Website
Weller Website
Both sites have guides to choosing a soldering iron.
Good luck!
Richard
Sorry for the slightly slow reply.
To answer your question, yes, you could solder NACA5 with the iron I mentioned, because I have done so. However, I would say it is at the very limit of its capabilities and you'd have to be quite patient. If you're doing it once in a blue moon, then OK, but for only a few punds more you could probably get a slightly more powerful iron that would manage something like NACA5 better/more quickly.
Antex Website
Weller Website
Both sites have guides to choosing a soldering iron.
Good luck!
Richard
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by Bob McC
'Parry about to mod Naim kit'
Shock, horror!
Bob
Shock, horror!
Bob
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by Mick P
Chap
Many thanks for the information, I shall pass it on to my son. Once again this forum demonstrates the calibre of its participants and the users of Naim equipment.
Regards
Mick
Many thanks for the information, I shall pass it on to my son. Once again this forum demonstrates the calibre of its participants and the users of Naim equipment.
Regards
Mick
Posted on: 19 November 2005 by Paul Ranson
For normal hobby electronics a 15W Antex will do the job at a very reasonable price. If you want to solder NACA5 then you need 50W at least, and that implies temperature controlled. So entry level is http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=4085&doy=19m11 you can obviously spend much more.
Paul
Paul