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What is a cheap and well made soldering iron station?

There was a thread on soldering stations here in the last couple months. I like my cheap Weller station just fine.

What's your budget? Cheap is $$30 to some and $200 to others

i have some older weller temp controlled stations i will donate for shipping if you want. one xytronic and some antex irons as well. just cleaned through my tools and decided 7 irons was probably no longer necessary.

send me a pm if you are interested.

anyone ever seen this one?
http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-Varia ... DRZV3E4NNT
i may get it and start attempting to build pedals again

Achtane wrote:http://www.circuitspecialists.com/soldering-stations-csi-station1a.html

I've heard nothing but good about this iron. I may pick one up as a spare

StupidDream88 wrote:

Achtane wrote:http://www.circuitspecialists.com/soldering-stations-csi-station1a.html

I've heard nothing but good about this iron. I may pick one up as a spare

The default tip is annoyingly narrow. I think I would have a much easier time with a wider tip. Other than that, I'm liking it.
I like how the picture looks like it's from an 80's catalog or something.

Oddly enough that looks like the same size tip I currently use so I don't think it will be much of a change for me.

so i found an old esico soldering iron in my garage, no label but near the tip it says 60 watts and 120 volts, can i use this? id need a new smaller tip, but i just would use it for a pedal or two in order to justify me buying a better iron. gotta prove to myself i can do pedals that actually work before i spend the money. my radio shack iron pedals i built over a year ago made me stop building, but now i want to try to start again, so any advice on the iron i found?

i've got an atten one that was cheap and is great. clone of the hakko ones.

the Life Aquatic wrote:anyone ever seen this one?
http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-Varia ... DRZV3E4NNT
i may get it and start attempting to build pedals again

One thing to note, wattage adjustment doesn't really mean temperature adjustment. The thing might idle at like 900 degrees regardless, which can eat a tip pretty quick.

Not that it's not a good iron, but it might not work any different than, say:

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9507

Which is only $10.

The advantage of temp-controlled irons is that they keep track of the temperature of the tip, and throttle the power (basically turn it off and on really quick) to keep the temp close to steady, and usually a much lower temp. So, if it's sitting idle it hardly needs any power, and it can sit there burning at 600 degrees instead of 900, but when you need the power (as in, you're actually soldering), it'll use the power as needed. Without temperature control, if you have more power than you need, it could be too hot for sensitive components (or just fry them faster). It doesn't take much power to solder an IC to a board, for instance, and soldering at 900 degrees could fry it.

But, then again, the lower power settings on that thing may very well let the heat drop enough even when soldering small things. But, of course, if the power was too low, you'd have to solder longer which could also fry it. w00h!

But, yeah, I'm sure that thing is fine, but I kinda doubt it would be much better than a decent iron that just plugs into the wall.

so im just gonna assume its better to be safe then sorry and go for something like http://www.circuitspecialists.com/solde ... ion1a.html, spend the few extra dollars

the Life Aquatic wrote:anyone ever seen this one?
http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-Varia ... DRZV3E4NNT

I have one. Sold under a different brand name, but it's the same.

They're just o k a y.

For under $20, they're definitely better than, say, a Radio Shack cheapie, if only for the safety aspect of having a stand and an off switch.