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So I need to pick up a good iron/station for doing cables and some PCB mods. Tip selection is a variable, along with appropriate temp for silver solder.
I won’t be using it all the time, so cost should be low.
Any pointers?
Follow Ups:
All the iron suggestions are good, but your comment about silver solder I would pass on.
I used to be a big believer in silver solder. Its joint is not as solid as a eutectic solder, and while it sounds good when new, long term may not be the case.
some of the audiophile solders use a pretty corrosive flux, so when doing any rework, you need to be sure you remove it all afterwards.
A few years ago, we ran a solder comparison test. The best solder we found for sonics and long term use was Kester 63/37 with the 285 flux.
John
Get one of the older 13 MHz Metcals (STTS-001/STTS-002 with RFG-30 or PS2E-01 power supply). Make sure you pickup the power supply with handle and stand as a package - the other parts are expensive new and harder to buy separately for a reasonable price on ebay. The newer MX500 is out of your price range.You can't beat the ergonomics (it's like a pen - the grip is very close to the tip, with the heaters actually in the tips), the handle weighs two ounces, recovery time is unequalled (you might get down to a second a joint) for stuffing PCBs, they'll put a lot of heat into a joint fast for board mounted jacks/tacking terminal strips to un-etched PCBs/thick cables, you can change tips and have the new one hot in about 15 seconds (there's a silicon pad for this, or you can cool off your tip on the sponge since there isn't much thermal mass), you can get tips for everything, they heat up real fast, etc.
The tips are the same as the newer MX500/MX5000 series which are popular in industry (Metcals do not require calibration) and are therefore in abundant supply on E-bay for reasonable prices in new ($8-$12) and used form (less).
The way Metcals work you can get away with a much smaller tip than you'd normally need so changing to a big tip often isn't necessary.
It'll probably be the last soldering iron you buy.The 470 KHz units (SP200, SP800, SP900, MFR series) are not as good and don't have the same tip availability.
Edits: 11/02/09 11/02/09 11/02/09 11/02/09 11/02/09 11/02/09 11/02/09 11/02/09
I have had a Hakko 936 for several years. ESD safe, temp control (not digital, though), easy to find tips. I use silver solder exclusively. Never a problem. You can find one for about $100.
I'll second that recommendation. I have had mine for a couple of years and it has performed great. It heats quickly and doesn't overheat when I forget to turn it off. I can adjust the temp. based on the need.
I paid about $90. A lovely tool.
Regards,
Geoff
The 936 is a well designed soldering station.
I understand the basic idea, but what specifically does this mean?
Any comments on these budget models?
http://webtronics.stores.yahoo.net/lowcoselsols.html
http://webtronics.stores.yahoo.net/cispdeesdsas.html
ESD = electrostatic discharge. It means you won't fry MOSFETS soldering them. That's important for modern output devices and computer chips. Nothing else much cares. Tubes won't even notice; neither will your cables.
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