Solder stations under £100?

[SkyMonster]

Hay guys.

I';ve been doing away more soldering lately with all the quad copter builds I';ve been doing for customers so I feel its time for a solder station. Any recommendations or things I should look out for.

Cheers
Ricc.

[Amorgos]

I purchased a solder station for 18 quid and it';s great. Comes with loads of extras as well. Can';t complain really.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121103309993?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

There are probably far better soldering stations out there of course, but I';ve used this one a hell of a lot over the last few weeks and for the money it';s fantastic. If you';re looking for a higher end model from what I';ve come accross so far, it';s the Hakko soldering stations that seem to have a favour, at least amongst the RC community.

[Gav]

Maplins have this one on offer from time to time and I think alot of members have one along with the replacement solder tip set:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/60w-professional-lcd-solder-station-with-esd-protection-a55kj

It';s pretty good value when you get it on offer, but when it';s at full price you may want to look at something else, especially if you have a £100 budget. 
Metcal and Weller are good brands.

Good luck

[nub]

don';t think i';d give up my trusty old home base 30W iron, never had a problem with it at all, used for many different types of jobs large and small, about time i bought some new tips for it though.

great wee soldering iron unless your trying to tin 10AWG wire though i suppose that';s when it could do with a little more power.

[dirtyharry]

Weller solder stations are by far the best i have used . The tips have special magnetic ends that vary the power so you don';t need to guess what to turn a dial to , just switch it on and go.

Get them used on fleabay for anywhere between 50 - 100 quid. The new price in uk is pretty disgusting compared to US prices.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clean-Professional-Weller-Soldering-Station-WTCP-unit-with-TCP-24V-45W-iron-/281241171842?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item417b47b782

[dp106]

Maplins have this one on offer from time to time and I think alot of members have one along with the replacement solder tip set:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/60w-professional-lcd-solder-station-with-esd-protection-a55kj

It';s pretty good value when you get it on offer, but when it';s at full price you may want to look at something else, especially if you have a £100 budget. 
Metcal and Weller are good brands.

Good luck

Been watching it hoping it may come down again :)

[SkyMonster]

Cheers for the advice guys. Ill look into those ones you have suggested and keep an eye on Maplin as there just down the road from me.

[dazza22]

hi
My wife got me this a station    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151170526443?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

But the seller sent me the next model up for the same price . Saving my wife £20 .

The station is great ,wish I got 1 years ago . I would even pay the extra £20  if I had to  replace .

[HowDoIfly]

I agree with dirtyharry. My weller must be 30years old and still performs admirably.

[quadfather]

I wouldn';t skimp on a soldering station, especially if you do it professionally. You';ll get what you pay for!

In my short experience of building quads I found that I needed a wide range of power to cope with the varying sizes of solder joints. 60W stations should be adequate. Nice-to-have features are auto-shutoff and temperature presets.

Stick with known brands, you want to be able to get replacement parts for a long time to come. Most importantly tips, but also heating elements, etc. Weller, Ersa, Hakko, Pace, Metcal, to name a few in no particular order.

Don';t buy from Maplin unless you have no other choice. You can usually find the same stuff or an equivalent alternative for significantly less elsewhere. Like this one. (Sorry Gav!)

[DarkButterfly]

I got one of these from my local electronic shop in 2007 only cost £50

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-soldering-station-HQ-SOLDER-30-HQ-/271356621862?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item3f2e1d7426

It';s serving me well, and I can get replacement irons and tips

[SkyMonster]

You';ve given me a lot think about. Thanks for all the recomendations

[andythilo]

Hmm might have to get one of these :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121090033388

Currently I use 2 gas irons and a 40W electric. A station would be much easier with variable control.

Are they ok?

[Trev2971]

Ive had a weller station for nearly 15 years ... gets used a few times every week ... would replace with the same
plenty on the bay 2nd hand for well under what you are willing to spend

[SkyMonster]

Hmm might have to get one of these :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121090033388

Currently I use 2 gas irons and a 40W electric. A station would be much easier with variable control.

Are they ok?

I';ve read some good reviews on this one on Amazon and its £60. So for £40 could be worth a punt. Apparently the tips are the same as the Hakko 900M. Maybe its a clone of it.

[flybywire]

Very pleased with this one:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/60w-lcd-display-solder-station-n89cz

Using it for two years now, very quick to change temp.

[Dek]

Very pleased with this one:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/60w-lcd-display-solder-station-n89cz

Using it for two years now, very quick to change temp.

I';ve the same, good thing is you can get spares from tips up to the whole iron. I got it in a sale for £50 (I think). As you say, heats up very fast and tracks the selected temp well.

[SkyMonster]

Decided to go for the Maplin one (Precision Gol 60wd) to see how it goes. Unit it';s self seems all good. I purchased a larger tip,2.4mm chisel type as its for doing esc wires to the distribution board.

Not sure if I';m doing something wrong as I need the temp set the temp to max to even get close to hot enough to solder, 450c. I';m using 60/40 lead solder so don';t know if that';s got anything to do with it. I find my 40w standard iron is a lot better.

Any thoughts.

[teslahed]

It could be down to using the wrong size soldering iron tip. You should always use the largest soldering iron tip that';s practical (which in many cases will be quite small) because it transfers heat better. Smaller tips are only better for soldering with if the larger tip wont easily fit.

You may need to pre-tin the soldering iron tip - melt a little solder onto it before you start work and it will coat the outside and make it more thermally conductive. Don';t blob the end of the iron up with solder, just use a tiny amount to coat it.

Sometimes if the surface has become slightly dirty rubbing the tip of the soldering iron over one spot a few times will be enough to make the thermal contact and melt the solder. You will probably find that as soon as you get a bit to melt, the rest goes almost straight away. It';s making the initial thermal contact that';s hard.

[flybywire]

Decided to go for the Maplin one (Precision Gol 60wd) to see how it goes. Unit it';s self seems all good. I purchased a larger tip,2.4mm chisel type as its for doing esc wires to the distribution board.

Not sure if I';m doing something wrong as I need the temp set the temp to max to even get close to hot enough to solder, 450c. I';m using 60/40 lead solder so don';t know if that';s got anything to do with it. I find my 40w standard iron is a lot better.

Any thoughts.

I';m not sure which model that is?  Do you have the link?  Reason I ask is that I only have experience with the one I mentioned in an earlier post (60w):

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/60w-lcd-display-solder-station-n89cz

so if it is the same, on full power you can almost silver solder! (slight exaggeration, but you get my drift?).
Sounds like it';s faulty to me.  450 is way too hot for all but the largest DIY soldering tasks (you';ll vaporise the flux core).  For instance, to solder 10 AWG silicon wire to a Deans (quickly) I would set the temp to about 380-400, and that is pretty hot!  Most other small stuff I don';t get it above 350, and I use lead free solder, no probs.
As Chris has said in previous post, of course you need to follow the ';manual'; as far as soldering is concerned, and practice makes perfect of course.

One more thing, is the tip inserted correctly?  I believe some tips need a carbon rod between the iron & the tip itself to conduct heat, without that it';s useless!

Oh yes, is the tip a nice shiny silver in colour?  Or is it a dull grey?  A couple of my tips were like the latter, so I roughed them up with fine emery paper, then dipped the tip in Bakers soldering flux (non corrosive type).  THis allows you to ';tin'; the tips as Chris mentioned in his post.

[SkyMonster]

Going on what you guys have said I decided to test the tip temp with an infrared temp gun then the tip is showing 130c when the iron was set to 400c so looks like its gubbed.

Thanks for the input guys.

Cheers
Ricc.

[quadrix]

Cheap Solder Station in Lidl on Thursday.  Only £8.99, with stand and variable temperature, must be worth a look!
Regards
Quadrix

[andythilo]

I picked up one of the 60W maplin irons from eBay for £39.99. Really good, very impressed. Had no problems tinning 10AWG when up to temp on 450 even with the standard tip. I had to move the rubber grip thingy back a bit though so the iron sat in the holder better, but I just epoxyed it in place and it';s perfect.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121090033388?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Only 4 left!

[guest325]

Cheap Solder Station in Lidl on Thursday.  Only £8.99, with stand and variable temperature, must be worth a look!
Regards
Quadrix

And with a 3 year warranty you can';t really go wrong - Let you all know what they are like during the weekend!

[sagaboy65]

Just picked up the soldering station from Lidl today for £8.99 and although I haven';t tried it out yet it appears good value and as I';ve used Parkside tools in the past it should work well.
It';s 48W with an adjustable temperature range 100deg to 500deg.C. It comes with 2 small rolls of solder wire and a spare tip.
Obviously not professional quality but perfectly adequate for the occasional  "DIY';er"
Merv.

[Static65]

Picked up a Saike 898D from fleabay a while back, from memory it was about £60 and they threw in a set of tips, spare heater cartridges, some solder wick and a couple of other small tools. It';s actually really well made and the heat gun is surprisingly handy. Good for all but the fattest AWG silicone wire, oh how I hate trying to heat that stuff up

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SMD-Rework-Soldering-Station-HOT-AIR-GUN-Solder-IRON-Saike-898D-220V-UK-STOCK-/251276129684?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item3a81397594

[pete-c]

Bought mine a 25w from a charity shop for £3 two years ago and it has served me well.

Regards
Pete

[Hands0n]

Cheap Solder Station in Lidl on Thursday.  Only £8.99, with stand and variable temperature, must be worth a look!
Regards
Quadrix

I picked up two of these tonight on the way home. One to use and one to go in the loft for when this one flakes out, if it ever does. At £9 a pop I couldn';t really walk out with just the one ::)   

I just used it and it heats up quickly enough, the tip is probably quite good for generally soldering in this hobby.  The second bit is a screwdriver head style that will do some quite heavy duty work.

[Trev2971]

I bought a parkside station too ... at that price Ill stick it in my van as a back up

works pretty good but the tips are a bit cumbersome might turn one down in my lathe, also tried it on 500 setting and the end of the iron before the tip glows red ... !!

overall did a couple of jobs with it today (couple of battery terminals and cut down a couple of servo leads) as a test to give my ';posh'; station a rest and it coped well in fairness ... well worth the money