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Can anyone recommend a good iron? I'd need it for everything from soldering cartridge clips at tone arm head shells, to spade lugs at the end of speaker cables. "Audiophile" solder, like WBT or Nordost would be in play, should that make a difference. I have no aversion to paying for quality. Thanks in advance.
...but seriously, folks, I've had large and small electric irons, and nothing is as convenient as a portable butane powered, for me. There is no cord to get in the way, it heats up fast, you can change to a "torch" tip (I call it the 'lighter') for melting, heavy wire heating/soldering, etc, but you can also turn it way down for delicate work, use it in the garage, car, whatever! Or am I missing something here?
As a generalisation, almost ANY decent temperature controlled iron, will do the job. Look for one, with a variable temperature control knob and a nice sponge, to wipe the tip on. Iron clad tips are de riguer, nowadays and are available from most suppliers. Expect to pay about US$100.00 for a reasonable product. Even the El Cheapo™ types are reasonable.When buying an iron, obtain the price of spare tips, elements, sponges, etc. Make sure the supplier has been around for a few years, so spares will be readily available, when required.
If you REALLY want the best, then Metcal, or Ersa are the irons to buy. There is NOTHING better, than these guys (IME). Fast heatup (3 seconds, for the Ersa), accurate and stable temperature control and beautifully balanced (very important, for long term use).
Trevor
Metcals warm up in 3 seconds as well. Oh all right, 4 seconds. Damn nice iron. We have them all over the place at work. I guess if I had $300 to spare I'd pick up the SP200. Rather nice to have an iron that adjusts it's power output according to the load and shuts itself off if it doesn't sense a load after awhile. I can't seem to ruin the tips either.Tom §.
Oh yeah, one more important thing:The Metcal is the most drop-dead georgeous soldering iron, on this planet. Buy one and you'll never pack away. You can leave on the coffee table, for all your friends to drool over. This is one excellent piece of industrial design.
Trevor
Here's a very nice variable temperature Weller station that should suit your needs. I've seen it on the web for US$100. I almost bought it a month ago but the mental picture of my two small children holding their palms out for food got the better of me & I bought something cheaper instead (I'm actually quite happy with what I did get, a variable temp Weller WLC100 that is available on the web for US$40--try mcm).
mellon capital management is fresh out of soldering irons :~)
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/
Both posters below have the right idea. No one size fits all.That big mutha is good for the cable ends, but will melt the insulation off of cartridge wires.
Why not get one "big gun" and a little 25 - 40 watt iron for the small stuff? Irons are cheap enough.
Also, the big one will incinerate circuit boards unless you are quick & careful.
In any case, practice makes perfect. It's an acquired skill. Don't expect your first attempts to be perfect.
I agree that most of the time it's impossible to have one iron do the big and delicate jobs at the same time. However, there are exceptions to that rule.I have a Weller MicroTouch iron (MT-1500). The handpiece is tiny--even smaller than Radio Shack's smallest mini-iron. I've used it to work on the smallest of surface mount electronics, and also to solder 2-Ga (that's right, TWO GUAGE) battery terminals for my truck. The only change was the tip and the temperature setting.
I'm sure that other quality brands like Metcal and Ersa have similar units. This wasn't a cheap Iron at about $500, but even as a student, I'd gladly pay that again for the amount of hassle it has saved me. I've had it for about two years, and I've never damaged at tip. They seem indestructable.
Do yourself a favor, and get a quality iron. You'll be glad you did.Allan
...I think I provided a reasonably good alternative. Not all of us are ready to make that kind of financial commitment.I've seen kitchen toasters for several hundred dollars and I'm sure they work well, but do they toast bread any better than a $35 toastmaster?
Good points. I've got three irons from Radio Shack. 100 watt gun for big jobs, 30 watts for general use and a 15 watt pencil with grounded tip for circuit boards and other delicate work. All inexpensive but good for occasional use.
I just got a great one from Radio shack - it is a dual temp 100w / 250 watt iron. It heats hot enough to solder to a Edison binding post/12ga connection in 45secs.
I use a Hexacon 22A variable heat iron. It's a bit small for really big stuff ( 10 ga. speaker cable) but works great for reasonable sized work. Hard to find (got mine used from old ham radio Op) I believe you can get it through Granger or other industrial/electric suppliers for about $125.
yikes, I have not even heard of Metcal soldering equipment before. Sounds pretty expensive. Personally I can get by with my ancient Weller D550 gun for really heavy things (not too much in the audio department) and an equally ancient (but well maintained) American Beauty pencil. I have other soldering guns etc, floating around but these 2 have always done the job just right. I have worked in the electronics industry, and we used Hakko soldering stations. They were certainly nice, but expensive. Good luck and buy the best you can afford. (but take the amount of soldering you do into consideration) Doug E.
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