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    Best soldering station

    Hi! I have a computer that needs 4 capacitors replaced. What is the best soldering station for this? I need to get these capacitors replaced before this happens:





    Thanks!!
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    #2
    Re: Best soldering station

    any cheap soldering iron will do the work.

    just remove them and use a gootwick with flux to remove the extra. i also use a 0.8mm dremel to make a new hole in it.

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      #3
      Re: Best soldering station

      If you want something that you might have future use for, look for a 936A clone. The description should state 60W and Japan made heater element.
      Also get a 900M-T-K tip.

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        #4
        Re: Best soldering station

        936A any of these sold in the UK.
        http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg305.pdf

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          #5
          Re: Best soldering station

          Never drill out the holes on pc boards, if it is a multi-layered board you will damage it and it could never work again. use solder wick first and a pick or needle to open holes
          Flocko

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            #6
            Re: Best soldering station

            Originally posted by flocko View Post
            never drill out the holes on pc boards, if it is a multi-layered board you will damage it and it could never work again. Use solder wick first and a pick or needle to open holes
            flocko
            +1
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              #7
              Re: Best soldering station

              They also have low temperature solder an when added to the board solder it keeps the solder liquid at a lower temp which allows one more time to extract the device. It is usually use on desoldering fine pitch surface mount chips with a soldering iron, but I think it would also work with a multi layer board to remove caps. It cost a lot more that solder, but it would useful it certain circumstances.

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                #8
                Re: Best soldering station

                I would recommend any temperature controlled soldering station. That way you know for sure what temperature the tip is at. The Hakko FX-888D is a great station and Hakko is a good durable brand. However, it does run a little over $100, which if you are on a budget may not work for you. Though I will say you do get what you pay for. A cheaper station may not last as long as a more expensive one. A Quick 3103 like this one: http://www.gotopac.com/quick-soldering-quick3103.html is under $100 and still have the temperature control and the tips are easy to find and replace. Hope that helps.

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                  #9
                  Re: Best soldering station

                  Originally posted by rievax_60 View Post
                  If you want something that you might have future use for, look for a 936A clone.
                  I disagree here. Do NOT get a 936 clone or anything that uses the 900M series tips. Personally, I have nothing against the stations themselves, but the tip design is just horrible and what ruins these otherwise okay stations. Those 900M tips have no thermal recovery whatsoever, especially the cheaper ones.

                  If you are serious about getting into repair, get a station that uses the T12 or T15 tips. Hakko FX-951 is one of those stations (just beware of the fakes - lots of them online... though I will mention that they still work quite well for the most part). Or if you are on a budget, an Aoyue 2600 or one of its clones (but again, make sure it uses the T12/T15 tips, not the 900M crap).

                  Otherwise, just get a cheap plain 60W iron with a hefty-looking tip, and that should be enough for a motherboard or two (or 10 if you are careful with the tip and don't over-apply flux and turn off the iron when not used).
                  Last edited by momaka; 01-12-2015, 09:58 PM.

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                    #10
                    Re: Best soldering station

                    Originally posted by momaka View Post
                    I disagree here. Do NOT get a 936 clone or anything that uses the 900M series tips. Personally, I have nothing against the stations themselves, but the tip design is just horrible and what ruins these otherwise okay stations. Those 900M tips have no thermal recovery whatsoever, especially the cheaper ones.

                    If you are serious about getting into repair, get a station that uses the T12 or T15 tips. Hakko FX-951 is one of those stations (just beware of the fakes - lots of them online... though I will mention that they still work quite well for the most part). Or if you are on a budget, an Aoyue 2600 or one of its clones (but again, make sure it uses the T12/T15 tips, not the 900M crap).

                    Otherwise, just get a cheap plain 60W iron with a hefty-looking tip, and that should be enough for a motherboard or two (or 10 if you are careful with the tip and don't over-apply flux and turn off the iron when not used).
                    I specified the 936A because they are the ones that seem to use a genuine Hakko heater element other than an under powered China made element. I don't think a lot of people realize this yet.
                    I use an Aoyue 936A with a K tip for heavy jobs.
                    I must admit that I have been thinking about the FX-951 lately.
                    Last edited by rievax_60; 01-13-2015, 01:37 AM.

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                      #11
                      Re: Best soldering station

                      Originally posted by rievax_60 View Post
                      I specified the 936A because they are the ones that seem to use a genuine Hakko heater element other than an under powered China made element. I don't think a lot of people realize this yet.
                      My friend tested out a few of these stations with "genuine" Hakko heating elements (and I did too eventually). They are indeed a little better, but still not comparable to the stations that use the T12 and T15 tips.

                      The problem is mostly with the 900M tip design - you have a long heating element with a thermal probe on one side to measure the temperature and a tip sitting all the way on the other side of the heating element. In all of the 900M tips I've seen, the tip body is not long enough to get even remotely close to the thermal probe. As a result, the thermal probe cannot pickup any sudden changes in the tip temperature, and this leads to poor thermal recovery of the tip. With the T12 and T15 tips, the heating element and the thermal probe are both permanently attached inside the tip and any changes in the tip temperature are picked up right away by the thermal probe. The soldering station can then quickly react and pump up as much power as is needed to keep the tip temperature right.

                      The FX-951 is quite nice - that is, if you can find a genuine one. But even the knock-off ones work pretty well for the most part. However, my opinion is that they are overpriced. If you want a decent but inexpensive station with a T12/T15 tips, then go with the Aoyue 2900 or one of its clones. Or if you are in the USA, the Circuit Specialists CSI-2900 for $59. And if you do, I also recommend either a chisel or bevel tip to go with it for the "tougher" solder jobs. I have the LF-52D 5.2mm bevel tip, and with it, I can easily remove whole serial, USB, PS/2, and VGA connectors on PC motherboards simply by melting a big blob of solder on the connector's pins and pulling it out. And not just with leaded solder, but with lead-free.
                      Last edited by momaka; 01-13-2015, 01:22 PM.

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                        #12
                        Re: Best soldering station

                        I see what you mean about the 900M design. The sensor will partly sense the heater temperature rather than the true tip temperature, as the thermal load increases. I think.

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                          #13
                          Re: Best soldering station

                          ^ Exactly.

                          Now if you want to see spot on temperature control with a bar graph showing you exactly how much power the soldering station is pumping, then have a look at some of the JBC stations. Of course, if you want one, be prepared to spend several hundred dollars. I've had the pleasure to use their CD-B series station in a repair shop for a while, and it's just... WOW! That's all I have to say .

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                            #14
                            Re: Best soldering station

                            I replaced the horizontal deflection ICs on a projection TV, using a cheap harbor freight $8 iron, the same Iron I had used to recap a few mainboards prior to that. Funny thing was I used it because it actually worked pretty well considering where it came from... The HF dumpster!
                            But it was the last time I used it for an intricate job, I went on a mission to get a station after that. I got a 900m replacement handle, & ran it off of a transformer I had, at 1st it was a lot better. Then came the Hakko 9xx, I liked more, it was rough so I cleaned it up really nice, then knocked it off a table right afterwards. I got a Hexacon that was possibly the best I've ever used, but while I prepped the job I was working on, it was idling & i guess the thermal sensor crapped out, overheating the handle assy badly. The replacement for it is $200, so if I had any advice, I'd say take the time to turn it off whenever you don't have the iron in hand, I had turned the Hexacon down, that wasn't enough to save it. As for the Hakko, well don't wear cargo shorts thru cluttered areas where you put something at the edge of a table, just for now... I never learn!
                            Now I've resorted to using the Pace controller in my garage, or for portability I made a budget inline control from the dimmer out of a 500 watt halogen torchier lamp, which works surprisingly well.
                            Jeez, I've been MIA 5 years & now I just show up with a post like this. :-\

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                              #15
                              Re: Best soldering station

                              the best is the one you build!
                              http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum...p=61175#p61175

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