Best soldering station UNDER $50?

[kaboom]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

magnastat - eww nasty!

Still better than those setscrew monstronsities!!!



How about something with a thermistor in the heater, and full PID thyristor control? With the caveat that "dave" didn't "endorse" it.

[stj]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

i'm not a Davy-Jones fanboy

some of his vids are a joke if you pay attention.

i really like the one for the Rigol psu.
he bitches about the rubber corner bits on the front calling them "stupid wanky bits" without realising it's to stop people putting stuff onto it and damaging the lcd.

then he complains about the "stupid dial controls" only to use them without even thinking about it 10 seconds later!

his multimeter rants are the best, cussing UNI-T for not putting mov's or spark-gaps in the meter.
let's be blunt, if you put the probes on a supply line higher than 1KV the meter is the least of your problems - the probes are going first!

likewise, if you set it to volts and plug the probes into the current-socket - the rating of the fuse really isnt the problem, it's the user that has issues!
(and again - your probes are gonna vaporise!)

[kaboom]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

i'm not a Davy-Jones fanboy

Wanna bet his "antics" and bullshitting over non-issues are deliberate, to mislead those truly "green?" Make everyone confused about meter "classes" about something that'll never be "stressed" beyond an arduio-weeno's +5V supply?


"B-bb-but dave said so- it must be true!" With rare exception, so much $hit on youtube is deliberate and misleading, as you well know. As in the almighty like, su'scribe, comment. Ba$tardize electronics, or any legitimate field, and throw it under the bus? No problem- it's all views (clickbait) after all...


Rule #2: Another day, another scam.

[juliadream]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

Exactly.

Remember those awful "shipped with kit" soldering irons? With terrible tip-to-heater contact (setscrew, loose tolerances) and overpowered heater, that tip got blazing hot! And lost its temperature the moment you held it to a joint. If you did manage to "solder" with one of these, the joints were bad from overheating/oxidation. You'd actually see the tip oxidize away if you left it on for half an hour. Waaay too hot, which still didn't "make up" for the lousy thermal interface, not in the least.

Should've been called "rip the traces off" irons...

TG, scrounge a used Weller TCP from ebay. Proven design and tips a'plenty.

yowzers.. those things were an improvement we all bought after a few weeks .. at my first electronics employment they had wooden handle blocks of copper which went in a gas flame burner like a little furnace type thing... and you waited til the flames went a pretty green colour.. but it was mostly tube tv's with wired chassis rather than pcb's we handled.. the boss didn't like paying for electricity and I think he stole the gas.....

as for cheapest going stations?.. well theres always yihua (wun hung lo) brand.. for as little as AU$16 .. and they actually don't work too bad.. you have to crank them up a bit because they don't have the thermal mass of a Hakko... but buy a set of better tips and they are perfectly usable for hobby use.. I have something similar.. a Sunkko clone from years back.. and for crumping big stuff.. a hardware store 50 watt monster... with the set screws and the copper tip that needs filing every week or so.. yup.. cheapskate.

[Per Hansson]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

his multimeter rants are the best, cussing UNI-T for not putting mov's or spark-gaps in the meter.
let's be blunt, if you put the probes on a supply line higher than 1KV the meter is the least of your problems - the probes are going first!

likewise, if you set it to volts and plug the probes into the current-socket - the rating of the fuse really isnt the problem, it's the user that has issues!
(and again - your probes are gonna vaporise!)

Complete bullshit.
A properly designed meter will not blow up in your hand if you feed it 1KV in ohm's mode and it's CAT-IV rated.
See for example this video around 6min into it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEoazQ1zuUM

[stj]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

a meter is as good as it's probes - and most probes arent great.

[Per Hansson]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

a meter is as good as it's probes - and most probes arent great.

A probe rated for CAT-IV must just like the meter be able to withstand that testing otherwise it wont be certified as such.

Had you watched the video you would have seen though that the Harbor Freight meters original probes where not used for the test.
Because the person performing the test said they had problems with them vaporizing during the test.
Or just plainly being open thus not working at all.
Indeed I can vouch for that: the probes I got for my UNI-T meter where intermittent!

That Harbor Freight meter btw is according to it's faceplate rated for CAT-II 750VAC & 1000VDC, obviously complete bullshit as you could see in the previous video.

[Agent24]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

For the original topic - I'd get a 936 clone, in fact it's what I still have Some copies are better than others though.

They're not the best, but it's not too bad either.

Don't even bother paying extra for digital control and temperature readouts, it's all a joke. Plus more parts to break. A full analogue-control one is best.

[juliadream]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

For the original topic - I'd get a 936 clone, in fact it's what I still have Some copies are better than others though.

They're not the best, but it's not too bad either.

Don't even bother paying extra for digital control and temperature readouts, it's all a joke. Plus more parts to break. A full analogue-control one is best.

I'm in full agreement.. What I like about those cheap clones is the price of extra irons. I like having a few with different tips so I can just swap the whole thing rather than faffing about changing hot tips.. I've become a bit averse to burning myself as I have got older..

[stj]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

i wouldnt buy a 900M clone,
too many sellers are selling steel tips instead of plated copper - they are complete shit.

[eccerr0r]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

<- got a steel tipped clone :-(

Good: it will last a long time
Bad: poor conduction = bad regulation.

Then again, is it really all steel tip or is it ironclad? I was testing with a neodymium magnet, and it did not stick to the tip like it does with a screwdriver, perhaps it is ironclad?

[juliadream]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

Oddly the copper tips are steel plated.. About the only difference is the thermal mass.. I doubt many people would actually notice unless they solder 8 hours a day every day..

I think the real nasty cheap ones these 2 quid irons come with use some sort of monkey metal almost stainless steel (but who knows?.. it's from China.. spose we should consider ourselves lucky they are actually metal and not some kind of painted asbestos plastic !!!).. I just put good tips on the cheap irons.. that works for me.

After using a cheap temp controlled station for over 10 years now (Sunkko wasn't exactly cheap back then.. pretty much where Aoyue are now.. between Wun Hung Lo and Hakko) having to use a thermally balanced 20W Antex yesterday was.. frankly.. horrid.. thing had no grunt at all.. How I ever used one of those things for 20 years daily I don't know... When I got home I did a leaky P3 motherboard just to cleanse my soul

[stj]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

lol i started with an Antex CS model

[eccerr0r]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

Another thing about the steel tips (ironclad or 100%) is that they don't tin very well...
=> time for more cursing

I have another Ungar temperature controlled rework station that they used some other alloy to coat their tips for longevity. Not sure what it is... Alas it sticks to a magnet, so probably chrome plated steel? :\

[stj]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

Ungar = Weller.
i think they used to plate stuff with Ni.

[Fast Alpha]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

i have one of these heats up really quick been good so far

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SMD-Rework...0AAMXQlgtRoyOj

Did you buy it from china, how do you know it is a safe genuine product.

[Agent24]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

Did you buy it from china, how do you know it is a safe genuine product.

Of course it's not safe, or genuine
But if you check the wiring and fix anything stupid before plugging it in, then you're away laughing!

[rievax_60]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

When 936 clones are mentioned, a distinction needs to be made between the types that use the high power Japan made heater and the types have a lower powered China made heater. It is usually mentioned in the eBay listing description. The type that have the Japan heater usually have 936A in the model. Another clue is that the Japan heater type clones are more expensive.
I have been using an Aoyue 936A for years.

[Fast Alpha]

Re: Best soldering station UNDER $50?

Of course it's not safe, or genuine
But if you check the wiring and fix anything stupid before plugging it in, then you're away laughing!

Why don't some one buy it and check it out for me?