LEDgardener

I need to get a soldering iron to put on my potentiometers any recommendations for something that would be good for this hobby?

kmb wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 25, 2017 2:25 am

I need to get a soldering iron to put on my potentiometers any recommendations for something that would be good for this hobby?

What's your budget? I work with electronics for a living and we use these on our test benches in our shop:

https://www.amazon.ca/Weller-WES51-Anal ... B000BRC2XU

No complaints at all - these are solid little units.

LEDG
What's your budget? I work with electronics for a living and we use these on our test benches in our shop:

https://www.amazon.ca/Weller-WES51-Anal ... B000BRC2XU

No complaints at all - these are solid little units.

And what would you recommend in the low range? Under $50? How low can you go without buying garbage?

kmb wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 25, 2017 7:08 am

LEDG
What's your budget? I work with electronics for a living and we use these on our test benches in our shop:

https://www.amazon.ca/Weller-WES51-Anal ... B000BRC2XU

No complaints at all - these are solid little units.

And what would you recommend in the low range? Under $50? How low can you go without buying garbage?

As long as you don't need any precise temps, I use this butane one in the field and it's worked great for a few years running.

https://www.amazon.ca/Power-Probe-PPSK- ... B001DIE9BO

I've been looking at the TS100 Digital soldering iron, seems like it's a favourite of many people. But I've got an old Weller that is built like a tank and will probably last forever so I can't really justify buying a new one.

I bought a €15 solder, which serves me just fine. I'm guessing the temperature control isn't as accurate, and the build quality is such that it wouldn't last for more than a couple of years. But given the limited use I'm putting it too that's fine with me. Looking at amazon.ca we're talking about the equivalent of this: https://www.amazon.ca/Patec-Adjustable- ... 076BNH8QM/

(For all things Amazon I recommend getting acquainted with camelcamelcamel.com)

https://smile.amazon.com/Hakko-temperat ... ords=hakko

Is what I use. Get's plenty hot for building my lights. Fast too.I really like the adjustable temp without needing a huge base.