cheap (but decent enough) soldering iron

[PTvor]

It's this

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/50-w-solder-station-n78ar

It has mixed reviews. It's probably very variable like a lot of cheap stuff. For the use it's had, I'd say mine has been a good £15 worth. If you get one, get the spare bits as well. I think they are a fiver for a set of three. The bits last well and I haven't had to replace one, but it's good to have different bits for different jobs.

 

[BrokenBiker]

cheers, that is the one I have seen on ebay for £15, still maplins brand sold through their ebay shop.

will go for that one for now, see how it does. I would say it gets used maybe twice a month most of the time

 

[PTvor]

so im looking for a mains voltage unit, preferably adjustable temperature but not really needed for the amount I use them. have used the cheapo pound shop offerings and after 15 mins they burn out and never work again.

any suggestions?

In my experience those cheap irons aren't great because the bits only last an hour or two before the solder eats into them.

I have heard of people who have an occasional need for a big soldering iron (100W or so) finding that big irons from reputable makers, Weller etc, are too dear. The big cheap irons get too hot and burn out very fast as you say. A trick is to wire a 1N4007 diode in series with them, either in the plug or in the body of the iron, so limiting the amount of juice they get. I haven't tried it.

A few years back, there were Weller 75W irons turning up at boot sales and on ebay for about £15, so I bought one of those for the occasional heavy stuff.

 

[500e]

http://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/zd-929b-89-2922/soldering-station-bs-plug/dp/SD01112
spare iron £6 ok for odd jobs get a couple of spare tips as well.
mate has had one for a few years & just had to use the second iron due to burn out,it aint quality but price is not either

 

[optima21]

so you said cheap, reliable and for occasional use......does this count?

cost £2 from a car boot sale, used once in over 5 years, next to a 2" paintbrush for comparison

for most things I use an antex 50watt temperature controlled iron thats 15 to 20 years old

 

[Robotstar5]

so you said cheap, reliable and for occasional use......does this count?

cost £2 from a car boot sale, used once in over 5 years, next to a 2" paintbrush for comparison

for most things I use an antex 50watt temperature controlled iron thats 15 to 20 years old

I inherited a couple like that from my father, remember him heating them up on a gas ring.

 

[the snooper]

you cant beat them when you need a good amount of heat, I used one years ago, great for repairing car radiators when they were made of brass

so you said cheap, reliable and for occasional use......does this count?

cost £2 from a car boot sale, used once in over 5 years, next to a 2" paintbrush for comparison

for most things I use an antex 50watt temperature controlled iron thats 15 to 20 years old

 

[Robotstar5]

I used one years ago, great for repairing car radiators when they were made of brass

Got no chance these days, I took a leaking radiator in for repair, and they said can't be done as they are made by crimping core into plastic ends today's throwaway society.

 

[the snooper]

Got no chance these days, I took a leaking radiator in for repair, and they said can't be done as they are made by crimping core into plastic ends today's throwaway society.

yeah the core's are ally aswell cheap junk

 

[Wallace]

I have a basic Weller 50w soldering station with temperature controlled tips that's at least 25 years old now, came with me as part of a redundancy package . The iron needed a replacement heating element not long after getting it home but it had been in a work environment and often left on for days at a time until it came to my bench. Bit pricey new but come up on Ebay regularly.

 

[Maker]

I learnt to solder when I was about 7 with my dads RS (Antex clone) 18 watt iron, and that was great - the lead was flexible, the body was thin, the tip lasted ages.

After that I bought by own one : an Aldi 30 watt iron and it was terrible, it came with one tip in some weird shape, the cable on it was stiffs it went where it wanted to go but the worst thing about it was the body was about an inch in diameter so you couldn't hold it like a pencil. I went back to the RS.

A few years later I got a Dremel Versatip (butane powered) but the exhaust port will always destroy the board if I'm not careful, and it is also quite chunky.

Then I got a Maplin 30 watt iron and it was fairly descent but I didn't use it for long because I got a new one:

Now I use a Weller WHS 40 and its the best thing ever. The lead it so flexible you could wrap it around your finger (not that you'd want to) the body is as thin and lightweight as a pen and the base unit has a thumb wheel to adjust the temperature* with a little led that is solid then the iron is heating up, and blinks when the correct temperature is achieved. And the tips are readily available.

I also have a 120 watt Antex pipe master that I have used (as an experiment) on some really big cables.

I would defiantly recommend either the RS or the Weller, depending on your budget.

*I leave the temperature on the highest it will go (450 C I think) to minimise heat input.

 

[PTvor]

cheers, that is the one I have seen on ebay for £15, still maplins brand sold through their ebay shop.

will go for that one for now, see how it does. I would say it gets used maybe twice a month most of the time

An advantage to buying from a Maplins shop is that it's easier to take the thing back if it goes wrong.

I found this when I was in a panic to buy a computer power supply and bought one from Maplins. The first lasted about three weeks, the second lasted until two weeks before the guarantee was up, the third lasted about three years. Admittedly, the third was a different brand from the other two, because they'd stopped selling the first brand.

Mind, the next I bought came from ebuyer by mail order and was suspiciously cheap for a 700W power supply. It's still going strong after four years.

 

[MrFluffy]

I would recommend the antex irons too, for the simple reason that the tip is held on by a expanding clip.
My current one is like triggers broom, its had about 5 tips over the past 15 years or so and I replaced the element last year too, though the plastic handle housing is the original still

Before buying antex irons, I always went to replace a tip if one was available for that brand, and found the lock screw seized beyond use, and ended up destroying the iron in the process of replacing it.
I bought a aldi temperature controlled iron in a moment of weakness this year to use alongside because I thought temperature control would make it easier for smd work after finding a resistor stuck to some desolder braid working on something and having to perform abortion on a butterfly with a fixed heat iron, and its broke already.

 

[rtbcomp]

+1 for Antex and Weller. I have a Henley-Solon somewhere, they were good.

 

[Maker]

Maplin are doing a 40 watt iron, a desoldering pump and a small tube of solder for £15