Soldering iron recommendations

[Kayos]

Personally I'd just lump up and buy a Weller as the cheaper end of decent. A quick search shows some temp controlled ones on Amazon for £150 but you've not specified a budget .

My old Weller I was given by my Dad when I was about 8 so that's been used, abused, thrown about, dropped, stored in a damp shed and it's still going strong some 30 years later. Still in use every other day and tips are readily available from the likes of RS, Farnell, CPC, ebay, Aliexpress and pretty much every other shopping platform.

I've no personal experience with the bigger tips/handles but I really like the hot swap nature of the JBC T115 (takes C115 cartridges) as I can flick between tips in seconds for PCB work. The T210 and T245 are also hot swappable I think so I'd be tempted by a base station that supports those (handles are available from Aliexpress etc., for next to nothing). I've got the JBC Nase station which is not what you want but you can get cheaper base stations. I built an AxxSolder pcb so I could run it off an M18 battery.

I did build an AxxSolder so I could use my JBC

Weller is a bit out of budget but I agree, it is a great option

I had a Weller many years ago, before everything went temp controlled, had a soldering gun as well that was repaired (not replaced) under warranty

Also no idea what happened to them

 

[Kayos]

I know you want a mains powered one but I just recently bought a soldering iron that uses a tool battery. It’s very controllable and heats up in seconds. Mine works on the Milwaukee platform but others are available

Is that a base station type?

I do have quite a few 18v Makita batteries still, I'm just a bit of a luddite with stuff and forget how far battery stuff has come

 

[tigdlo]

Another vote for Yihua I got a 939D about 6 years ago, takes cheap readily available tips, works perfectly. Worth the current £35ish asking price.

 

[Turbo]

Another recommendation for the T12.
Review here.

Review Thread 'T12 Soldering Iron'

Oct 11, 2019

Utterly utterly fed up with traditional soldering irons and the dire performance they give I decided to get myself a new iron. I have been through a plethora of the standard type where you have a tip either inside or on top of a heating element. I hate the lack of tip temperature from the heating element being miles away and usually none to very little temperature monitoring.

I'm looking at you... ​

I had a look about and the Hakka T12 based series look fantastic but I'm cheap and don't want to pay fantastic prices for it Fortunately our friends on...

• eSCHEn
• Replies: 108
• forum: Tools, Materials and Techniques

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Buy one of the makita battery adaptors aka hot wheels adaptors off aliexpress and you can power it from your tool batteries.
Also works from a laptop type charger.

I really like mine and the adjustable temp means you can whack it up for dismantling stuff joined with lead free solder.

 

[Kram]

I havent yet found one that does what I want - cordless with say, two or three 21700 cells so that it can maintain power while in use, but with a dock that will rapidly recharge when its stowed in the normal way.

Milwaukee do their M12 iron but its extremely basic with 90w, 400c temp and not adjustable, so I imagine not good for anything delicate and great for burning up tips. Looks like it would use same tips as the cheapy irons. Fairly expensive for whats essentially a cheapy 12v iron in a battery compatable plastic casing.

I'm half tempted by this but I dont think USB C is good for the job. If it had some battery and a connector at the other end for stowing in a holder..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BVQMPB56

I had a mains cheapy which worked fine. Replaced the awful cable with the thinnest rubber flex I could get. Its currently lost, somewhere in my pile of junk.. I have a few batteries that need soldering.

 

[Kram]

Had another look and tbere is a decent cordless docking type like what I describe above. It uses super capacitor instead of batteries, which I guess makes a lot of sense, should last forever. Downside, is the price, £120!

Miniware TS1C

Miniware TS1C Cordless Soldering Iron

The Miniware TS1C is a cordless high capacity rechargeable soldering iron.

www.hobbyrc.co.uk

 

[bourbon]

I dabble with stained glass, (building and restoration) I've got an 80 watt iron for that. (I forget the make). For PCB and electronic soldering, I Have a Draper 25 watt.