Decent Soldering Iron??

[JamBandPhan]

I am hoping somebody can steer me towards a decent soldering iron that actually works. I got a $10 basic soldering iron, which get hot as heck (burned my finger on the side of it, smart huh?), but the tip just does not want to melt the solder. It looks just like the one being sold at madvapes. Either I am just not doing this right, or my iron sux. Can anyone recommend one that works well for modding? I am thinking a finer tip might be better, trying to get down into the connectors and tight spaces. I don't want one that cost hundreds of $, just a decent affordable model that will be worth buying. I had a very frustrating time just trying to solder one wire to the center of my 510 connector this morning. I know I am new at all of this, but it's not supposed to be this difficult to melt some solder is it?

 

[karmatized]

wellar makes some awesome soldering irons. some good fine tipped ones easy to hold at that.

 

[hatchetforyou]

i use an inland 100W that i used for rc and slotcar soldering. works great, many tip styles, cheaper than a weller

 

[Rocketman]

Marlin P Jones (MPJAdotcom) has some cheaper soldering irons that are decent quality. Much better than what you will find at TheShack . They have a really cheap 30 watt with LED light, I like it, and have used very expensive equipment before.

Check out their site, it you are looking for a soldering iron then some of their other stuff might interest you also.

Another site to check out is MCMelectronicsdot com.

 

[VaporX]

wattage is important, also a clean tip

and make sure the tip doesn't wiggle, if its loose it wont get hot

 

[similost]

I have one of these soldering stations. I work on a lot of old tube amps, and really needed something with a lot of control over the heat.. you can't beat the bang for the buck with this..

I've had it over a year, and it has gotten hours and hours of trouble free use..

Amazon.com: AOYUE 936 Soldering Station: Electronics

 

[j0ker]

I have this variable station that's only $25 and it works great.

Variable Temperature Soldering Station - ACS1503

I also would have to agree with VaporX, most likely your problem is a dirty tip. If I were you I would keep a wet sponge nearby to clean the tip periodically and also just before you shut it down. Sounds like this may be the problem you are having.

 

[Rocketman]

I bought this one also, but have only used it about a month, works fine.
MINI SOLDER STATION-MPJA, Inc.

and the cheap iron to leave at work in the desk (I work Graveyard and can Hobbyshop a little)
30W LIGHTED SOLDERING IRON-MPJA, Inc.
This little cheapy I love.

Rocket

 

[schaedj]

Typically the problem is not the heat, it's the tip. Go to Radio Shack or whatever local electronics supply store you have, and get some tinning compound. It's a light acid (flux) / solder compound that cleans and etches the surface of the tip and deposits a thin layer of solder on it. Heat the iron, runn it over a wet sponge a few times (nice sizzle), then run it through the tinning compound. When you're done, you should have a nice shiny layer of solder over the end of the tip. Makes all the difference in the world.

 

[JamBandPhan]

my iron was new, I let a friend use it, and they returned it all black on the tip. I gently ran a razor over the surface, trying to clean it, and thought I got the bulk of the "gunk" off, but I guess not. I will try to clean the one I have, and still search for a better one in the mean time. I will have to check out those links. Thanks everyone for all the great advice!! this forum ROCKS!

 

[Keegan1014]

I use a butane one it works the best for me, no wait time and butane is cheep and I can even get it at a gas station.
Its very hot and fast soldering so I can hit the joint fast and get off of it.
I set up all joints to be solderd and solder all of them in about 30 sec.
I use this one its about 16 dollars
http://www.lowes.com/pd_246066-717-19132_0_?productId=3133275&Ntt=soldering&Ntk=i_products&pl=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?newSearch=true$Ntt=soldering$y=9$x=31

 

[schaedj]

my iron was new, I let a friend use it, and they returned it all black on the tip. I gently ran a razor over the surface, trying to clean it, and thought I got the bulk of the "gunk" off, but I guess not. I will try to clean the one I have, and still search for a better one in the mean time. I will have to check out those links. Thanks everyone for all the great advice!! this forum ROCKS!

Friend? Man I hate it when people return tools they've abused. I had a "friend" use my soldering gun to melt a hole in some plastic once. It took 2 hours with sandpaper and a file to get it back to functioning again.

 

[JamBandPhan]

I think I will go with a butane one since we will be traveling and camping for the summer. We already have one here, but the tip is gone, not sure if I can replace the tip or not. There is a "geek" store in town called EPO (electronic parts outlet) all the parts for any kind of electronic project you can think of in there. I will pay them a visit tomorrow see what I can find. I will also keep an eye out for good switches and anything else that might work in a mod. I'll be in there a while...it's a geeks candy store. I was hoping to be able to do the quick solder, I managed to bead some up on my connector, and then on the end of the wire, but after that, I could not get any more to melt and bond together, it just wouldn't do it. I thought it should melt pretty much on contact. I even cleaned the tip to the point of it looking shiny again.

 

[waneeb]

The solder is as important as the iron, too. I recommend avoiding the lead-free cheap junk. I have found that it has a mind of it's own and avoids contact with anything but the floor. It's worth it to spend a couple more dollars on good solder.

 

[JamBandPhan]

Can you recommend a good solder to look for? I don't know much about it myself, and all we have here says this on the label:

Lead free
Very Fine Electrical
Rosin Core Solder and Dispenser
A Low Melting Alloy with Fast Acting Flux
96% tin 4% silver .032 dia

 

[JamBandPhan]

Went to the EPO store, we found a Weller brand Magna-Lite, Auto-ignite Butane soldering iron and Lead Free Silver Solder 21 gauge .032 dia. so hopefully this will do the trick. They also had good prices on battery boxes and momentary switches, so I grabbed a few of those items too. Thanks again for all the advice! I won't have time to mess with my projects today, but I will tomorrow.

 

[JamBandPhan]

just ran into another problem with my new iron... the vent is so close to the tip and so hot it is melting my plastic case that I was trying to mod, so strike 2 on the iron. This will be a keeper for other kinds of projects ,but I think I still need another style for working on these mods. I am also having trouble getting down into the connector to get the + wire into the center. I tried popping out the middle piece, but it just broke the rubber gasket that was keeping the + and - separate, so I can't use those connectors that I broke trying to remove the middle. I am sure I will eventually get the hang of this, but I sure would be happy to pay a little more for connectors that are pre-wired.

 

[groovy]

You might try some sandpaper to clean up that dirty tip. That's what I use. Once you get down to bare metal, heat it up and melt some solder with it to "tin" the surface.

I've been using the same "cheap" soldering iron for 40 years. Paid $5 for it at RadioShack and originally used it to build fuel tanks for my model airplanes.

 

[Rocketman]

groovy,
my kind of "don't never throw anything away thinking.

My U.S.Navy borrowed iron died just recently, and had to replace it. I don't do shack (unless absolutely necessary).
I bought both of the ones in one of my previous posts (MPJA). I think the LED one was like $6. I like it. Iron plated tip, hot, nice.

and I got out of the Navy in 79.

Rocket

 

[Keegan1014]

jambandphan03 pay atention to what your doing every mod I have made
was with this type iron.
but then again I braze for a liveing with oxy acetylene on very small copper tubeing.
around tons of wires so im used to it.
think of it as welding you must control the heat
remember heat rises