soldering iron recommendations

[invisibledan]

looking for a soldering iron (as its no longer practical to keep borrowing my dads!)
nothing flash but i think it might not be a bad idea to get a variable temp. type as it seems more flexible
mainly ill be making/repairing leads, knocking up/repairing the odd circuit board/power supply
any brands to steer clear of or is it all much of a muchness?
ta.x

[julian]

my very old soldering iron broke the other day. i was in the middle of a job, and couldnt be botherd to mail order anything, so i just drove over to maplins and bought the same one again.

my friend is some hi-fi enthusiast who gets sucked into the "this leads made from crystalized virgins teardrops" kinda thing. he laughs at my equipment, but, fuck-it, it works...

ill look at what mine is later. its about a tenners worth, or somthing, and does the job (with 60/40 solder) fine

[invisibledan]

yeah, unless youre doing super duper high tech basic is probably the way to go. ta

that hi fi stuff cracks me up...a mate bought some leads for somethign but got the cheaper ones as he didnt realy care but on the cable it said "Oxygen is Free" obviously trying to appear to be better quality than it was!

[r_v]

i'm in the market for a new soldering iron as well. i lost my old one in claton studios a while back - when you have to start taking a soldering iron to gigs 'just in case' you know it's time to buy some new gear!

i've usually found that, for making cables and doing dirty fixes, anything will do - it's only if you're having to do a lot of work on surface mount boards that variable temp is needed. considering board repair used to be a big part of my job, i am still completely bloody shit at soldering. anyone got a link to a good tutorial on dealing properly with various types of soldering scenario?

[Yer_Maw]

make magazine.

[KuffDam]

where can you buy leaded solder these days? nudge, nudge.

[julian]

Originally Posted by r_v

i've usually found that, for making cables and doing dirty fixes, anything will do

my soldering 'iron' in my vehical tool box is actually one of those windproof cigarett lighters that have the conical flame : /

i keep meening to get a proper gas one, but it never seems like high priority, so i make do with a cigarett lighter when i dont have a power point!

ive even done stuff on my old cooker before, when i havent had the wattage to heat large items from my normal iron. (i may well buy a higher wattage iron at some point for doing larger items)


anyway - back to usefull information:

if youre just wanting a basic iron, look at the wattage. higher ones will have a higher tip temperature. then work out the solder youll be using. the lead free stuff needs a higher temp. i use leadded 60/40 stuff, which is standard, but maplin only sell lead free now (i think).

then look at the item youre soldering too. If youre trying to join onto a large chunk of metal itll act as a heatsink, and youll need a higher wattage iron to get a good bond. The only time i ever run into this doing electronics is doing things like soldering ground wires to the back of metal pot bodies, or removing large items from pcbs (again, like when a metal boddied pot is supported by solder points to the pot body).

higher ampage cable would need a hotter iron also, but youre probably not going to encounter that in standard audio electronics, even for the mains leads. (think car headlights / alternators etc.)

i keep away from surface mount stuff, but, if you only need to do one item every 6 months or so, with care, you can do that with a standard iron.

for what you mention, i guess id just look at one of the 18w or so antex ones, as itlld hopefully let you use the more avilible lead free solder, without having to resort to mail order. 25w would possibly be a bit much, but the i know someone who repairs synths for a living, and thats what they use for evreything (including surface mount)

really thought im sure you just want a product number....

my own iron is an 15w antex one (c15 i think the model is), but, again, be warned that thats just the type of thing ive been using since i was about ten, so its the one i know... im sure other people would recommend somthing far more fancy, and it definatly wont do lead free solder very well

another thing to get is a stand. you might be able to get a pack, with a stand and iron. if not, make sure the stand fits the iron, as there are variations. its not essential, obviously, but it meens you dont have to hang the iron over the edge of the desk every time you want to put it down.

...and itll hold a sponge. wet tissue on a plate will do, but you may as well make life easy : )

Originally Posted by KuffDam

where can you buy leaded solder these days? nudge, nudge.

any of the usual mail order places (rapid, farnell, rs, etc) would carry leadded solder, although youll find most have a minimum order value of about £25 (+vat)

if youre really keen, ive got an order going in (soon / when i get arround to it) and ive got to post some items too. if it all lines up, itll be pretty much zero effort for me to forward you some.

[KuffDam]

ah ok.. I figured you couldn't buy it anymore due to the regulations.. no worries I'll find some locally.

So it's only lead solder in products that is a no-no these days?

[julian]

new end-user products have to be lead free in the eu.

theres some exemptions for military use, and stuff like that.

however, youre still allowed to repair old equipment like-for-like

...or somthing like that anyhow.

(so, yes, leadded solder is still avilible)