Best Soldering Station

Enter Hakko in search box.  Lotz of good thoughts there.

Second the Hakko - Best one I have ever used

The Hakko FX-888D, it's around $100 and is one of the best soldering stations I've used over 50+ years.  I also have the FG-100 calibrator, but I got it when there were cheap Chinese clones, I don't see them nowadays.  Wait, just found the calibrator, eBay: 174302506362

Hakko FP101, I think. The tip and the heater are one element, and the base regulates the tip to one of four temperatures. You can buy different tips for what you are soldering. Gets to temperature within 15 seconds. The FP101 has probably been replaced by now with a newer model. I went in with Charlie Tucek (sp?) on a two-for-one special.

I see the Hakko's on Ebay. Are these the real thing or knock off's. I don't wanna buy a fake.

Agree with everything Michael and others said above about Hakko.

Two points Sean.

First, your still pretty young and an investment in a better tool now will pay off for you with a better experience for a longer time.

Second, I know Michael and John are electronics guys who have used other brands and still recommend Hakko. Speaking for myself, I was a "Weller" guy and thought how much could a different soldering iron/station make? Boy was I wrong. Ignorance is no reason to ignore the advise above.

I do have and use the FP-101, but I am sure it is now discontinued, so take a look at the other Hakko recommendations.

Charlie

Reliable source. I buy for home and work from these guys.

https://www.tequipment.net/Hak...ions/?b=y&v=7765

Pete

What PETE stated.  I have one.  Great price too.

https://www.tequipment.net/Hak...ions/?b=y&v=7765

I had a Weller soldering station for many years before the Hakko.  It was fine, but when I needed better temperature control for a lot more surface mount stuff, I picked up the Hakko, and I have never regretted it.

The calibrator I referenced is for sure a Chinese knockoff, but it's pretty accurate.  Truthfully, I have never quite understood the $200 price for the Hakko FG-100 or FG-101 calibrator, it's just a K-type thermocouple and a display!  Many years ago I designed aircraft engine instruments with the K-type thermocouple, I know how simple the measurement circuit is.  There's no magic in the design, and even for a brand name it should be in the $30-40 range, not $200!  If it costs more than $10 max to build, they're doing it wrong.  It's twice the price of the soldering iron, that's crazy!

One soldering tool will not do everything. A Weller gun is still king of track soldering--no exceptions. Get one of the higher-wattage units if you can.

For electronics, I use 2 soldering stations. One of them is no longer made. The other is from Circuit Specialists called Blackjack Solderwerks. It is my go-to tool for electronics. And they are cheap enough to keep two--one on the bench and one at the layout. Check them out here: https://www.circuitspecialists...lackjack-solderwerks

If I am in for a long session, I just dig out an old 40 watt or so soldering iron and keep it hot all day. 

Don't ignore flux. Good flux is worth every penny. The best I have found is SRA--reviewed here: https://www.amazon.com/pcr/Bes...x-Reviews/8107037011

Soldering is taken for granted. It's a "gimme" skill....I mean who can't solder? Anyone can, right? But soldering is a task that rewards attention to detail. Doing it right isn't hard--true. But every connection requires just a touch of concentration. If you are distracted, the whole thing can get messy.

Good luck!

Don Merz

I have the Weller 100/140, the old one with the nuts and not the troublesome set screws.  It has never failed to provide plenty of heat for anything I've needed to do.  I use the Deoxit Rosin flux when flux is called for. 

I suppose the cheap soldering station is OK for working around the layout and casual wiring.  However, I would strongly recommend against cutting corners if you're doing PCB work, good temperature control a must.  The Hakko has really excellent temperature control and 70 watts on tap to maintain the proper temperature.  When you're soldering a tiny FET to a $200 PCB, not lifting the traces and ruining the board will convince you that the extra $60 you paid for the Hakko was a good investment.

I have a Weller 100 watt soldering gun that is 62 years old and works fine.  This one has built,  when a teenager, many Knight (Allied Radio) 10 in 1 radio transmitter, amp etc. and other things with tubes. 

I also have a few of the newer Weller 100/140 watt soldering guns picked up at garage sales over the years at garage sales for $5 or less each.  Most people do not use them much and they were like new, some with cases.   I have one in the shop, garage and train room.  I keep spare soldering tips as they are only thing that wears out.  Tips attach by way of a two nuts.  Love them.

Charlie

Hakko is the only way to go.  Take it form a Electronic/Avionics Tech who uses one every day with no issues.  Watch Electronics experts on Youtube, they all use Hakko.

GRJ, what briefly are the temperatures that you use for not lifting a trace...I don't lift them often but I have lifted an isolated solder via in the past. I generally use a pretty hot weller iron set to around 650-700 and get on and off in about 2 seconds or less. Seems like hot is faster and less likely to heat up the chip or component. But maybe I'm sometimes too hot.

In your experience do the 100 dollar weller irons with knob and pointer to temperature numbers overshoot, or are just inaccurate? In other words, was the hysteresis too great? I've been temped to buy a Hakko when I can ever get over having a fortune in Weller replacement tips.

I haven't owned a new Weller, so I can't comment on those.  However, for soldering SMT stuff, I use 500F (measured at the tip), and for bigger stuff like D-Pak FET packages, I'll crank it up to 550F.  If I'm doing larger components on thru-hole boards, sometimes I use 600F for quick soldering.

Soldering temperatures for SMT parts range in the 260C to 300C (500F to 572F) range for ten seconds maximum.  Since I like my stuff not to be abused, I try to stick to those ratings.  The D-Pak stuff normally has the higher 300C soldering rating.

IMO, 650F-700F is too hot.  I used to do that, but when I lost a couple of parts, I started paying more attention to the actual component ratings.  When I was doing mostly thru-hole stuff, the temperature wasn't nearly as critical.  Other than some diodes, LED's, and other sensitive parts, you'd probably get away with 650F for a long time if you are only doing thru-hole work.  When I was building my flickering firebox modules with four thru-hole LED's, I was losing a lot of them working at 600F, I dropped it to 500F, and I haven't lost one since.

Thank you. Good info and I'll try to follow it. I think I'll test my weller with the thermocouple I bought awhile ago just to see. But I'm leaning toward a digital display Hakko.

Once you have the Hakko, it'll be hard to go back to the old iron.

Kind of like "Hard to keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Paree'", eh?

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

The Hakko FX-888D, it's around $100 and is one of the best soldering stations I've used over 50+ years.  I also have the FG-100 calibrator, but I got it when there were cheap Chinese clones, I don't see them nowadays.  Wait, just found the calibrator, eBay: 174302506362

This is the one I was looking at.  Sounds like the one to go with for a pretty good price.  I repair and refurbish a lot of old Video games systems computers and on some of these old boards it is so easy to lift a trace with my crappy iron.

Is the temp set on unit accurate to what the actual temp tip is?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...24-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee