Soldering Work Station Recommendations

[Leaky88]

Hi,


I'm looking to buy a decent Soldering Work Station for home use. The market is full and the prices insane. A

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Leaky

 

[kd3pc]

I use a decades old Weller WTCPT station and it still works fine, it was $80-90 at fry's in sunnyvale way back when. Used on the big auction sites.

Were I to do it today, I would compare this unit to one of the comparable Hakko units, I have used the Hakko a few times and it is very comfortable and is as good or better than the Weller at the $125 budget.

Either will last you a lifetime.

 

[Brownsfan]

I have a Hakko. It's awesome.

 

[Infinia]

The market is full and the prices insane. A

care to elaborate?
For home gamers a $15 Hakko copy/knockoff to a 100W Weller soldering gun is decent enough. HobbyKing.com for the 1st, has good build quality over most of the others.
If youre going to repair modern electronics E.g. SMT, I'd look at a hot air rework station.

 

[cnk]

I have a Hakko 936 which has served me well. They discontinued it and it's been replaced by the FX-888D. The TrakPower TK-950 is supposed to be an OEM version of the Hakko 936 so that's another option.

 

[pstemari]

The Hakko is well-regarded. I have a Weller WES51 which does a fine job.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[RCsGarage]

I have CS 70w for 8 yrs, I do a lot of LED work and it's held up great. They have good prices.

https://www.circuitspecialists.com/soldering-stations

 

[jallyn]

I also have the Weller WES51. It is a production machine. A Hakko would be good, too.

 

[DHCrocks]

I got a Hakko FX-888D a few months ago. damn, I don't know why I waited so long to replace my 25 year old radio shack dual wattage station. I'm simply amazed on how fast this thing heats up and can recover. it truly is so much easier to solder now. I would recommend you get a selection of tips along with the iron. using a higher heat i can get in and out much quicker so the components don't get heat soaked.

 

[navyeoseabee]

i wanted a hakko 936 my buddy swears by his. but ended up with this one and have improved my soldering skills very much over my old weller.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXATBK&P=ML

 

[Jazzman442]

Weller or Unger they are the best. If you want something just to solder go to parts express they have some wellar knock offs for less than $20.

 

[danstead]

I have and we use Hakko 936's at work. 8 different workstations and no issues over the last 5 years. Many different tips available.

 

[bacpacker]

I've got an older Weller that has held up well to lots of use and does everything I have thrown at it. Used one's can be picked up pretty cheaply. Just buy a few tips to keep on hand.

 

[D2R]

Hakko 926 here, must be close to or over 20 years old now.

 

[balthor]

Hakko

 

[BreeStephany]

I have a Weller WES51 and absolutely love it. Consumables are easy to find for it and it has great temperature control.

 

[jahn]

I have a Tenma for home use, been good enough for me. At work I've had Wellers and they are great. Heard good things about the Hakkos.

Tenma is from MCM Electronics

 

[Keel]

Any of these do surface mount

 

[Jawn]

What type of soldering are you doing? Here's what I have:

Weller 8200 soldering gun - great for larger gauge wire, general purpose stuff.

Hakko FX888D - my go-to for electronic components, small wire, through-hole PCB work, and with the right tip and a steady hand I'm sure it would be fine for some SMT work.

Others I've used in the same category as the Hakko - Weller WES51, WESD51, WD1000-series, and WTCPT. Any of these are great.

 

[matt_m]

deleted

 

[Leaky88]

Hi,

Appreciate all the feedback. I have irons for GP work, but wanting to explore SMT more. Tired of sending thing off and paying $500 to get a SMD replaced. Thanks again.

Leaky

 

[6PTsocket]

Weller or Unger they are the best. If you want something just to solder go to parts express they have some wellar knock offs for less than $20.

Unger was bought by Weller many years ago. The brand is long gone. Weller rebranded Ungar's solder station and when that model came to an end there was nothing left of Ungar. I have that solder station, branded as Ungar it has been very good.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Jazzman442]

Unger was bought by Weller many years ago. The brand is long gone. Weller rebranded Ungar's solder station and when that model came to an end there was nothing left of Ungar. I have that solder station, branded as Ungar it has been very good.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Wow I have had mine for many many years.Thank you for letting me know I have not shopped for one they just will not break.

The only one I purchased was for my son to play with and I got it a parts Express. it is a Weller look alike.

 

[bigdav160]

I have a chinese Aoyue. Never had an issue with it although I haven't been brave enough to try surface mounted items.

 

[PhysicsDude]

I rolled the dice and bought one of the cheap Chinese units off Amazon.

2 in 1 SMD Soldering Hot Air Rework Station + Stand 3 Nozzle 5 Tips 852d+ Iron Yihua https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AMC0L2M/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I'm quite happy with it though. It works just as well as a comparable Weller setup. Time will tell if it's durable or not.

 

[pedrodagr8]

I have a Hakko 936 which has served me well. They discontinued it and it's been replaced by the FX-888D. The TrakPower TK-950 is supposed to be an OEM version of the Hakko 936 so that's another option.

I have not seen any signs that the TekPower is anything more than a decent quality knockoff of the Hakko 936. I have yet to find any good teardowns sitting the insides, in particular showing the chips used and the iron taken apart.

Weller or Unger they are the best. If you want something just to solder go to parts express they have some wellar knock offs for less than $20.

Weller is no longer the tops in quality. Unfortunately, they are a part of Cooper Tools now and since the time they were taken over the quality has pretty much **** the bed. Really really unfortunate but I cant recommend them anymore.

Brands I DO recommend:

• Hakko (only buy from authorized retailers because around 95% of the FX888D on eBay are fake)
• Ersa, which are more easily found in Europe than Hakko. Quality ranges from Hakko level to JBC level
• Metcal/Oki - uses RF heating to power the iron. Curie point of the metal in the tip determines the set temp.
• Thermtronics which was founded by ex-metcal engineers when Metcals patents ran out.
• JBC - truly some of the best, most well designed, irons in the game but cost a pretty penny
• Pace - they used to be excellent, not sure if they still are.

Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

 

[DFB]

Back when i was in my electronics career we had Hexacon solder stations for all our component assembling. They meet all our Mil spec requirements. I have a Thermo Trac 1002. I don't see most people getting one though and I'd say of those < $100 analog units like from Weller or Hakko will do you just fine.

If I was ever to get a new one I would be interested in a digital unit though

What I really need is good cordless one

 

[mrborohachi]

I personally own a Hakko FX888-D (not Japan made). At my Fiber Optics job we have some Wellers, 3-4 new Lakers (yellow/purple color) Hakko stations and a lot of older 80's black HAkko-937 digital stations.

If I was to do it all over again I would get an older Black Hakko 937 station (made in Japan). The newer Lakers color digital station is less 1 interface button so you have to morose code a lot more in order to select/change the temp you want. That alone pisses me off and keeps me from using any of the new digital stations at work. I personally have not noticed any noticeable difference in heat recovery time from the newer stations compared to the past gen older Black stations.

Hakko has the best tip shape selection compared to any other company, with shite tons of online retailers/wholesalers. At my work most all of our soldering stations are on for 3+ hours per day and there has not been a single station down for the 1.5 years that I have been there. We only have Hakko de-soldering guns.

I got my station from http://www.bdent.com/hakko-fx888d-soldering-bench-kit.html

They sell on eBay, but if you call them directly talk to Bud. You can select what ever tips you want instead of the "package" on the listing. Over the phone they claimed to be Hakko's largest stocking online retailer.

 

[scissorman]

I also have a Hakko 936 that has treated me well so far. My only issue is that this model was discontinued just after I bought it and now i'm not sure where to buy tips for it.

 

[pedrodagr8]

I also have a Hakko 936 that has treated me well so far. My only issue is that this model was discontinued just after I bought it and now i'm not sure where to buy tips for it.

You are in luck! The Hakko 936 and FX888D use the same tips. So you have a veritable cornucopia of tips to choose from still.

Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

 

[scissorman]

You are in luck! The Hakko 936 and FX888D use the same tips. So you have a veritable cornucopia of tips to choose from still.

Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

Thanks for that info.

 

[pedrodagr8]

Thanks for that info.

I will also advise you this. Get only genuine Hakko tips from a reputable source. They will last you ten times longer then the cheap *** knockoff and fake tips from eBay. I went through packs of cheap tips in the same amount of time I've been using this one genuine tip on my FX888D.

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[scissorman]

I will also advise you this. Get only genuine Hakko tips from a reputable source. They will last you ten times longer then the cheap *** knockoff and fake tips from eBay. I went through packs of cheap tips in the same amount of time I've been using this one genuine tip on my FX888D.

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Yeah, i'm not one to use knockoff pieces. I've had my Hakko 936 for probably 7 years now and still using the same tip but i've come into a situation recently where I need a much finer pointed tip.

 

[Davefr]

Weller is no longer the tops in quality. Unfortunately, they are a part of Cooper Tools now and since the time they were taken over the quality has pretty much **** the bed. Really really unfortunate but I cant recommend them anymore.

^^^Totally untrue. Weller provides a wide range of solder stations from cheap Chinese to high end German.

 

[byoungblood]

Hakko 888. I used mine to assemble 3 SMT kits with little difficulty. I just wonder why it took me so long to finally get a soldering station vs a pencil iron.

 

[Citation]

I can say I've been very happy with my Hakko 936 but that's not to say other irons aren't also very good. I lucked into the Hakko so there wasn't any other selection criteria.

I would HIGHLY recommend a hot air rework station as well as the traditional iron. At my last job we had an Aoyue. I don't think it was as good as some I've used but the price was right. The one PhysicsDude suggested looks like an interesting option.

 

[6PTsocket]

I have not seen any signs that the TekPower is anything more than a decent quality knockoff of the Hakko 936. I have yet to find any good teardowns sitting the insides, in particular showing the chips used and the iron taken apart.


Weller is no longer the tops in quality. Unfortunately, they are a part of Cooper Tools now and since the time they were taken over the quality has pretty much **** the bed. Really really unfortunate but I cant recommend them anymore.

Brands I DO recommend:

• Hakko (only buy from authorized retailers because around 95% of the FX888D on eBay are fake)
• Ersa, which are more easily found in Europe than Hakko. Quality ranges from Hakko level to JBC level
• Metcal/Oki - uses RF heating to power the iron. Curie point of the metal in the tip determines the set temp.
• Thermtronics which was founded by ex-metcal engineers when Metcals patents ran out.
• JBC - truly some of the best, most well designed, irons in the game but cost a pretty penny
• Pace - they used to be excellent, not sure if they still are.

Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

Cooper tools no longer exists, for quite a few years. Cooper tools was merged with the hand tool divisions of Danaher to form Apex. Apex was then sold to Bain Capital. Before all this, Cooper owned Weller for a long time, along with many other popular brands that are all now part of Apex.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[tool_scrounge]

Brands I DO recommend:

• Metcal/Oki - uses RF heating to power the iron. Curie point of the metal in the tip determines the set temp.
  

I am a big fan of Metcal. Super fast tip heating. No waiting around like my old Weller. Very popular in labs from what I have seen.

 

[6PTsocket]

I am a big fan of Metcal. Super fast tip heating. No waiting around like my old Weller. Very popular in labs from what I have seen.

Metcal: not in the home hobbyist price range. I would never put that kind of money into something I did not use every day or that some employer was not paying for.

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[M6erfan]

I also have a Weller WES51 and it's been great. For me it was a toss up between that and the equivalent Hakko. Price was the only factor that won in favor of the Weller...