What makes a soldering iron good?

[fretlessman71]

To the untrained eye (i.e., MINE), a soldering iron just gets hot enough to melt solder onto two items you wish to connect.

And different tips can be used for different purposes.

But why would you pay $200 for one if you can get one for $20 or less?

I'm quite serious. What qualities does a really good soldering iron have that a bad one doesn't? Or vice versa? And is there really such thing as a soldering gun?


(Humorous aside: When I first saw the word, and the object, I thought it was a SMOLDERING iron, because, well, that's just what it seemed to be doing. )

 

[AndrewClaycomb]

the more expensive ones will have adjustable wattage. For most jobs that doesn't matter, but for technical circuit board soldering it's nice to adjust how hot the gun is.

The more expensive ones will be able to get REALLY hot too.

 

[musicelectronix]

If all you do is fixing instrument cables occasionally, there is no bad soldering iron in your dictionary

That said, there are fatures like heat-up time, heating element, temperature stability (I do not mean "adjustable" power, I mean if I set it to 480 degrees, it should stay at 480+-3 degrees. Regular irons just heat up and do not have a stable temperature), fine tips, ESD safe, tip durability (radioshack iron lasts me 2 days while my xytronic lasts about a month), etc, etc, etc, etc...

Last word: I take "weller copy" irons sold at eBay anyday over any iron you can get from hardware stores or radioshack; regardless of the price...

 

[searching]

Having temperature regulation makes a big difference. If the iron is too hot or too cold it makes things difficult. I was amazed at how much easier things got once I stopped using a cheap radio shack iron and got a decent (used) Weller. Shorter time for heating up and recovery is nice too. You don't have to pay $200, I think I paid around $60 for my WTCPT on ebay.

 

[fdeck]

musicelectronix pretty much covers it. I would only add a couple things: Comfortable grip, and a convenient stand. I do all of my own gear repairs, DIY'ing, and light duty production. I considered xytronic, but the one I wanted was out of stock at the opportune moment, so I ended up with a Hakko 936 that I am happy with.

 

[niftydog]

Just to expand on musicelectronix's comments regarding temp. stability - the benefit of this may not be immediately obvious.

When you attempt to solder a large joint it literally sucks heat out of the soldering iron tip. A low quality soldering iron takes a long time to recover this heat, if it can recover it at all. However, a good soldering iron can very quickly restore (or maintain) the heat in the tip. This means less time to get the joint up to soldering temperature and less chance for the heat to radiate to parts you DON'T want to get hot.

A lot of folks around here would know what it's like to destroy a pot trying to solder a ground wire to the casing - that is likely the result of a crappy soldering iron and/or poor technique.



Oh yeah, yes, there is such a thing as a soldering gun but it's not nearly as exciting as it sounds.

 

[quigg]

Soldering guns would be cool if they slung molten solder at your battle opponents.

 

[Makaio]

Further expanding on the value of temperature control: If too much heat gets to components such as capacitors and resistors, you can change the value of the component and/or reduce its life span without any visible damage. You can have a great looking soldering job and not get the tone you expected due to changes caused by overheating.

 

[Bassenstien]

For me personally:

Good tip selection
Reliable
Adjustable temp

 

[fretlessman71]

Soldering guns would be cool if they slung molten solder at your battle opponents.

Did anybody else hear Strong Bad's voice in their head as they read this?

 

[BassScum]

It was talked about the last few days here.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=476560

 

[fretlessman71]

It was talked about the last few days here.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=476560

Not really - it was ARGUED about by people who were sure they were right without explaining what made a good one and why. (You'll notice my question in there being deftly ignored in favor of the shouting match, hence the new thread. ) But the link to that thread is prudent here, so thanks.

 

[selfblessed]

I learned to solder with a soldering gun. I can still hear that sound. ClickGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRClick.

 

[selfblessed]

But yeah. You got to love a good soldering "station"...The tip is always hot, there is somewhere to clean the tip. They are worth the investment, Well if you use it much.

 

[fretlessman71]

selfblessed, you're my hero! (And so is your avatar. )

What are the advantages to a gun rather than an iron?

 

[Bardley]

I agree with the above that the quick recovery and stable temp are important. Not just for speed, but to protect the stuff you are working on.

Also the comfortable grip that was also mentioned.

I like the Weller and the Hakko stuff having used both.

 

[Scott in Dallas]

I'm not the world's expert, but having done soldering since it was my first job at 14, I've found that proper prep, setup and technique make a bigger difference than the iron. I learned on Weller stations that cost several hundred dollars, but an inexpensive iron with a good clean tip will do about all the guitar wiring you want.

And soldering guns are great for quick jobs or projects where you are working in an attic or hanging upside down. I use mine all the time for things where I don't really have time or space to set up. Plus it has a built in light, which is good for old eyes.

 

[Rick Auricchio]

I think a soldering gun has a few disadvantages over an iron.

1. It takes several seconds to heat up. An iron is always hot.

2. It produces a strong magnetic field.

3. It's heavy in your hand.

4. Guns don't have temp regulation. They're just big transformers that heat the tip with high current.

One advantage of a heavy gun is that you can get lots of heat for soldering big things. Irons are generally for finer work. That said, I haven't used a gun since I was a teenager...and I'm 56.

 

[fdeck]

I love having my big old Weller gun in the garage for dirty work. But I would not go out and buy one.

One thing to consider with any tool (or musical instrument) is that "good" is relative to what you want to do with it. A good soldering iron for commercial production is not necessarily a good soldering iron for a bassist to keep in their tool bag for making the occasional cable. The commercial tool is used in a "time is money" environment, where consistency is vital, and where comfort and safety are required by law. There are soldering / rework stations costing many hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

Also (like musical instruments) many of us lean towards professional tools simply for the joy of having and using them, aside from any hard-nosed business analysis.

 

[wilser]

I have a variable temp weller. It's a very nice piece of equipment. I paid about $120 and got free shipping plus a $25 mail-in rebate. The nice thing about it is that it heats up to whatever temp you set it to in about 10 secs. And you can leave it on all day long (it's a production piece of equipment). It continuously monitors the tip's temp and adjusts itself to keep it constant. Interchangable tips for different soldering jobs (tips are about $5 each), super light and padded hand piece. Plus it has auto-shutoff after 90 mins, and a status LED to tell you what it's doing. Best money ever spent on any electronics equipment I have (apart from my microcontroller prototyping station!).