I need a new Soldering Iron

[Overclocked]

So which one to get? Ive seen some nice ones at Jameco, But here are my needs:

SMD
Through hole
Flexiblity (various sized tips) No hot air please.
And Probably Adjustable.

I use a 15W Soldering Iron From Radioshack, and I think I may need a new one.

While we are on the subject of new equipment, I need a new Multimeter too. I know fluke is the Cadillac of Meters, but which other name brands are best?


Budget for Soldering Iron: 50$ to 75$
Meter: $50 to $200


I was looking at the Fluke 179 Meter, But $250....Hmm I guess If I am going to be a engineer, I shouldnt skimp on the meter...

And is Trms a good thing? I know that, TRMS = sqrt (Edc^2 + EAC^2 ) But doesnt that mean I cant measure a True AC signal? Ie, without the DC.

 

[3v0]

We have talked about soldering irons in the past. You should be able to find the threads if you search for them.

MPJA sells a few temp controlled stations in that range.

 

[Overclocked]

We have talked about soldering irons in the past. You should be able to find the threads if you search for them.

MPJA sells a few temp controlled stations in that range.

Found the thread your talking about! Thanks

 

[Sceadwian]

I have the MPJA model 301-A temp controlled station, I'd highly recommend it. Another good buy if you're getting a new iron is the Soldering version of the helping hands that they sell. It's only about 3 dollars and has a big magnifying glass and a pair of positionable beefy aligator clips for holding work with a solder 'spring' holder built into the base, for the price it's hard to not tack one on to a soldering iron order, and for whatever reason the soldering version of the helping hands is up to 4 dollars cheaper than the other helping hands they sell.

 

[3v0]

That helping hands is a great buy, Radio Shacks wants $15 for what may be the same thing.

I have the MPJA LED DISPLAY SOLDER STATION ZD-929C[FONT=arial,verdana][/FONT]The only problem I have with it is that the yellow soft grip has come loose and slides down the handle. Maybe a drop of hot melt glue under or below would keep it in place.

I think someone posted that they had problems with the cord between the base and the iron failing. Could depend on the level of use. So far mine has been OK.



**broken link removed**

 

[Speakerguy]

Buy a Fluke 177 or 179 if you really are going to be an engineer for a living. My low-paying, super-cheap crappy company even bought each of us in the electronics group their own 179. Fluke has its reputation for a reason. We have several other brands that we use as our toss-around, leave-around-the-lab meters. They're probably $50 or maybe a little more each, a variety of brands. For ISO we had to calibrate all of those against our factory-calibrated bench multimeters (5.5 or 6.5 digit precision, I can't remember. Keithley is the brand). The Fluke was leaps beyond the others in accuracy vs. the bench multimeter.

 

[Boncuk]

Soldering iron

superior and reliable tips are sold with ERSA soldering irons. I'm using them for more than 30 years and didn't have to replace one of them. Temperature stability of ERSA soldering irons is outstanding. They use temperature elements (like they are used to measure gas temperature in jet engines) very close to the end of the tip.

For SMD-soldering I suggest "wave soldering". It works simply and efficiently. The tips have a little "dimple" to fill with soldering tin. The SMD-part is fixed diagonally first and then apply lots of flux all over its pins. Move the tip along the row of pins and due to capilar force a little portion of the tin is applied to each pin. With a little experience your board will look like made in an SMD-oven.

Check out https://www.elv.de. If you run into language problems please post them here. I'll lead you to the proper page. ELV delivers all over the world.

Regards

Boncuk

 

[Sceadwian]

Bonuk, the 'cheap' iron I got from MPJA is designed the same way. The ceramic heating element is in the same package as the thermocouple so temperature control is virtually dead on. The tip is as light weight as possible but still has enough mass to keep the tip temperature descent. It came with an extra heating/sense element, I'll let you know if I ever need to use it.