Metcal Solder Station - Any Recommendations?

[dlt123]

Hi, I feel it's time for me to update from my $10 soldering iron to a better unit. I am thinking of getting a (used) Metcal Solder station, but I'm not sure which one.

I've been searching threads here and have not been able to find answers to a couple of questions I have about the Metcal Solder stations.

The MX500 is out of my price range so that leaves me with either the SP200, STSS-001, STSS-002.

Does anyone know what the differences are between these units other than price?

I've noticed a lot of SP200 power supplies for sale on eBay so this makes me wonder it there are problems with the SP200 Metcal unit. Does the number of SP200 power supplies offered for sale on eBay reflect popularity rather then model problems or is this a model plagued with problems that I should stay away from?

Does anyone have insights into any of the 001, 002, SP200 models or possibly own one of these and can give me feedback?

Also, I'm not sure if I will need the User Manuals for any of these units, but is there some place that I can get the user manuals if I need them?


Thanks in advance and Any help is appreciated.
Regards,
DennisT

 

[raybo]

Nothing is wrong with your iron that a new tip can resolve. heat is heat no atter where it comes from. regulated heat is beast for $$$ to fit the job. all you need is a wet sponge the right solder grade and you are in bussiness. but if you must spend $$ try WELLER,KYTRONICS. Good luck

 

[Jack Luminous]

I don't know about the Metcal stations, but you can get a nice Xytronic station for less than $100USD. There are many different tips available for them and they work great.
I replaced my $10 Radio Shack iron a couple years ago with this one: https://www.elexp.com/sdr_1683.htm and absolutely do not regret the decision. It works much better than my cheapo iron that always seemed to be either too hot or too cold and was clunky and awkward to handle.
You can get something nice for as low as $30-$40.

 

[zevon8]

The Metcal's are nice units. The SP200 is entry level more or less, and there are thousands out there in production lines. Replacing the handle set can be expensive, and often these are units taken from plant re-tools etc, so there are lots of power units without handles.

Edsyn makes nice units also, and many are often available on EBay, some as rework stations with dual heads. It seems to be easier to get tips/parts for Edsyn from more places also.

 

[dlt123]

Thank you for responding. After some research, I see that the SP200 is still in the Metcal lineup. The STSS-001 and STSS-002 are older models.

Does anyone have experience with either of the older units? Any idea what the averagae life expectancy in hours used for the older units before they are ready for the bone yard?

Anyway, thanks again for responding and I would sure like to hear from others what their experiences have been with this Solder Station.

Also, I will do some research on the Edsyn units. Thanks all for your responses.

Regards,
DennisT

 

[dlt123]

Got a Metcal

Well, I bit the bullet today and bid on a MX500 Metcal on eBay and won. I got a great deal on a used unit in excellent condition. It's time to dump my old ratshack soldering iron. It did crappy soldering and I can't wait to use my new Metcal.

I appreciate all who responded to my thread. After using my Metcal for awhile, I'll post my impressions here. For the record and those who are thinking of looking into a Metcal, I paid $140 plus shipping for the unit with cartridge. It didn't come with a stand, but I will get a used stand later or use my existing one for awhile.

Thanks all,
DennisT

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

It did crappy soldering and I can't wait to use my new Metcal.

Sorry, but soldering irons don't do crappy soldering, PEOPLE do crappy soldering!.

 

[dlt123]

Sorry, but soldering irons don't do crappy soldering, PEOPLE do crappy soldering!.

I beg to differ... Your statement sounds good on the surface but falls short after informed thought. My old 15w solder iron hardly melted my solder even after lengthy exposer to the heating element. The iron was on it's last leg... so yes this was a case where it did do a crappy soldering job, not me.

Sorry if this doesn't sound too PC, but who cares I try to stay out of the Lemming lanes these days.

DennisT

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I beg to differ... Your statement sounds good on the surface but falls short after informed thought. My old 15w solder iron hardly melted my solder even after lengthy exposer to the heating element. The iron was on it's last leg... so yes this was a case where it did do a crappy soldering job, not me.

You don't consider trying to solder with a non-working iron isn't the users fault?.

Sorry if this doesn't sound too PC, but who cares I try to stay out of the Lemming lanes these days.

Don't do PC, I consider it more PS (Political Stupidity!).

Latest stupid idea (being taught to my daughter at school - which is what prompted her to write Patriot) is you can't use the word 'black' at all - you don't have a 'black man' any more' you've got to call him a 'rainbow man', and you don't write on a 'black board' it's a 'rainbow board'. There's one coloured guy in their class, so Melissa shouted across the class "hey, what colour are you?" - "I'm black!" - "no you're not, you're rainbow" - "am I f**k rainbow", so that went well

 

[G8RPI]

Hi,
I'm late to this thread, but have two comments.
The Metcal's are great irons they heat the bit directly by induction (no heating element) and set the temperature by curie point (no adjustment errors). The next best choice (was the best before Metcal) is the weller TCP series, also curie point regulated.

People make bad joints, but if you are a beginner, how do you know if it's you or your tools? A cheap non temperature controlled iron will cause two problems, too cold if you start soldering before it's warmed up or make a series of joints and too hot if it's sat switched on for a long time.
You can't really blame the user for having problems. The first time I used a Weller TCP was a revellation! It replaced a 15W, 25W and 60W "set" of irons.

Robert G8RPI.

 

[dlt123]

You don't consider trying to solder with a non-working iron isn't the users fault?.

... which is why I decided to move into the 'enlightened' solderer movement and upgrade.

Don't do PC, I consider it more PS (Political Stupidity!).

Latest stupid idea (being taught to my daughter at school - which is what prompted her to write Patriot) is you can't use the word 'black' at all - you don't have a 'black man' any more' you've got to call him a 'rainbow man', and you don't write on a 'black board' it's a 'rainbow board'. There's one coloured guy in their class, so Melissa shouted across the class "hey, what colour are you?" - "I'm black!" - "no you're not, you're rainbow" - "am I f**k rainbow", so that went well

Look out, PC is just another form of terrorism... I thought rainbow was set aside for the gay individuals amoung us? Oh, oh, I see another redefinition of reality coming... and I like your "PS" analogy.

Take care, and thanks for starting my day off with a good laugh, have a good day.

Peace... piece... peece...peas...pppps...pst... wanna buy an old solder iron?
DennisT

 

[raybo]

$140 for an iron wow. I wander why NASA don't buy those irons instead of sending people to soldering school for months at the time to be certified. I said before and i say again heat is heat just got to know how , how long and most inortant the solder itself with the proper flux and a wet sponge and finaly with a proper tinned TIP. Well enjoy your iron i stick to my 47w 25 years old iron. 15w is not proper to solder except extremely small parts otherwise you will get cold solder joints.

 

[agent420]

$140 for an iron wow. I wander why NASA don't buy those irons instead of sending people to soldering school for months at the time to be certified. I said before and i say again heat is heat just got to know how , how long and most inortant the solder itself with the proper flux and a wet sponge and finaly with a proper tinned TIP. Well enjoy your iron i stick to my 47w 25 years old iron. 15w is not proper to solder except extremely small parts otherwise you will get cold solder joints.

I'm new here, and I mean no disrespect, but heat is not just heat. It's like comparing an old convection oven with a microwave, literally. The Metcal website does a pretty good job explaining how it works and the benfits that method offers. RF heated equipment is becoming ever more popular in manufacturing and industry for the same reasons.

Certainly proper skill in soldering plays an important role, but quality tools do as well. $140 for that station is a steal, they retail new for over $700. Certainly you don't think manufacturers are friviously spending money like that instead of buying bulk El-Cheapo™ 45W pencil irons from China?

Imo unless you're making stained glass, 47w is way too much heat for small electronics. Not to mention esd issues.

I'm not suggesting that your iron cannot be used successfully, but there is a difference between a quality tool and something from the flea market. Until I saw this thread, I honestly didn't know that soldering equipment used this technology, but I've worked with other RF equipment long enough to know it's benefits.

 

[Jack Luminous]

So I guess there are no inferior tools ever placed on the market and one should assume that it is always user error if there is a problem with a tool?
Heat is heat, but some irons just provide it better than others. $140 for a product that you might use for 20 years is not that much money either. It never pays to use cheap (inferior) tools of any sort.

 

[Odin]

I'm new here, and I mean no disrespect, but heat is not just heat. It's like comparing an old convection oven with a microwave, literally. The Metcal website does a pretty good job explaining how it works and the benfits that method offers. RF heated equipment is becoming ever more popular in manufacturing and industry for the same reasons.

I have to agree with you. At work, we borrowed a Metcal PS-800 soldering station. For the last ten years or so, I've been using Weller and Ersa stations. Rated 80W or so. The PS-800 is 35W. I was skeptic at the start, as we sometimes have to desolder quite big components, wich needs lot of heat. Big fat tips, and boosting the temperature to well over 400 deg. C
The little Metcal feels like a much bigger iron. Very good to use. I think the speed of heat transfer is the key. We ended up replacing three old stations with PS-800s.
Metcal is now renamed to Oki, btw. Here's the PS-800:
**broken link removed**

Certainly proper skill in soldering plays an important role, but quality tools do as well. $140 for that station is a steal, they retail new for over $700.

Good tools is half finished the job!

 

[dlt123]

Very articulate agent420, couldn't have said it better.

My solder skills need all the help I can get. All I ever got from my old iron was cold solder joints like raybo mentioned. Thus the update to a better tool.... well also because I tired of burning my flesh more than melting solder. At least now I'll burn my flesh with more precision.

Tools are important to any artisan, and skills are a necessity for quality work of any kind. It sure helps when you have great tools to work with though.

Sometimes we just have make due with the tools we have. At least my sloppy solder jobs can't be blamed on my iron now.

Happy soldering,
DennisT

 

[agent420]

I don't know about the Metcal stations, but you can get a nice Xytronic station for less than $100USD. There are many different tips available for them and they work great.
I replaced my $10 Radio Shack iron a couple years ago with this one: https://www.elexp.com/sdr_1683.htm and absolutely do not regret the decision.

Just checking in this morning and realized I missed this earlier reply... I've got that same XYtronic 168 station - it's really nice and has worked flawlessly for 5+ years. Tips are high quality as well.

Any decent temp controlled station is an improvement over simple pencil irons. A similar XYtronic 379 is available for $39 **broken link removed**; a pretty good deal itself.

 

[Art64]

Good tools

I worked for NASA as a tech for a number of years. We purchased one of the early Metcals and they were nice but I did not understand paying the price.

After the first few thousand soldered connections I could solder with anything but I did find training new people with the fancier irons was easier.

The folks that really have mastered soldering can solder with just about anything those that are learning can really use good tools.

Kind of funny, the ones that need the best dont know any better and buy the worst.

Since I am now teaching my boys and their friends how to solder (ages 7 to 12) I am now looking for a Metcal to add to my collection.