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R6cowboy

Soldering station recommendations.

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Recently getting back into RC it's time to search for a decent soldering station specifically for my RC stuff. I have some but minimal experience and knowledge with soldering. What watt iron is ideal for r/c, solder type, etc? What do you use or recommend? What's the price range I'll be looking at for a decent solder station? Please share any tips and advice. And I've always been a fan of the Weller brand for what its worth.
Thanks all & good day.

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HAKO, or any iron 40-60 Watts i'll say 60 min.

My HAKO is 70 Watts and 900 degrees is max on the dial.

There's many very good ones.

i have had mine for about 10 years and use it on a weekly basis.

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You need something with a fair bit of power to solder RC-related things like ESC terminals, motor wires and battery plugs.  For a while I used a cheap 70W mains-powered iron but I confess it wasn't brilliant, the supplied tips wouldn't hold any solder without preparation with brass wool and tip tinner.  I guess the tips weren't supplied pre-tinned.  Recently it just stopped working and as it's a moulded sealed unit, it will have to go to the recycling centre.

For all my large RC stuff I now use the Iroda SolderPro 120 that I've had for well over a decade.  It's only on its second wide-ended tip, it also comes with a narrow tip which I have barely used, a blowtorch tip and a hot knife tip.  It heats up super-fast and can handle big stuff like motor wires and ESC terminals with no problem.  The exhaust vent is also useful for heatshrink, but you have to watch your angles as the vent can melt plastic and rubber insulation if you're not careful (or set fire to your jacket sleeve, as my wife found out this week, despite me warning her to watch for exhaust heat).

Another major bonus is its complete portability - take it to the trails / track / bash site and you can solder right there.  It's saved me a short race meeting and a long journey home on more than one occasion.

For smaller stuff I have a cheap solder station, I think it's a Silverline or something like that, it has an adjustable knob for temp but no temp gauge, it's brilliant for smaller stuff like LEDs.

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I have a Hakko. A friend of mine, who is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, uses an eBay Special and says that it works just fine for things like soldering computer chips and also wiring up fuel cells, no need to buy anything fancier.

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I was just in the same boat as you.

One thing I overlooked was the quality of solder... a friend who solders for a living recommended Kester 6040. Really made a big difference. 
 

I have been doing 14 guage wire in a cold garage at between 300-350 Celsius without issue. 
 

As for the pen... I ended up with a Hakko FX601 but cant compare it to anything for you. Just can tell you it works fine.

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I started with a cheap banggood 60w iron that in theory should have been fine but I always struggled. I now have a Hakko FX 888D and it has made a massive difference. Its probably overkill, but it should last 10 - 20 years or more so even though it was expensive it will work out great value in the long run.

I should probably buy some decent solder too, I just have cheapie banggood stuff and while it works its probably not the best.

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20 hours ago, ACCEL said:

HAKO is 70 Watts and 900 degrees

900°? Imperial world order unit?

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17 hours ago, DPR250R said:

I was just in the same boat as you.

One thing I overlooked was the quality of solder... a friend who solders for a living recommended Kester 6040. Really made a big difference. 
 

I have been doing 14 guage wire in a cold garage at between 300-350 Celsius without issue. 
 

As for the pen... I ended up with a Hakko FX601 but cant compare it to anything for you. Just can tell you it works fine.

Solder definitely makes a huge difference, but I haven't necessarily found that more expensive = better.

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There are several out there...  I do not believe you have to have a name brand for something as simple as a soldering iron.  However, I would recommend that you seek one which can reach 482C/900F.  While most soldering for 1/10th scale or smaller won't needs that high of a temp, it will help if you go 1/8th or others.  The other part is the tips.  Most solder stations come with a single tip.  You'll want to purchase a set of tips to use with the station.

 

This is the one I purchased:  https://xtronicusa.com/X-Tronic-Model-3020-XTS-LED-Display-Soldering-Station-p74220205

 

 

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9 hours ago, Mahjik said:

There are several out there...  I do not believe you have to have a name brand for something as simple as a soldering iron.  However, I would recommend that you seek one which can reach 482C/900F.  While most soldering for 1/10th scale or smaller won't needs that high of a temp, it will help if you go 1/8th or others.  The other part is the tips.  Most solder stations come with a single tip.  You'll want to purchase a set of tips to use with the station.

 

This is the one I purchased:  https://xtronicusa.com/X-Tronic-Model-3020-XTS-LED-Display-Soldering-Station-p74220205

 

 

The only thing is the heating elememt. Cheap irons use a cheap elememt that can't hold the temperature stable, the better irons have a different element that will hold the temperature. A cheap iron will have the cheap element, a name brand may too, but a more expensive Hakko or Weller will have the better element.

I'm no expert, there is a really good thread on rctech about soldering though

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20 hours ago, Mahjik said:

There are several out there...  I do not believe you have to have a name brand for something as simple as a soldering iron.  However, I would recommend that you seek one which can reach 482C/900F.  While most soldering for 1/10th scale or smaller won't needs that high of a temp, it will help if you go 1/8th or others.  The other part is the tips.  Most solder stations come with a single tip.  You'll want to purchase a set of tips to use with the station.

 

This is the one I purchased:  https://xtronicusa.com/X-Tronic-Model-3020-XTS-LED-Display-Soldering-Station-p74220205

 

 

My friend the professor uses something similar. So does another friend who works as an electronics repairman.

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On 12/12/2020 at 11:32 AM, Mahjik said:

There are several out there...  I do not believe you have to have a name brand for something as simple as a soldering iron.  However, I would recommend that you seek one which can reach 482C/900F.  While most soldering for 1/10th scale or smaller won't needs that high of a temp, it will help if you go 1/8th or others.  The other part is the tips.  Most solder stations come with a single tip.  You'll want to purchase a set of tips to use with the station.

 

This is the one I purchased:  https://xtronicusa.com/X-Tronic-Model-3020-XTS-LED-Display-Soldering-Station-p74220205

 

 

Thanks for the link Mahjik. I checked it out, the features are certainly nice and chances are (according to number of positive to negative reviews) its worth its cost. Only concern is if I'd be better off spending more on a higher quality unit like a Hakko for longevity purposes.  Quite a number of reviews regarding the lack of quality of the xtronic and the unit not lasting long.  But then again I won't be using very often, just time to time.  Decisions.   

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5 hours ago, R6cowboy said:

Thanks for the link Mahjik. I checked it out, the features are certainly nice and chances are (according to number of positive to negative reviews) its worth its cost. Only concern is if I'd be better off spending more on a higher quality unit like a Hakko for longevity purposes.  Quite a number of reviews regarding the lack of quality of the xtronic and the unit not lasting long.  But then again I won't be using very often, just time to time.  Decisions.   

I've had mind for a little over 2 years now going on 3.  I've had no issues with it's functions up to this point.  Although I should do a better job at keeping my tips clean.  ;)

 

I'm using the following tips and so far have been very happy:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CTLZBHQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

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The local Home Depot has this gem in stock, Weller WLC200, 80 watt unit at $62. As basic as it gets. From what I'm seeing Weller, at least the WE1010NA and this WLC200, doesn't have much better reviews (percentage wise) than a lot of the "cheaper" stuff. The Hakko FX888d seems to be a better quality unit overall, but (like the Weller WE1010NA) at around double the price of a lot of the "cheaper" soldering stations. Looks like no matter which unit ya go with, they all have a small percentage of "duds" from the factory.

 

weller_wlc200.jpg

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20 hours ago, R6cowboy said:

Looks like no matter which unit ya go with, they all have a small percentage of "duds" from the factory.

 

Hence my original comment in this thread.  ;)

 

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