Solder irons

[blackmonte]

What's the best solder iron/ gun for wiring?I have seen some mini like torch with butane , any others? Thanks

 

[Roc87]

I have one of those butane solder guns from home depot and seems to work good on the smaller wires, but have to remove the tips and just use it like a torch for larger wire, goes thru butane almost as fast as the GN goes thru alky

 

[DailyDrifter]

I have crappy luck with the portable irons from Lowes or HD. A couple of techs had Bluepoints ( or snap-ons) that worked awsome. I have the torch with the soldering attachment and it works pretty good.

 

[phillyturbosix]

Weller is the ONLY brand to buy. All the rest are junk! I have a solder station and a few irons as well as the butane. I installed Razor's entire Alky kit with my butane iron. Buy a good one and it will last you forever!

 

[David65]

Like Jim said, for the average home user, Weller is pretty good. For small wiring, their WP25, 30, or 35 would probably be ok.
Allied Electronics - Catalog
For big stuff there is the D650.
Cooper Tools - D650 - Allied Electronics
Never tried those butane things. Did have a NiCad battery powered iron for a while. Worked real well for small stuff, like 22 or 18 Gauge wires. Anything bigger, forget it. Didn't have enough ballz...

 

[blackmonte]

thanks guys, I have two Wellers now one pencil And gun and they work ok but was wondering if there was better?I saw Orange County Choppers using a cool soldering torch not sure what it was but you could use it for solder and then for the shrink wrap as well.

 

[blackmonte]

Solderpro 150 is what they use , I just ordered one :biggrin: thanks guys.

 

[WeSS]

lol

Weller is the ONLY brand to buy. All the rest are junk! I have a solder station and a few irons as well as the butane. I installed Razor's entire Alky kit with my butane iron. Buy a good one and it will last you forever!

Over the years of soldering I found this to not be the case. Spent alot for wellers to have them fail. One of the best professional irons is made by tenma and can be purchased for a very good price from a place called MCM electronics. I bought the base 50 watt which was an adjustable power with range of 100 - 800 degrees on sale for $15.00 The last catalog I received from them shows 17 bucks. They even had one with a neat LED indicator and a temperature range of 302-788 degrees for $49.95. Very durable and long lasting piece imo. They also have a more fancy digital readout unit that is $59.95 with a heat range of 302 - 896 degrees. At work I use three different irons by HAKO which are esd safe due to the equipment I repair so these are very expensive but for the general use there is no need for high $ stuff. I bought mine on sale current pricing is $25.00. Check out the tenma stations.

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/browse/Soldering & Accessories/3829524/p/1

 

[GNTurbo6]

I have 2 Weller WCPCTs (I think thats the model, retails over $150), a Snap-On butane ($60ish by itself) and a Matco butane ($120ish with some stupid kit).　Ｔｈｅ　Ｍａｔｃｏ　ｉｓ　ｇａｒｂａｇｅ，　ｔｈｅ　ｉｇｎｉｔｅｒ　ｄｏｅｓ　ｎｏｔ　ｗｏｒｋ　ａｔ　ａｌｌ　ｎｏｗ．　　Ｔｈｅ　Ｗｅｌｌｅｒｓ　ａｒｅ　ｓｕｐｅｒ　ｒｅｌｉａｂｌｅ　ｂｕｔ　ｐｒｉｃｅｙ　ｆｏｒ　ｗｈａｔ　ｔｈｅｙ　ａｒｅ　ｂｕｔ　ｗｅ　ｕｓｅｄ　ｔｈｅｍ　ａｔ　Ｃｉｒｃｕｉｔ　Ｃｉｔｙ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｓｈｏｐ　ｆｏｒ　ｙｅａｒｓ． The Snap-on has been great, its smaller than the Matco, but the only downside is it has a smaller butane capacity.

 

[dr_frankenstein]

theres only one way to go......... PACE

anybody who is an electronics tech or engineer will tell you a PACE 2000 or PACE MBT 250 are the bees knees.

I use a MBT 250 in my lab at home, and there isnt much you cant do with it!

2/3M, surface mount, HA tab solder, solder sucker and multiple heads make for an easy time with wires/boards i dont know what i would do without it!

A.j.

 

[fc227]

Weller is the ONLY brand to buy. All the rest are junk! I have a solder station and a few irons as well as the butane. I installed Razor's entire Alky kit with my butane iron. Buy a good one and it will last you forever!

+1

 

[MSDGN]

I bought some cheapo butane torch from HarborFreightTools...has an adjustment on the top for the flame...recharges with regular butane refill...think I paid 6 or 7 bucks for it...have used it now for years to do soldering...also use it for shrink tubing...

 

[salvageV6]

I rarely use the butane one but did yesterday to make an oil restrictor change on the BB turbo, soldered a brass plug with a hole in it to a brass 1/8" NPT fitting, butane is good for that stuff when you need some heat.

I've soldered thousands upon thousands of 14 - 28 gauge wire connections professionally with a Radio Shack screw in element about 45 watt and the chisel screw on tip. Ceramic element. The weller pencil tips and their compression end never worked well on the road for me. Had to carry pliers everywhere to get a good connection via that long tube with the threads down at the base of it.

Went through 3 elements in 30 years on the R.S. pencil and probably 5 tips.

Shut the tool box on one element and crushed it. Can't really blame that one on da Shack.

And yes that includes some plastic soldering/welding too.

Usually cooled it off in water fountains or sinks not too long after it was unplugged every use as well.

That things been on the road with me for 30 years only melted the cord once, soldered that with a Weller bench iron, they make great bench irons. :biggrin:

Still use it and carry it in the car in my portable electronics tool bag.

I don't think they make it anymore however. Go figure.

Just my .02.