Soldering station

[skywatch]

This is the one I use. When it arrived the first thing I did was take it apart and test for electrical safety. It's quite nicely made and for the price is better than many more expensive ones....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KATSU-852D-2-in-1-Soldering-Iron-Station-Hot-Air-Gun-Rework-Station-ESD-312080/282185254279?epid=25026719305&hash=item41b38d4587:g:YPEAAOSwAclbmj1S

[Yveaux]

@pihome if cost isn't an issue, then buy a JBC station. Heats in seconds, tips can be hot changed with a simple pull push motion.
Worth every penny, I never want to go back to a cheap station!

[pihome]

@Yveaux i would love to buy JBC but they are over my budget.
@skywatch that is very good price, did you use hot air for smd? can you control fan speed?

[pihome]

@yveaux any specific model?

[skywatch]

@pihome You can control hot air temperature and fan speed independently. It works well for rework or making small project boards.

I used this for making 5V>3.3V boards with all SMD and also fan control boards for rpi.

I've had mine for 2 years now and don't regret buying it at all.

[Yveaux]

@pihome I own a BT-2BWA.
Beware that tips are also costly, but they last forever

[mbj]

The best one I ever used is a Weller WS81. Heats up in a few seconds and even if the unit itself is a bit expensive the spare soldering tips are dirt cheap (even the originals). With a power of 80W it can be used for quite big stuff too.

[dbemowsk]

I too am a fan of Weller. I have a Weller WS51 that does an excellent job. At 60W it is maybe not as powerful as @mbj's WS81 at 80W, but it has done well for everything I have put it through.

[pihome]

i think Weller WS81 is soldering iron but i m looking for hot air version for smd components.

[mbj]

@pihome Sorry I missed the little word "smd". It is of course possible to use a soldering station also but is not always so simple. I have used the butane driven Dremel soldering tool mainly because I have nothing else. It is not easy to control the heat with that one.

[Gerator]

Ersa i-con nano is a nice soldering station for 200€.

By the way... Tip choice is very important too. I very much like beveled tip.

[skywatch]

Weller were the best in the 70's, 80's, 90's and even beyond. - But for an up-to-date picture, see these two videos.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8itTKH5tj3s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUtj-bWHeKY

Seems that they may be just a 'name' for Chinese factories to produce lower quality/higher profit products? - Make your own minds up though ;)

[dbemowsk]

@skywatch great videos. It brings to light some things that I didn't know about the Weller irons. If I was going to attempt to add my own primary side fuse to my iron, does anyone have any idea of what fuse rating would be good to use?

[skywatch]

@dbemowsk If the heating element is inductive you will have some inrush current. But most are resistive so I'd try either a 3A fast blow or a 1A anti surge.

[bjacobse]

@pihome
You need something that have IR underheat, to heat up your PCB from underneath,
so your hotairgun easily melt solderpaste and don't blow your IC away :-)

[pihome]

@skywatch great video and thank you for sharing,
@bjacobse i was thinking something similar to preheat pcb and solder with very low airflow from hotairgun

[James Landry]

The Weller WLC100 is one of top rated soldering stations for light soldering work. This set is a lightweight and quality product for general soldering projects. In fact, it comes with a soldering station, copper ti, iron holder, and cleaning pad for convenient use.

[Ethan Chua]

Hi there,

I have been using this cheap one and it has been working quite well! However, I recently saw this hotplate reflow station and I think with a proper stencil / fine solder paste needle it would be miles better than using a hot air gun (after being burned countless times from having to hold the SMD pieces with a tweezer while blowing). Will try building one (albeit shorter as I want it to fit under my electronics microscope) and will let y'all have a look once it's done!