Now that I realized that my hack job capacitor replacement didn't ruin my '95 Bronco's EEC-IV computer circuit board, I would like to buy a true soldering station.* Here are the contenders so far:







Any votes? Any other suggestions?


* I have soldered unsuccessfully (ok with difficulty) for years. I came across this advice in an Amazon review by ODCaveman which will help me and possibly others:

"[T]ake care of the tip ... its very important otherwise it will oxidize and you wont be able to solder anything no matter how high the temperature is set. The manual doesn't go into too much detail about this but basically you want to keep the tip cleaned and tinned before and after each joint."

So, it is liquid (i.e., liquid solder on the tip -- a "tinned" tip) which actually conducts the heat from the iron to the wire to be soldered, not merely contact by an oxidized dry but otherwise "clean" tip. I always tin my joint/wires, but not the tip, but I did notice that it worked much better with a tinned tip. Who knew? I mean besides you guys...

(I have a big gun with a tip about the size of my little finger and had to borrow my buddy's soldering pencil.)

 

Soldering is a skill that requires knowledge of the techniques involved as well as the equipment need to do any certain job. Along with that a thorough understanding what happens while soldering is monumentally important to making good solid joints. I learned by doing along with being taught/instructed but today YouTube should be a great resource for learning.

There's a ton to know about proper soldering but too much to discuss in the scope of this thread.

All that being said the ES Safe stuff is great If you're working around delicate electronics. In your example of soldering capacitors to the ECM board one isn't necessary. OTOH a "soldering gun" as opposed to "soldering iron" is not a good choice either because they throw out such a (relatively) huge magnetic field they can/do cause issues for some components found in ECM's.

So more of all that being said----go with the Weller brand as its one of the very best. The D version could be useful as a universal iron but if the budget is an issue the analog station would be perfect. FWIW I repair my own Fender guitar amps along with other electronic devices and use nothing but the analog version.

I'm not familiar with other brands so can't speak to the other one linked. Being a bit of a tool snob (and without any budget concerns) its nothing but Weller for me, been that way since the early 60's!

HTH

 

Weller is truely one of the best. I have a 40 watt iron with NO TIP and it still gets the job done. I have a replacement coming in a week. It works great for soldering "crimp on" terminals from the smallest to about 10 ga. wire. I never crimp on terminals anymore. Still buy them but pull off the plastic bit and solder it on. Works great. Well worth the money.

 

The Weller soldering stations are great. However, I'm quite fond of my butane-powered Weller Pyropen. I've used it for industrial repairs and rework, as well as repairs on the truck by the side of the road. The hot air tip is excellent for shrinking heatshrink tubing.

 

Ordered the Weller WESD51 Digital Soldering Station:


Came in a pristine square cornered UPS shipping box from Amazon last week. Opened up the shipping box to find a crushed cornered retail box which was also suspiciously bloated (i.e., in possibly repackaged). Sent it back for free replacement. We shall see how it goes.

dangus: Can you do circuit boards with that butane pen? And is this the link:



It is not cheap.

 

Most times when I order from Amazon I'll make sure its sold by or order-fulfilled by Amazon----haven't yet had issues like in-transit shipping damage etc. Not sure that's the reason why but I'm always a bit skeptical when the mother site isn't directly involved.

That PyroPen is VERY nice and yes indeed spendy. I can see a lot of utility especially if soldering outside the shop is a common task.

I'll bet shopping around a bit online could find the same tool for less, eBay comes to mind.

 

Yep, that's the one. I paid more than that for it, and in 198x dollars that were worth more. So, that price is a relative bargain.

 

Well, let us know how it works out for you!

 

Just got the station on Friday, have not opened it yet. And have more of a wiring project for now rather than a circuit board project. So may not use it for a while, but I will post my results.