Low-wattage soldering iron driving me crazy

[vskid]

That's not right. Are you leaving it on for an extremely long time?

20 minutes?

Strange, I've left my 15/30w (I only use the 30w setting) radioshack iron on for hours at a time, and the only heat I feel is radiating from the metal.

[eurddrue]

All soldering irons do that. Well, all of the ones I have had which are: 30w, 25w x2, 15w x4. As for the grip getting hot, yeah, crap happens. Sometimes you just have to move your hand around.

[Taiben]

15w irons are great for do it your self branding. lol Or wood burning if you wanna do something more legit. I guess if you had a really low temp solder itd work but Ill stick with my 45. At least until I get a 100w gun.

[Skyone]

12W weenie here. Does wonders for SMT, but I would break out a nice 30W+ if I had one for anything tough.

[MegatronUK]

So you have one of those soldering stations from the back of magazines like nuts and volts?

It's this one: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=35016" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ...nothing fancy like those digital ones, but having adjustable heat is very useful.

[XCVG]

As said before, I'm very happy with my new 25W Weller, plenty of heat, plenty of power, and it's got a tip system that won't bend or get loose. I paid $50CAD for it. Expensive but nice. I don't see why you would need 45W, that's like the brute force and ignorance approach. It would be hell to solder tiny parts with one of those

[Life of Brian]

I do just about everything with a 15 watt RadioShack iron, but I keep a soldering gun on hand for bigger stuff.

[nevermind1534]

That's not right. Are you leaving it on for an extremely long time?

20 minutes?

I have the same one, and leave it on for that long. There is definitely something wrong with your iron.

[Valium]

I've been using the same 30W soldering iron for the past 2 years. Has never needed a new tip, and after hearing about how many people here go through a tip 'every project' or 'every month or two' I realized that I keep mine in extremely good shape. Quite good considering it cost $12


The 15W irons are probably better for any projects where you might just want to slow your pace a little. More time to heat up means more time to be absolutely sure of what you're doing. Probably the best for an N64. And of course, less heat means less chance of accidents. I know sometimes I'm prone to bridging tiny components simply from a slip of the wrist.

[Kurt_]

25 and lower drive me insane. At least, with the extra fine tips. But I like the extra fine tips. 35W is good, but when it comes time to solder something to ground or a heat sink, good luck. 45W FTW.

[timmeh87]

The tip also matters. The thinner and pointer it is, the colder the end will get.

The problem with a straight 65w iron is that it will get waaaaaay too hot for your chips if you just leave it to run and arent using a wet sponge. Then again, you will never, ever solder larger connections with a small 15w iron.

Ive seen 65w irons with a light dimmer thingy built right in so you can dial it down when it gets too hot. Thats the best soution IMO. Or two different irons.

Well the best solution is a station with actual temperature control and an 80w iron but thats like $500.

[jleemero]

Well I think all y'all be crazy.

I use a 15W for near everything, and have no problems with it.
I have more SMD parts in my boxes than I do Through-Hole.
So I suppose that says something.

But to be honest, it's been ages since I've run into anything that a 15W can't handle.