cold heat soldering iron

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 12:09 pm

Yay for Weller irons! For good quality at a fair price, you cannot beat these things! I got a temperature controlled station (WES51) from my dad and it's the reason I like soldering. Warms up in UNDER A MINUTE! Compare that to Radio Shacks 20-30 minute warm up time

And somehow th design of the iron keeps only the tip hot, so you don't get burned by accidentally touching the edge of the handle

My hands have been burn free for over a year thanks to it.

I'm glad I didn't buy a cold heat when they first came out (as tempted as I was). Looks like a waste of money to me.

MaDnEsS · Post by **MaDnEsS** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 12:10 pm

wow radioshack sucks i have one heats up in about 30-40 sec to 800 degrees

Post by **Triton** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:09 pm

i have an old weller but cant find tips for it! had to get a craptastic walmart one, it gets hot in less than 10 min tho, but pretty much sucks

Post by **Gamelver** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:15 pm

I still have my craptastic radioshack one...I usually leave it plugged in my basement, and then I just turn off the lights when I'm done (that shuts off the power, too). before I start working, I turn on the lights, go do something for 5-10 minutes, and I've got a hot iron!! that I usually have to clean the tip (by that I mean scraping crap off of it).

sock2828 · Post by **sock2828** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:50 pm

I just dont like cords thats all but since al cordless saudering irons seem to suck what kind of corded saldering iron do i need to buy

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 2:11 pm

One with a grammar checker built-in!

Seriously, I saw a Weller iron at Menards the other day. It was fairly cheap too. So try there, or look on their site for where they sell their irons. Or there's always ebay (BLECH!)

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 2:33 pm

MaDnEsS wrote:wow radioshack sucks i have one heats up in about 30-40 sec to 800 degrees

solder melts between 370 and 460 degreens (i am assuming we are talking in fahrenheit here... thats like 185 - 230 degrees C). normal 60/40 solder has the lowest melting temperature, 374 F. if your iron really is heating up to that hot, its unnescecarily hot and its easier to damage components with it.

**technically 63/37 has the lowest melting point but ive only seen it once (it was being sold as a 2cm thick, 1kg bar). im used to using 60/40

vb_master · Post by **vb_master** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 4:58 pm

Wow, I'm supprised about the complaints about the Radioshack irons. My Radioshack iron warms up in less than a minute. I love it!

xxxeagle · Post by **xxxeagle** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 5:05 pm

The ones we had a school took about 4-7 minutes they were 30 watt irons, If you're just starting out it might not be a bad idea to pick up a radio shack iron they're cheap and good for a beginner at electronics. But I have been playing around with electronics on and off for a few years now and I really like weller soldering irons they seem to be the best quality.

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 5:08 pm

if youre iron is taking a long time to heat up, take it out, steel wool it off, put it back on and make sure its nice and tight. youd be surprised how much things will improve (sometimes).

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 7:17 pm

my $10 radioshack iron heats up in about 1 min and solders very nicley

i don't see what's so bad about them...

Turbo Tax 1.0 · Post by **Turbo Tax 1.0** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 7:30 pm

yeah radio "shackians" unite

or should i say "shaqians"

superdeformed · Post by **superdeformed** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 10:55 pm

The radioshack iron I had (the 15/30 watt one) devoured tips...literally. I always kept them clean, but they still oxidized and slowly dissapeared. Eventually I gave up on them and bought one of the low end Weller stations. Fifty dollars for an adjustable station, high quality iron, and a much broader selection of tips. Can't go wrong there

.

MaDnEsS · Post by **MaDnEsS** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 10:59 pm

timmeh87 wrote:
MaDnEsS wrote:wow radioshack sucks i have one heats up in about 30-40 sec to 800 degrees
solder melts between 370 and 460 degreens (i am assuming we are talking in fahrenheit here... thats like 185 - 230 degrees C). normal 60/40 solder has the lowest melting temperature, 374 F. if your iron really is heating up to that hot, its unnescecarily hot and its easier to damage components with it.

**technically 63/37 has the lowest melting point but ive only seen it once (it was being sold as a 2cm thick, 1kg bar). im used to using 60/40

its not that cold when your trying to unsolder something belive me

Post by **Triton** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 1:27 am

my cheap walmart iron eats tips too, unfortunatly my weller is an odd sized one or something, cant even find the right kind of tips in this area. only have those big ass weller gun tips or or the kind that are like a foot long and have a tip like 1/2" around lol