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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: korbi on Tue, 08 December 2020, 04:00:11
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I am looking for a budget soldering iron.I see YouTubers use those that have temperature control and stuff and I don't know if it is really necessary and I want to find one that is nice and cheap. Any recommendations?
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Nah you don't need a expensive soldering iron. Its all trough hole soldering and easy at that. I still solder with a 12 Euro soldering iron.
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frankly if you only ever plan to solder though hole once in a blue moon, the very cheap ones like sup said will serve you just fine, the only issue is that the very high temperature they tend to reach make the tip destroy themselves much faster and you need to pay somewhat attention to not overheat the pcb when de-soldering.
My recommendation comes from a youtuber too, bigclivedotcom, the hakko 936 clones, tips are cheap, the station in itself is too, my particular model is a yotec 936P, i use it with a 3C tip for through holes and i used to use a 1C and now use T-IS tips for smd. i have been using this thing now for about 8 years fairly regularly and it still works, went through 5 cheap Chinese 3C tips though, hakko tips are more expensive but seem to last longer though.
so you need to estimate your usage, if you plan to use it professionally a proper modern hakko will heat up faster and have a more stable temperature control, but even more expensive...
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I'll second and third what the others said.
You can do a lot with a cheap iron, don;t feel you need something expensive, that said if you find you are using a bit more than once in a very blue moon, upgrade. I use my Hakko far more than I ever used my others combined simply because it heats up so fast.
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Ok, so the problem with the cheap iron is, EITHER they underheat, or worse they Overheat. The tip tends to crap out and you start playing with the angles like billiards.
I've had an old cheapie that would underheat the first 10 minutes, then overheat after that. it was like soldering in the 4th dimension.
IMHO, Hakko 888 is the way to go. but they're overpriced these days.
If you think well, gonna use this for years to come on stuff, a better iron will save you alot of time and headache. You can burn out a pad, or melt the housing in the switch, things like that is a way bigger pain to touch up. No rush you can start on a cheapo, but from experience, I wouldn't bother since it's something you only need to buy once.
You don't need to buy a hakko, ask around what's a good local brand.
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I know this reply is not gonna help but I have a 888d and it's wonderful for anything soldering. It's great.
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I know this reply is not gonna help but I have a 888d and it's wonderful for anything soldering. It's great.
The 888 tucks you in and kisses you good night. Great soldering iron.
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I have a TS100 and it's been pretty solid.
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I have a Weller temperature-controlled soldering station that works great. I picked it up at a local electronics store (Fry's) for just under $100 a few years ago. It was a little cheaper than the Hakko models they had there, and I've had no issues with it. My dad is a retired electrical engineer and always had Weller equipment at work and at home. With all the soldering work he still does, I bought him an Edsyn Loner soldering station a while back. People seem to swear by those things, but they're about $200 for a very basic setup.
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I have a Hakko 508 and it seems to work well, was only $15 USD. I do have a butane iron as well from Snap-On that served me very well on the last board I soldered and desoldered (has adjustment for heating the tip/element), but I got tired of refilling all the time - now I just keep that one in my tool bag for automotive reasons. I do want to up to a station style eventually but right now my 508 has served me well so far.
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I got a Weller WLC100 medium duty at Home Depot for I think $50 or so with temperature control. The ten dollar one at Walmart doesn't cut it.
Used it to do my EO-87 and worked perfect! Much better if you have a temperature control for desoldering.
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I use both a Hakko FX888D and a Weller WESD51 and both are in the same price range. The Hakko is probably a little better. It heats up a bit quicker. I really like both of them though, both great and under $200.
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I have a Weller temperature-controlled soldering station that works great. I picked it up at a local electronics store (Fry's) for just under $100 a few years ago. It
Weller was great before they got bought.
They still work well but gawd help you if it has an issue.
When ours had a problem the general consensus (because Weller was of no help) was to spend 75% of what we paid for it and cross our fingers and hope it works (50% chance it would fix it) or just simply throw it away and buy another at full price. What kind of BS is that? We threw it away and bought a Hakko which has actual documentation and reasonable parts available.
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I have a Weller temperature-controlled soldering station that works great. I picked it up at a local electronics store (Fry's) for just under $100 a few years ago. It
Weller was great before they got bought.
They still work well but gawd help you if it has an issue.
When ours had a problem the general consensus (because Weller was of no help) was to spend 75% of what we paid for it and cross our fingers and hope it works (50% chance it would fix it) or just simply throw it away and buy another at full price. What kind of BS is that? We threw it away and bought a Hakko which has actual documentation and reasonable parts available.
Ahh that's too bad, I didn't realize they were bought out. Yeah Hakko is really good and everybody I know who has/uses one really loves it.
Also instead of going super cheap on an iron, like others have mentioned about temp control. It will save you so much hassle. Temp control is important, and you're going to want to have an iron that allows you to change out the tips. Working on small things with a large tip is no fun, nor is working on large thick things with a small tip.
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I am looking for a budget soldering iron.I see YouTubers use those that have temperature control and stuff and I don't know if it is really necessary and I want to find one that is nice and cheap. Any recommendations?
Urgh... do not put your faith in Youtubers when it comes to anything technical. Just... don't.
Keyboards are the easiest things possible to solder- through hole boards, big fat contacts, bugger all delicate electronics to screw up. You can use a $20 iron that plugs right into the wall with no temp control for this kind of thing.
Sure, a Hakko or a Weller with a nice flexible lead is more comfortable to use for hours on end, but it's by no means necessary.
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What I'm using now is a KSGER T12 soldering station, do everything from though hole to smd soldering stuff with it.
These can be found cheap at AliExpress or Banggood, a little bit less than 50$.
Tip cartridges are also quite cheap (recommend buying one conical tip and one chisel tip) and they last a long time if you take care of them; I use only unleaded solder witch is pretty hard for the tips and I have replaced none yet.
Tip gets hot in 5-7s, very convenient.
But as say others this is something that is relevant to buy if you solder regularly, a cheapo 20$ iron is sufficient for occasional use with though hole components and leaded solder.
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I am looking for a budget soldering iron.I see YouTubers use those that have temperature control and stuff and I don't know if it is really necessary and I want to find one that is nice and cheap. Any recommendations?
Urgh... do not put your faith in Youtubers when it comes to anything technical. Just... don't.
actually why not? most are as knowledgeable or more than anyone on any forum or writen article, look at for electronics EEVBlog, bigclive, Julian Ilett, ElectroBoom... only to cite a few of the top of my head, either thrust no one and become a flat earther or cross reference your source
Sure, a Hakko or a Weller with a nice flexible lead is more comfortable to use for hours on end, but it's by no means necessary.
well yeah that is pretty much what everyone said, just giving more information like recommendations and such that are what was asked...
Keyboards are the easiest things possible to solder- through hole boards, big fat contacts, bugger all delicate electronics to screw up. You can use a $20 iron that plugs right into the wall with no temp control for this kind of thing.
big fat contact are not that easy to solder, a 35W iron with a small tip will struggle on some keyboards (ask me how i know) and some keyboards have stupid design making long heat time destroy some components, or/and the switch if you use zealios.
given the number of peoples screwing up their board by overheating the bond between the substrate and copper no they are not the easiest, by no means the hardest either but someone who try to solder a keyboard as its 1st soldering project and fails is not an idiot for it either, most failed attempts sums up as "had a very cheap iron, stayed on the pad too long, now there is no pad".
and as a last point i started with thermally balanced irons (those with no temp control) and went through 5 in 2 years because they heat up too much and burn themselves out for a total of 120 euros in cheaper irons, then i bought my hakko clone for 35 euros and 8 years of even heavier use the thing is still working strong (although had to replace the tip a few times so add about 15 euros in tips for the 8 years), so yeah there is a point to those cheap things but they are close to being a one time use...
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actually why not? most are as knowledgeable or more than anyone on any forum or writen article, look at for electronics EEVBlog, bigclive, Julian Ilett, ElectroBoom... only to cite a few of the top of my head, either thrust no one and become a flat earther or cross reference your source
a 35W iron with a small tip will struggle on some keyboards (ask me how i know) and some keyboards have stupid design making long heat time destroy some components, or/and the switch if you use zealios.
Some youtubers are knowledgable such as those mentioned and while a good place to start they aren't always up to date and it's only one person. Also some "trusted" names are very much industry shills.
Why does up-to-date matter for Chinese Hakko clones unlike Hakko and Weller? When the fake Hakko 888ds were finally purged and forced to stop saying they were real Hakkos there was something like 5 different revisions, there's more now. Some of them were okay but others were a pretty serious fire hazard, and you need to know who has the good ones in stock. It's also for this reason you don't want to order from Amazon, they throw all of them in a big pile so you have no idea what version you will get.
The smaller the iron, the bigger the tip you want so it can hold heat. You need to hit it hard and fast and then let it rebuild heat (while not touching anything). The better 35watt models like Weller come with a larger tip probably for that reason. Unfortunately the new owners cheapened that as well. My post buy-out 35watt(?) Weller pen is nowhere near as good as my much older pre-buyout pen. It's fine for soldering but almost useless for desoldering with braid.
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I am looking for a budget soldering iron.I see YouTubers use those that have temperature control and stuff and I don't know if it is really necessary and I want to find one that is nice and cheap. Any recommendations?
Urgh... do not put your faith in Youtubers when it comes to anything technical. Just... don't.
actually why not? most are as knowledgeable or more than anyone on any forum or writen article, look at for electronics EEVBlog, bigclive, Julian Ilett, ElectroBoom... only to cite a few of the top of my head, either thrust no one and become a flat earther or cross reference your source
Because context is important. Look at the OP's post... do you think he is more likely to be subscribed to EEVBlog or some garbage youtuber who just pushes products? If he was subscribed to EEVBlog, he wouldn't be asking the original question.
big fat contact are not that easy to solder, a 35W iron with a small tip will struggle on some keyboards (ask me how i know) and some keyboards have stupid design making long heat time destroy some components, or/and the switch if you use zealios.
given the number of peoples screwing up their board by overheating the bond between the substrate and copper no they are not the easiest, by no means the hardest either but someone who try to solder a keyboard as its 1st soldering project and fails is not an idiot for it either, most failed attempts sums up as "had a very cheap iron, stayed on the pad too long, now there is no pad".
and as a last point i started with thermally balanced irons (those with no temp control) and went through 5 in 2 years because they heat up too much and burn themselves out for a total of 120 euros in cheaper irons, then i bought my hakko clone for 35 euros and 8 years of even heavier use the thing is still working strong (although had to replace the tip a few times so add about 15 euros in tips for the 8 years), so yeah there is a point to those cheap things but they are close to being a one time use...
Not sure what you are doing, but I have had absolutely no problems using both 25W and 50W irons on boards. With conical tips. They were probably $10 each, new. The only reason I upgraded to a Hakko was because I started building stereo amps. For a keyboard I would use anything.
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I used to swear by my Goot iron but once I saw how good the (used to be a Hakko clone but kinda developed into its own league) "T12" irons are, I did the switch and now I absolutely love my new T12-X soldering station
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I've had Weller WESD51 for ten years and still working great. Just have to replace tips every now and then. I've personally had bad experience with cheaper irons. I prefer weller to hakko, but they are both great brands. Metcal is also very good but more expensive. Check ebay for something if you're on a budget. cheap irons are so miserable
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I've had Weller WESD51 for ten years and still working great. Just have to replace tips every now and then. I've personally had bad experience with cheaper irons. I prefer weller to hakko, but they are both great brands. Metcal is also very good but more expensive. Check ebay for something if you're on a budget. cheap irons are so miserable
I did too, but Weller is not the same company who built your iron, everything is now cheaper and more disposable.