What is THE soldering setup/kit you would recommending getting today?

[ivanh98]

or what do yall use rn/want to use
or avoid using/hate

[LightningXI]

or what do yall use rn/want to use
or avoid using/hate

I've had my Hakko FX-888D for many years and it just works.

Some people recommend GVM T210 or Pinecil for cheaper alternatives and they also work.. but might take a bit longer to heat up. Nothing it can't do, though, other than very fine soldering jobs.

Also, get yourself a brass wool for cleaning the iron tip.

[Leslieann]

I've had my Hakko FX-888D for many years and it just works.

Also, get yourself a brass wool for cleaning the iron tip.

Same, works great.

Had a similar one from a well known brand and it died long before the warranty ended, which was surprisingly short. Being that it was a shop tool at the time and we needed it we decided to just replace it with the Hakko than to try and fix it. No regrets on that decision and when we decided we needed a second and third iron we again went Hakko because it worked so well.

[TomahawkLabs]

I've had my Hakko FX-888D for many years and it just works.

Also, get yourself a brass wool for cleaning the iron tip.

Same, works great.

Had a similar one from a well known brand and it died long before the warranty ended, which was surprisingly short. Being that it was a shop tool at the time and we needed it we decided to just replace it with the Hakko than to try and fix it. No regrets on that decision and when we decided we needed a second and third iron we again went Hakko because it worked so well.

Also +1 for the Hakko. Mine is nearing 10 years old and I have never had an issue with it.

[Findecanor]

Get one of the fast ones that is compact and comes with a proper stand, with sponge and/or metal sponge built-in.

I use a Weller at work, with built-in stand. Fast. Small desk footprint. Small in the hand (⇒ precision). Great.

I have a Chinese Hakko-clone from Aliexpress at home: a "Quicko". Did not come with a stand, and also does not fit in a standard one for a larger soldering iron, so I'd have to be very careful not to burn anything.

I would like to have a hot air soldering gun, and a desoldering gun. Getting ones of higher quality for a good price is more difficult than getting just a quick soldering iron.

[TomahawkLabs]

I would like to have a hot air soldering gun, and a desoldering gun. Getting ones of higher quality for a good price is more difficult than getting just a quick soldering iron.

Same here regarding the de-soldering gun. Can't justify the $400 Hakko model when a soldering iron and solder sucker do the same job with a bit more effort.

[TerryMathews]

Some people recommend GVM T210 or Pinecil for cheaper alternatives

I've had the opposite experience with the predecesor to the Pinecil, the TS100. Using a 24V laptop power supply, it heats up much quicker than my Hakko, holds temp very well, and the custom firmware brings some genuinely useful features like gyroscope-based sleep on a timer.

The TS80 with a USB powerbank is maybe the greatest advancement in the history of soldering.

[ivanh98]

or what do yall use rn/want to use
or avoid using/hate

I've had my Hakko FX-888D for many years and it just works.

Some people recommend GVM T210 or Pinecil for cheaper alternatives and they also work.. but might take a bit longer to heat up. Nothing it can't do, though, other than very fine soldering jobs.

Also, get yourself a brass wool for cleaning the iron tip.

Hakko was going to my default purchase but I'll check these other alternatives out. Will def look into getting a brass wool. I also have some vint blacks I needed to clean. Specifically need to remove extra solder  off the pins and I was thinking of using a solder wick. Is that the best method?

I would like to have a hot air soldering gun, and a desoldering gun. Getting ones of higher quality for a good price is more difficult than getting just a quick soldering iron.

Same here regarding the de-soldering gun. Can't justify the $400 Hakko model when a soldering iron and solder sucker do the same job with a bit more effort.

Any ol solder sucker will do, huh?

Some people recommend GVM T210 or Pinecil for cheaper alternatives

I've had the opposite experience with the predecesor to the Pinecil, the TS100. Using a 24V laptop power supply, it heats up much quicker than my Hakko, holds temp very well, and the custom firmware brings some genuinely useful features like gyroscope-based sleep on a timer.

The TS80 with a USB powerbank is maybe the greatest advancement in the history of soldering.

greatest advancement in the history of soldering, you say? will def look into this.

[TomahawkLabs]

I actually bought the Hakko SPPON which is a metal solder sucker. I imagine it is mostly the same and my tip is rather wonky due to how much use I put it through, but I successfully removed 126 switches with it last night, almost every switch only took one attempt.

[zegonix]

i would get a sponge to clean the tip and use the brass wool only for badly burnt soldertips. tips live longer this way.

[Leslieann]

i would get a sponge to clean the tip and use the brass wool only for badly burnt soldertips. tips live longer this way.

Beware the sponge.
It makes the tip look great (clean) but it causes micro fractures and over time can cause issues. I have one iron tip where some spots on it are were so damaged it wouldn't work without grinding it to bare metal.

Any ol solder sucker will do, huh?

No, you want the original.
I had to grease my cheap one to get enough suction and use solder braid quite often, and then it fell apart.

I have had better luck with my cheap iron with a suction bulb. Pain in the neck to use, and not thermally controlled so you can damage parts, but it does work well.


On solder braid, which I would recommend you also get, you get what you pay for, and make sure you get pre-tinned. I bought a good size roll of it but it was not pre-tinned and it was such a hassle. Quite often I could use the cheap stuff to get the bulk of the solder and then I would have to use a bit of my good stuff to finish it.

Also be prepared, you will likely kill at least a few switches if you desolder/re-solder a board so make sure your donor board has extras.

[ivanh98]

Thoughts on the this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DG1LRXBK?smid=A3J6EHN8MEP48P&psc=1

I'm thinking about comboing it with the HAKKO SPPON

[Leslieann]

Thoughts on the this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DG1LRXBK?smid=A3J6EHN8MEP48P&psc=1

I'm thinking about comboing it with the HAKKO SPPON

60 minutes run time is enough for a small project occasional use but not enough for something like a keyboard.

Also, it's yet another battery to keep track of, no thanks. I only do battery on things I use all the time because otherwise you end up with a ton of dead/damaged batteries.