Decent Soldering Iron Kit?

[Baldchap]

I need to sort some temporary electronic bits into more permanent electronic bits and as such I'm going to need a soldering iron.

Can anyone recommend a decent enough one for PCBs and the like? Amazon is awash with dodgy sounding no-brand Chinese products as usual.

Extra points if it comes with the other bits I might need as well.

Thanks in advance.

[JoshSm]

Depends what your budget is.

There are some decent Chinese ones out there as they have a huge commercial demand for them. Brands like Aixun or Geboon.

JBC is 'proper' stuff, there are lots of Chinese clones of these of varying quality.

[Byker28i]

How much do you want to spend? Weller will cost you £150 upwards, or a straight mains plug in iron from Draper is around £15 from Screwfix etc

[Baldchap]

Budget isn't a huge concern TBH, but the question is, will an amateur see the difference?

[JoshSm]

Baldchap said:

Budget isn't a huge concern TBH, but the question is, will an amateur see the difference?

Depends what you're doing with it! SMT? Sensitive components? Big stuff?

You could use a basic stick or you might find you really want a decent temperature controlled one with plenty of power & swappable tips.

A proper expensive solder station can be a nice thing to work with anyway, but there's a difference between nice and necessary.

[ARHarh]

15 years ago when i was involved with buying for teams doing SMT stuff all day every day it was JBC always. Still use my 25 year old one sometimes. If its just a one off just about anything with the correct sized tip will do. After all it far more to do with technique than it is the equipment. I use a cheap temperature controlled Chinese thing, which is used a couple of hours a week. It cost less than a new tip for my JBC. Performs fine even down 0402 stuff. Though It would probably drive me nuts if I was using it more often.

[Gary C]

The duratool stuff is ok. Good price and the tips last (had mine in regular use for 3 years without a change).

I use the one with the Hot air and solder iron in one. The hot air is meant for SMT work but its brilliant for melting glue and separating cases, screens or keyboards.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Duratool-D00671-Soldering...

Edited by Gary C on Tuesday 12th August 12:27

[spangle82]

Antex is the brand I remember. I've had my 25W one for decades.

Just make sure you get proper solder if you can, not lead-free st.

[Elrikos]

I'd suggest anything which takes T12 tips. They are a standard, including the tip and element in one piece. Heat up in 10 seconds or so and keep a tight temperature.

I have a random chinese brand, but Quicko is relatively well known for their off brand T12 soldering stations. They are inexpensive on aliexpress or the like. I have hundreds of hours on mine. Tips as mentioned are interchangeable by brand, and tend to run £3 or so each. I keep 10 or so on hand, but actually only really ever use 3-4 styles depending on what im doing.

[JimM169]

I got one of these a while ago, got good reviews, there's few a few YouTube vids to see what it does and plenty of tips etc available

https://uk.banggood.com/V2_1S-T12-Digital-Temperat...

[un1eash]

I've been using an Iroda gas soldering iron for years for DIY jobs. It was bought from Maplin when they were still a store.

[Peanut Gallery]

I have used many small cheapy ones, they do the job - recently was looking through Switch Electronics shop and found this guy - 65W - ST-2065D - it heats up REALLY fast, doesnt overheat, the tip is nice and sharp, feels really good.

https://www.switchelectronics.co.uk/products/atten...

Word of warning though, I found many other small accessories in that site, things like small little legs for Arduino boards to stand on, adapters to screw a secondary board above the main board, small electrical connectors, decent quality ABS boxes - I very quickly only needed to add £10 stuff to save £5 shipping...

No relation, just a happy customer (with another basket filling up)

[Baldchap]

Thanks all. I'll take a look at the suggestions and LYK what I go with.