Recommend me a Soldering Station

[philby21]

Hi folks,

After finding myself doing more and more soldering due to this and other hobbies, I've decided that my trusty little iron (owned since my university days - and I'm now pushing 50!) isn't really cutting it for me anymore so it's time to upgrade to a soldering station.

So, what's a good one to buy?

Bearing in mind I'm in the UK so a lot of US stores/brands will be off the table due to stupidly excessive postage/import duty/VAT charges. Sources like AliExpress are still good though (as long as order value is low enough), gotta admit some of these Chinese manufacturers are doing some really tidy work at amazing prices these days.

Cheers,

Phil

 

[Cheez]

Several good brands out there. I’m happy with my Hakko

 

[Engineer]

I have an older PACE MBT solder station that I’m very happy with.

 

[zerocool135]

I have the Hakko fx-888d and its an awesome station. I also have a ts100 that I got for when I'm out bashing and believe it or not I'm able to do 10awg wire with that ts100 on a 6s battery. The Hakko doesn't have a permanent home so I find myself just going for the ts100 more often than not.

 

[Notoriousone]

My Hakko fx-888d is good for most soldering jobs, but for big wire that needs a lot of heat I use my favorite, the Weller 300 watt soldering gun.. Its big and heavy, and absolutely gets the job done when high heat is required. It heats up 8 awg wire like its nothing. I highly recommend it

 

[jkflow]

https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/soldering-kits.29224/

https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/what-do-i-need-as-a-beginner-to-start-soldering.27751/

https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/soldering-station.19540/

 

[philby21]

https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/soldering-kits.29224/

https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/what-do-i-need-as-a-beginner-to-start-soldering.27751/

https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/soldering-station.19540/

Thanks for the additional info, this place is so busy that search isn't always as helpful as it should be!

Generally it seems the Hakko is a great option so I'll probably go for that, backed up by the other larger ones I've got.

Thanks gang!

 

[jkflow]

Get a big 80W for any connector work, not the gun types but truly a soldering iron
I struggle with my Hakko but love it for everything else.
Something cheap and capable, it's just a bigger hammer

 

[claytonbakerjr]

FX-888D. 6 years and still killing it

 

[davenelson]

Hakko FX-888D is the best thing out there for the hobbiest. Grab an assortment of tips like a medium chisel and a T18-C4 4 mm beveled tip and you will be ready to handle and RC soldering needs.

 

[JoshHefnerX]

I got a Hakko FX-888D and it's been 100%. The couple of years ago that I got mine, you did have to be careful where you picked it up from - stick to good distributors as there are some chinese knockoffs.

 

[Hainesy]

Picked up one of these with an assortment of tips a while ago - it's superb: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/329...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

Heats up and down from temp to standby in >2secs.