Advice needed: Soldering Iron specs to do a couple of repair jobs

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Kiwifruta

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#245105 18-Jan-2019 17:42

Hi.

I'm looking to replace a couple of woofers and capacitors in our speakers. Mainly as an excuse to do a bonding-project with my sons.

Also, I'd potentially replace the motor in our dryer.

I did a wee bit of soldering 30+ years ago as a kid, but will need to do a bit of a refresher.

Could someone tell me what to look for in a soldering iron and in solder?

How many watts are required to do a decent job?

Cheers

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#2163403 18-Jan-2019 18:57

The gas ones are great if you can get one, no wires. I bought a real cheap electric before inheriting two gas from my father. I’d never paid attention to the wattages but never had a problem

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andrewNZ

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#2163404 18-Jan-2019 18:59

You probably only need 20-25w definitely no more than 30.
You only need higher wattage irons for soldering large items that act as heat sinks.

Solder, just pick some, finer is probably better. Its hard to use just a little bit of thick solder.

andrewNZ

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#2163406 18-Jan-2019 19:04

This actually looks pretty good.

Gordy7

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#2163408 18-Jan-2019 19:08

60 watts.
Temperature controlled iron... avoids burning PC's and fluxes...
About a 2mm diam tip.
Lead-tin solder with flux core.. 1mm diam.... better flow properties than lead free solder...
A lot depends on the size of terminal and wires...

EL-cheapo iron I would not recommend for very teaching and demoing... unless you are a skilled solderer.... tip might require frequent dressing to allow proper soldering...

Gordy

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richms

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#2163417 18-Jan-2019 19:43

Yihua knockoff of the old design haako is great I find. Sometimes the calibration is totally out on the numbers but there is a screw on them to change that (I assume the digitals have a way to calibrate too, but IMO the up/down control is a PITA compared to a knob)

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Tracer

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#2163440 18-Jan-2019 20:49

richms:

Yihua knockoff of the old design haako is great I find. Sometimes the calibration is totally out on the numbers but there is a screw on them to change that (I assume the digitals have a way to calibrate too, but IMO the up/down control is a PITA compared to a knob)

Yup, the Chinese Hakko knock-offs are a good low-cost option for occasional work.

andrewNZ: You probably only need 20-25w definitely no more than 30.
You only need higher wattage irons for soldering large items that act as heat sinks.

You mostly need higher wattage when soldering planes, or pads joined to a plane without thermal relief. In those cases you really need an iron with the heating cartridge inside the tip (Hakko FX-951, Pace ADS200 etc.). I wouldn't recommend such an iron unless you're doing PCB work regularly though because $$$.

Tracer

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#2163441 18-Jan-2019 20:50

If you're willing to spend a little more for quality gear, the Hakko FX-888 is popular.

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Kiwifruta

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#2163549 19-Jan-2019 08:31

Tracer:

If you're willing to spend a little more for quality gear, the Hakko FX-888 is popular.

Nice item, well beyond my budget though.

Just realised that so I know where the fault is, I'll need a multimeter too.

frankv

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#2163604 19-Jan-2019 10:35

I have a cheap Chinese USB-powered soldering iron which turned out to be surprisingly good, although not enough for heavy gauge wires. Fancier models have temperature control and an LCD temperature display.

Tracer

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#2163635 19-Jan-2019 11:40

Another popular option is the TS100, search AliExpress + YouTube. Looks to go for around $80 on Ali.

elbrownos

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#2164622 21-Jan-2019 10:59

This 30/60W soldering iron from Bunnings for $30 is good for most applications.

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/tradeflame-30-60w-dual-power-soldering-iron_p00153929

hio77

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#2164631 21-Jan-2019 11:26

Tracer:

Another popular option is the TS100, search AliExpress + YouTube. Looks to go for around $80 on Ali.

I love my TS100, the size and the heatup rate is hands down. the best experience ever.

I've got two decent sized "standard" ones, a gas powered one and the TS100.

TS100 is used for 99% of all my work, I normally use the gas powered one without the tip for heatshrink (is designed to do this..)

I have used the gas one a few times in work on the car, but it's just so bulky... guess i'm used to such a small and powerful device now...

I will carify that majority of my solder work is on microcontrollers, esp8266's etc so smaller is certainly preferred.

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Technofreak

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#2164704 21-Jan-2019 12:55

Kiwifruta:

Hi.

I'm looking to replace a couple of woofers and capacitors in our speakers. Mainly as an excuse to do a bonding-project with my sons.

Also, I'd potentially replace the motor in our dryer.

I did a wee bit of soldering 30+ years ago as a kid, but will need to do a bit of a refresher.

Could someone tell me what to look for in a soldering iron and in solder?

How many watts are required to do a decent job?

Cheers

It's very much horse for courses.

I have a Weller EC1001D temperature controlled soldering station that does pretty well anything I normally solder.Something like that would do what you want as would the one from Bunnings mentioned in another post. However I wouldn't even think about doing any PCB work with the Bunnings one.

Gas irons are very good, I have a small Portasol iron. It can be used almost anywhere, no need for 240V AC , but the temperature isn't as easy to control and the heat from the flame can damage nearby components if you're not careful. One big plus is they usually have other attachments like hot knives and small heat heater attachments that are useful for shrinking heat shrink.

For jobs that involve heatsinks or material that has a lot of mass you need a big tip. It's not so much the wattage, though that is still important, you also need a reservoir of heat which only a big tip can give you.

Lastly keeping the tip clean and well tinned is so important to ensure a good transfer of heat between the tip and what ever you are soldering.

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#2164775 21-Jan-2019 14:16

In general, avoid irons that have a screw on the end that holds in the tip, just because they are often cheap & nasty

Avoid the bunnings , mitre10 etc irons . Too much of a crap shoot .
Ive bought a 80W that didnt even get hot enough to melt solder , wattage means nothing on cheap junk.

Buy one from Jaycar , its much more likely to actually be usuable.
https://www.jaycar.co.nz/20-130w-soldering-iron-starter-kit/p/TS1651

30W at least . And get some good flux cored solder . As above NOT lead free .
The fine tips that some have will be useless, get a spade tip . If they dont sell different tips for it, avoid.

To clean the tip the best way is a goldylocks pot&pan cleaner from the supermarket . Put in in an old ashtray .
https://www.jaycar.co.nz/goot-soldering-iron-tip-cleaner/p/TS1510
Keep the tip clean while you are soldering.

A soldering iron stand of some sort is a must.
Keep in mind, solder can drip, so dont solder near your nice carpet :-)

A good iron will last 20-30+ years .
All the gas irons Ive owned didnt last, incl expensive ones .

geocom

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#2164786 21-Jan-2019 14:38

Another +1 for the TS100 I have a genuine Hakko at home and like it but the TS100 is far more useful for field repairs and can do just as well as the Hakko. You can use it with a 3s or bigger lipo or a USB power bank so long as you use either a USB-PD or QuickCharge compatible one with a voltage selector PCB(you will want to solder on some leads to the pins though to a DC plug)

I have also tried gas powered ones and have had nothing but bad luck with them as the ones I have had the fuel lines gum up after less than a year

Geoff E

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