I hope no one is offended by this question
From previous posts members may have noted that my programming skills are not the greatest but I do love tinkering and soldering
To my question my good lady has asked me what that big guy with the white beard and red suit could bring me towards the end of the year I am thinking soldering iron
I have used an 18 watt iron for years but I am thinking now temperature controlled iron and the best soldering iron tip any suggestions please my daughter is paying towards it as well
I have asked them not to go beyond £100 am I being realistic for a quality iron
Thanks novolts
Now you've asked for it! I don't know where all of this temperature controlled (dial a temp) solder station stuff came from. I have several 60 watt Weller WTCP units, that rely on the Curie temperature of a magnet to control their temperature. You buy the tips that have the temperature you want. All of my tips are 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
I also only use mildy activated rosin multicore 63/37 solder. This may be problematic in Europe, where lead based products are probably more highly regulated than here in the US.
My Weller units are all at least 30 years old. I have never replaced any of the tips, which range from 1/4 inch wide, to needles capable of 1005 surface mount device soldering under a binocular microscope. The only repair I have ever done to any of my Wellers was to replace the handset cord on one after I ground through it with a belt sander.
Why am I so pedantic?
1) A eutectic solder (63/37) has a melting point equal to it's freezing point (361 degrees F). It doesn't have a mushy, slushy range where it's not immediately clear that the solder has flowed to make a reliable joint.
2) Rosin based fluxes are non-conductive, even if not removed. If removal is necessary, iso-propyl alcohol works very well, and is easily and cheaply available at any drugstore. It's relatively non-toxic. Many "water soluable" fluxes claim to be able to remain on the board without removal. This is false. Because they are water soluable, they absorb water from the air, and are conductive to at least some degree. A sensitive Picaxe touch switch or AD circuit can easily suffer from this unintended current leakage.
3) To what temperature will you set the dial on your solder station? A thought experiment...Suppose you set it for 362 degrees, one degree above the melting point of 63/37 solder. You will wait until the cows come home until the solder melts, meanwhile destroying the bond between your circuit board traces and the fiberglass substrate, cooking the internal die and wirebond of your Picaxe, and toasting any other components that have to have their leads cooked interminably until your solder melts. If you are using a non-eutectic solder, it's even worse, since you can't really tell when the solder "melts", it just gets "slushy". Now consider the same thing with a tungsten sewing needle heated to 4000 degrees. The energy in the tiny needle is still very low, despite the high temperature, and you will wait a similar amount of time before your solder flows.
4) A good soldering iron will dump as much heat as possible into the joint as fast as possible. The tip should be sized to the job. The solder joint is complete when the solder flows. Get it over with as fast as possible. Done. This means that you need an iron with the highest possible WATTAGE, at a temperature between 600-800 degrees Fahrenheit. Dial-a-temp functions on a solder station are worthless at best, and cause board and component damage at worst.
5) The Weller curie temp irons accomplish all of these things. They have a huge selection of tips so you can size to the job. The tip itself determines the maximum temperature that the tip can reach, and if the tip is under that temperature, the iron dumps all of its 60 watts into the tip, getting it to temperature as fast as possible.
6) A good soldering iron tip does not require ammonium chloride wipes, bronze wool wipes, filing, or sandpaper. Some of my tips are over 40 years old, and still work perfectly. They have only ever seen a damp sponge, and 63/37 rosin core solder. I have seen folks use their soldering iron to cut plastic wire ties, and then wonder why their tip wouldn't "wet" anymore. Don't do that.
In short, I expect my Weller WTCP's to outlive me. If one doesn't, I would buy another from e-bay. Parts are still available from Weller, and the tips are available from any good electronics supplier, although I haven't purchased any in decades, and I use them daily.
Just my $0.02 worth.