I find irons of similar wattage vary a bit.
I have an Antex ER30 which is poor for soldering heavy connectors and heat sinks.
Yet my Weller SP25L does the heavy connectors and heat sinks fine !
However, the Weller goes through tips in a few days.
So I use the Antex for general use and Weller for heavier stuff as required.
For decades (well on and off) I used these very cheap soldering irons , heating wire with mica insulation 2 $/€.
I thought next step were these bulky , very expensive stations , way overpriced for me and unsure about the tip.
A month ago I discovered, the ceramic ones on a local website , like the one in your link , ahmarali.
And wow , these are great !
They have temperature control and are small , pen like and still cheap , about 3 to 4 $/€ . Easy to change the tip , I had to buy some more tips though , about 2 $ for 10. Only copper tip are good but they discolour .
I has helped me a lot to solder in very confined spaces , that would have been impossible with my old one.
And I think they are safer to use on semiconductors while on power . With the old one I always unplug , so waste more time.
250-275 degr for small things , 300 or more for soldering thicker copper rods or wire on plugs .
There are some with a digital display , but it only displays the selected temp , not the actual reached temp and you need to select the temp every time you disconnect so that's not practical. Very few have an on/off button and not 100 % sure they remember the selected temp if you don't unplug them.
Attachments
Member
Joined 2023
I love those Adjustable Temperature Controlled 60W Irons.
I would love to have a display, but these irons are too big and not as aesthetic as this.
By the way, are these ESD Safe? The body says so but there is no earthing connection.
How accurate is the actual temperature compared to whats on knob.
A 60W soldering iron might be a tad too much if it is not temperature regulated. For basic PCB soldering, something around 25W is more appropriate. Higher powered irons are often seen used in electronics, but most of the time these are temperature regulated. Otherwise, you'll quickly fry your board and the components on it.
I use a 30 watt Antex iron with good results.
It works with electronics fine but sometimes struggles a little with things like connector pins which are large.
I don't think these irons with a temperature trimmer are accurate , but you select a range . It doesn't really matter if the temperature is 250 or 270 degr.
You set the range for what you're soldering and what kind of tip you use.
I soldered a lot of CMOS IC's with it , nothing died (yet). I touch the ground first before soldering.
For expensive stuff like JFET opamps , I connect a wire from the metal of the iron to the ground of the PCB and start with the ground connection of the IC.
Member
Joined 2020
If your looking to buy a new soldering iron, want temperature control and a huge amount of tips, with efficient heat transfer go to the EEVblog @youtube etc. and check they're reviews of the Chinese made JBC copies, gets you 90% of a 600-1000$ professional soldering station for under 100$. Most of those review tears them down and goes over the internals, check earth potentials for ESD use, check the temp overshoot and controls etc.
Can use original tips and handles too, some even come with em if you wanna pay more.
T245 and T210 handles gives you all the flexibility you need and several hundred tip shapes, for just about any application.
From SMD chips, to caonnector/cable tips, and everything inbetween, also 5mm+ chisels etc.
Tips goes from sleep mode to 300 celsius in 2 secs, the heat transfer is really superior to the typical loose tips on the Hakko FX88 etc. that is in the same price range. And the temperature control on original JBCs tend to be spot on, but they are expensive, the copies tend to do quite well too. The temperature measuring is integrated in the tip, unlike most MFGs.
I use a 30 watt Antex iron with good results.
It works with electronics fine but sometimes struggles a little with things like connector pins which are large.
I can do most things with my Antex 18W iron but my Antex 50W Temp Controlled Soldering Station is the best.
I will say that the actual power is not really the issue. The important thing is that the heat gets to the tip/work and that the heat is not wasted.
So keep your tip clean, use a damp sponge and clean off excess solder.
Make sure the components are clean. Many will oxidise once removed from the packaging. I used flux pen if I need to make a Rick solid joint.
Lead free soOder works fine but you need a hotter iron.
The nice thing about the Antex Irons is that they both keep as much as the heat into the tip so work better than some irons that consume more power.
i haven't used Antex for a very long time but had problems with tip corrosion. Later at work weller was always around especially the type where the tip fitted set the temperature. Later temp controllable ones. Never any problems with tip corrosion even if the iron was often on all day without much use.
I bought a 48w temp controlled one from the UK's RSWWW a few years ago. The wattage means it takes time to heat up but I miss the broad weller tip for some soldering. Most of the stuff around is aimed at surface mount but some irons do have a tip available that have a chamfered end that can hold more solder than a pointed one. It still struggles with say sweating the ends of stranded wire or soldering those in place. The wattage means there is less power available to keep the tip temperature up as well. I'd second the comment about making sure this style of tip is available. Also use of a damp sponge to clean solder off the tip.
The time taken to make the joint also figures - not just the tip temperature. People who do a fair amount of it are likely to use higher tip temperatures.
Member
Joined 2011
I have used the Antex TCS irons (50w) for decades because they work so well for me, whether with a fine SMD bit, a 3mm for standard jobs or a 4mm tip for large sodering jobs.
The latest model has a digital temperature display and all versions heat up very quickly.
I also found that solder from Rapidonline.com that contains Germanium gives excellent joints very like leaded solder. Bit pricey though.
https://www.rapidonline.com/r-tech-856874-lead-free-sn-cu-ag-ni-ge-solder-22swg-0-7mm-0-5kg-85-6874
Show hidden low quality content
- Home
- Design & Build
- Equipment & Tools
- Is a 60w solder iron strong enough for electronic soldering?
TopBottom
