soldering gun

[enjenjo]

Anyone have a recommendation?

[Digger]

I have 2 Weller soldering guns. One is about 45 years old and the other about 25 and both still work perfect. The tips can be replaced and I believe there are specialty tips available.

[58 Yeoman]

What digger said.  A year or so ago, I bought another at an estate sale, new in the box, just in case my original ever konks out.

[BFS57]

Hello;
Weller is always a good brand. One thing for sure the watts at which a soldering gun operates at is, or should be the determining factor. Most of mine are in the 45 watt and higher category. In my not so distant past I used these to solder tin tanks for model airplanes. They always did an outstanding job.
Next, don't forget the flux!

Bruce

[WZ JUNK]

I keep a butane torch for some jobs.  It is real handy when you do not want to mess with getting out an extension cord.  Works best on heavier gauge wire.  I have others that are off brands of the Weller design.  Even the cheap guns seem to last a long time and I use them a lot.  I like a solder joint and I use them whenever possible.  So does my brother.

John

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I've got a Weller I've  had and used for many yrs

Actually own 2 of them.  One at the 'day job' ....  

[moose]

Depends on what you plan to solder. If for wiring I agree Wweller cannot be beat, I have both a gun style and a pencil type. Both have their uses. O course I do have the BIG solderng irons for tin work but they are no longer used...

Tim

[wayne petty]

one tip about soldering irons, guns, pencils...

before soldering CMOS electronics with them...

use your digital ohm meter to measure the resistance from both sides of the plug to the soldering tip...

time expended ... perhaps a minute..  if your meter is laying nearby..   cost if your soldering device has a short to the line voltage at the tip..  even if its only ONE side... could get rather expensive..  these electronics operate at 3 to 15 volts and burn out at 18 or so...

this is the reason why most people wear static straps that are grounded to the chassis ground on the circuit board you are working on.. so the static that builds up on your body that gets you on trips to the doctors office as you reach for the door knob .. does not blow the electronics up...

and this is what you are looking for to solder...



the wires that pass thru the circuit board get hot.. this expands the solder closest to the wire.. pushing the rest of the solder puddle back.. as its more in contact with the much larger surface of the circuit board.. as the heating and cooling moves the solder around.. it will eventually crack leaving a tube of solder around your wire and a hollow volcano shape on the circuit board.. at that point.. there is no electrical contact... so that circuit or device is now dead..

i have resoldered... power window switches.. various relays.. and all the way up to ECM/PCMs..

but don't stop there... once you get some skills..

VCRs... yea .. those antiques...  

your CRT televisions.. if you still have any..  warning.. special precautions need to be taken..  or the TV will KILL YOU by ZAPPING YOU with like 25,000 volts with some current behind it.. these are LETHAL VOLTAGES..
CRT type monitors and TVs can retain lethal voltages and current for 6 months or longer after they were last plugged in..


so.. when your flat screen TVs start to act up.. these are safe to work on..

they usually fail when the end of the power supply wire heats up and melts... AND OR.. the pins that are on the motherboard have thermally damaged solder joints like the honda relay shown above..

if you have bad terminals.. replacement terminal components are available..  or ... photograph the wire order.. mark the colors on the circuit board next to the proper pin.. cut the connector off the end of the power supply cable.. strip them back and wrap them around and solder them to the cleaned pins they used to connect to.

use multi colors of sharpie to mark the different connectors so when you unplug them .. you can easily figure out where they go..

lastly.... before soldering...  find an electric fan.. blow it across your work area..  you really DON'T want to inhale the soldering fumes...  lead, tin, zinc, silver, rosin flux...  nasty stuff..  there are small very expensive fans with a filter trap on them to pull the fumes away from you..

[enjenjo]

have an old Weller, it's getting kind of lame. just wanted to see if there was something better out there. I guess not.

[wayne petty]

have an old Weller, it's getting kind of lame. just wanted to see if there was something better out there. I guess not.

sorry.. i missed the point...

this will give you several different sections to search..

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en/soldering-desoldering-rework-products

they always keep the soldering equipment up to date with the newest trick of the week,

it will take some time to page thru the sections...

l love my weller base station also...  i got mine at the TRW swapmeet in redondo beach about 15 years ago... for 10 bucks.. somebody had added about 15 feet of what is probably vacuum cleaner power cord between the base and the tip.. with a few feet of the original wire at each end.. man is that nice to solder with..  i am not always * the base station off... and i have a spare tip holder spring on a base..  so i don't have to return it to the base station spring...  only issue i have is keeping the sponges.. as kitchen sponges just don't cut it for wiping the tip...

most of the newer weller stuff has a tip temp control knob on the base station...

the TIP controlled versions have a magnet on the back of the tip.. when it comes up to the temp rating marked on the back of the tip.. the magnetic field collapses and the reed switch opens shutting off the current until the tip cools slightly.. the magnet becomes attractive again and the reed switch closes..  click.. click. click...

i also store lengths of solder by wrapping them around the wire.. so i always have some handy.. if the spool gets rolled away by the cats..

i also have some thick solid core plumbing type solder.. that i wrapped around a 1/4" bolt to make what looks like a spring.. that i have looped around the base of the spring.. and the spare tips twisted into that.. so far i have not lost my extra tips..

[rooster]

I have a rechargable also some weller's, I like the Isotip the best very handy and small. On my second set of batterys now! Had it about 20 years.

http://www.amazon.com/Iso-Tip-7700-Cordless-Soldering-Iron/dp/B004GHT6P8

[papastoyss]

have an old Weller, it's getting kind of lame. just wanted to see if there was something better out there. I guess not.

I too have an older Weller that I seldom use, I have found I get better results by removing the tip & cleaning out the corrosion that forms from little use.

[Beck]

A short term fix for a burned up Weller style gun tip is to bend up a new one from 12 gauge copper wire. Get it close to the originals shape and it is good enough. The copper wire doesn't last nearly as long as a "factory" tip but it works well and the price is right. My gun has had many temporary fixes like this. I never seem to remember to buy that new tip. I guess it is the flux that eats the copper over time.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Usually when my solder gun is starting to peed me off , I install a new tip.

[48bill]

Have two wellers.  Oldest I inherited from my grandfather who passed away in 1966.  It has a $3.95 price tag.  The other, back up, came with our home purchased 17 years ago.  It has to be 20 - 30 years old.  Both work great on wiring.