Suggestions for Soldering Iron

badwhitevision

badwhitevision

Forerunner
@Heisen @rsaeon and all other experts in the field.

I'm planning on buying a new soldering iron/station.

I'm confused on which.

I currently have a 25W soldron iron that has served me well, but is beginning to age.

My use cases are mostly THT and single side PCB soldering. I have also recently started soldering a lot more wires than expected.

I have a soft budget of 1K, is this enough or do i need to increase this? If yes, what would be reasonable for hobby use?

I do not have a blower.

Any recommendations?

Thank you
 
@badwhitevision : Would recommend a soldering station if your are regularly soldering. For budget stations Yihua stations are pretty vfm. Yihua 926 is a pretty good station.

This once for a bit more features. https://robu.in/product/yihua-926led-iii-60w-digital-soldering-iron-tools/
ree52 sells it also for cheaper but it seems its shipped from shenzen so a bit more lead time. https://rees52.com/products/yihua-9...zRd26lUIE8SKx4O1izNr1wDUCfOtV7rfOtTyyss34Z_nH
 
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badwhitevision said:
I have a soft budget of 1K, is this enough or do i need to increase this? If yes, what would be reasonable for hobby use?
Click to expand...
In 1k range the market is flooded with so many soldering irons, it's very hard to select. There are some good Chinese stuff but then there are also copies of the good Chinese stuff, so it gets very confusing.

If we look at the oldest indian brand in the industry, it's soldron, followed by siron I think. @arup recommended the right one in your budget. It is 60 watt and should feel like the nice upgrade to your 25 watt. It also has temperature adjustment knob, how accurate is it gonna be, can't tell, and honestly accuracy is not really a concern at this price range, as long as it changes the temperature, it's good enough.

The Yihua ones recommended by @ronnie_gogs are also great and are 60 watt. But if warranty is a concern soldron seems to be better simply because they are local. I myself is looking to buy yihua desoldering iron.

The official soldron site - https://www.soldron.com/products/si60avt-soldron-variable-wattage-soldering-iron
Alternative - https://www.soldermall.com/products/SI60AVT-SOLDRON-VARIABLE-WATTAGE-SOLDERING-IRON.aspx

If your previous 25 watt served you well, I don't think you need anything serious and need to spend more.

Regarding longevity, use your iron at lowest temperature possible, highest temperature wears things out prematurely. Turn OFF the soldering iron when not in use for extended period of time. Use brass wool for cleaning the tip, it does minimal wear and when you are done with your iron before turning OFF, wrap the tip into solder blob, and then turn if OFF, this will protect the tip from oxidation.

Also solder fumes are toxic, the fume extractors are expensive so I personally solder in open space not inside the home. A simple PC fan is must to keep the fumes away from you.
 
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badwhitevision said:
I currently have a 25W soldron iron that has served me well, but is beginning to age.
Click to expand...

I used those for about 25 years before I got a T12 clone, and I only wish I'd done it much sooner. I have a OSS T12X and I'm hoping to get another so that I wouldn't need to swap out tips.

A good quality iron takes away all the frustrations of cold joints, uneven fillets, and long warm-up times.

If you're soldering any kind of semiconductor without a socket, I'd strongly recommend a temperature controlled iron, any temperature controlled one.
 
I have oss T12-D. Would recommend oss T12X.
@rsaeon Do you have good recommendation for soldering wire online?
I used Bharti bought from offline store before. It was so good for something like Rs.120. Then I bought Bharti and Oswalt from Akinfo. But useless. I thought my iron got faulty.
 
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+1 to getting a sharper tip than the standard soldron.
Otherwise I've heard these temp controlled ones such as the t12d are better,I'm still chugging along with my 35w soldron.
 
Thank you all for your responses.

I was contemplating buying the OSS T-12 iron, but was worried about the 2.5k budget.

Looking at the reviews here, it makes sense to get the iron and live happily for a few years rather than settle for a lesser one and keep worrying about how the other one would have been.
 
You'll have to buy tips also apart from the included one. If the included one works for you then no need for extra.
I would recommend the knife shape or one with larger surface area for soldering and desolfering. You can buy others later as you need them. Buy according to your use case.
 
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A good soldering iron can last a long time. I bought a Hakko FX888D almost like 9 years ago and its still going strong and I think it will go strong (fingers crossed) for another 7-10 years.

Made in 2014 its more than a decade old by now. May not have any fancy features but it is durable and works great. Has the designer signature at the bottom too. Not that it makes a difference but gives it a bit of personality.

1733467044747.jpeg
 
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