28 May
2009
28 May
'09
7:07 a.m.
On Thursday 28 May 2009, Dennis Boone wrote:
Though I've never actually had a Rat Shack cheapo iron go bad (probably
just luck, or the fact that I don't really use them that much), I'm
much happier with my temperature controlled one. I picked up an
Xytronic XY9-60, which I'm pretty happy with. It has an LED-display
temperature readout, and only set me back a little over $100 through
All Electronics, I think. They don't seem to have it anymore, but I'm
sure you could find another one..
One reason I
never graduated to /real/ soldering stations is that
I kept wondering "what do I do when it goes bad?". What do you
guys recommend?
I can't count all the defunct floppy-catenary-shaped rusted-tip
ratshack irons or the 30-40 watt basic Weller irons that went through
my hands before I finally got the hint. 2. Power -- you can put a 90-100 watt heating element
in the tip if
you have temperature control, because now you aren't just turning on
the element and hitting equilibrium at 950F. When you need to solder
8 gauge wire, you used to reach for the monster 100W stained-glass
iron. Now you may not have to.
FWIW, I have discovered that it's easier (given sufficient clearance) to
use a MAPP-gas torch to solder large wires. 6AWG is the biggest that
I've dealt with so far.
Pat
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