Soldering irons/stations - Buy once, cry once advice needed
Soldering/electronics repair enthusiasts: I am in need of a soldering iron/station for electronics repair and wiring, preferred budget is under $150, perfection can raise the budget to $250.
First line of this post is all that's really needed if you just want to provide advice on what to buy (which is just fine, people don't need to know how a car works for me to explain that they probably just need a minivan).
Below is what I have gathered thus far if perhaps there's more that you'd like to know about what I've seen and perhaps misunderstood so far.
At present I have a no-name, non-adjustable, extremely basic soldering iron that is more fire hazard than anything and a Weller soldering gun that is obviously not meant for electronics and small wires. The iron has been good enough for the occasional need to solder a couple of wires together to get something broken back up and working, but is not something I'd use on anything critical.
Search thus far
Started down the rabbit hole of soldering irons with one that got a lot of press in maker circles, iFixIt's hub and station - https://www.ifixit.com/Device/iFixit_Soldering - which seems quite innovative as someone that is new to what's available in the soldering world and it being actually portable is a nice-to-have-but-probably-unnecessary-for-me factor. Reading further, while I applaud the idea of a simple tip interface via the headphone jack method to be interesting, it's too early to see if it'll catch on and I'm not one to buy into a proprietary consumables format. Pencap for the iron and USB-C also seemed innovative at first look, but now realize that USB-C is semi-common in soldering irons already. $250 for the station and iron alone is a harder pill swallow and while the iron is available alone for $75, needing to use my phone or a computer to adjust the temp is dumb, a May ship date puts it out of the running.
Next item found was the Pinecil - https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Pinecil - which seems to solve many of the complaints about iFixIt's offering in a similar sort of setup even if the barrel jack seems on the pointless side considering EPR. It has the plus side of the TS100-style tips which can be had for brass inserts into 3D prints (giving the soldering iron another use) even if these style of tips appear to have a consensus that they aren't as good as JDC-style tips like C245. However, that opinion may be based entirely around electronics-only enthusiasts and professionals, and not someone that is more multi-disciplinary like myself and there are no heat set insert tips for C245.
Hakko and JDC are the industry standard/old guard and for good reason I'm sure, but seem overly expensive for my purposes and interfaces seem out of date according to many. That said, I'm not willing to jump onto a fly-by-night company that's just waiting for the moment to slash quality for profit, disappear, and rebrand under another name to grift another set of people.
There are other possible brands that people have mentioned elsewhere (Aixun?), but I haven't dug deep enough to know if they're legitimate or not just yet and at this point the "soldering" window I have open to research this is at about 40 tabs and before I spend days digging deeper, I figured I'd just ask someone for advice.
Hardcore electronics guy here. Give me about 30 to 60 minutes to put this together, I have experience using nearly every brand you mentioned and have a lot to share as well as advice and options, but the post is going to end up a bit.. long.
Edit: main post below. May add to / edit further later if more stuff occurs to me.
IMPORTANT EDIT, adding to top: Please use breathing protection in some form. See perfect example of what you don't want in your lungs here There are many perfectly acceptable ways of doing this. Solder outside. Solder with the window open AND a strong fan evacuating the air outside, proooooobably in addition to a small fan blowing the fumes away from you and toward the window while you solder. Window fan + 3M half-mask respirator with P-100/activated charcoal cartridges. High-quality fume extractor - seriously I've tried the el-cheapo tiny desk filter units and they are all crap - don't rely on your health for them. Don't get lung cancer, don't skimp on safety gear.
Ok, here goes.
TL;DR advice:
Don't buy: iFixit. It pains me to say it, since the company is genuinely good (in many ways, including in my opinion literally a champion of empowering individuals and championing right-to-repair), but while their soldering station is nicely designed and functional, it ABSOLUTELY is not a good value for your money.
Don't buy JBC stations. They are the 'Cadillac' of soldering stations and priced like a bar of gold. The products really are absolutely amazing, but price... just no. Paying 5 or 10 times as much to get chase down that last 20% of perfection is for manufacturing environments where quality and technician comfort combined make financial sense.
Reasonable options / good value:
The Pinecil V2 is semi-last generation (specifically because not-exactly-standardized cartridges are used) but it is functional and inexpensive at $26. Pine is a wonderful group that aims to produce and price things to make them available, not to make a profit.
The FNIRSI HS-02 USB-C powered soldering iron is a current-generation portable iron that can be more than good enough for most use-cases. They currently are showing the price of $36 and claiming it's a half-off sale, but I bought one a while back for $32 shipped off AliExpress, and currently there's a sale for one for $28 shipped. These irons are compatible with JBC cartridges - C-210's and C-245's - which cost more than the iron itself, but they have the best quality control. A cheap iron that you can later use a JBC cartridge with is an excellent sweet spot to aim for. Between the two, I advise getting the FNIRSI HS-02 (NOT the HS-01 - get the -02) as the best bang-for-your-buck budget option. Keep in mind you will need to pay for a high-wattage output USB-C power supply if you don't already have one. A 100+ watt supply is best to make sure you can take full advantage of the power output this iron can deliver. EDIT: you also need to make sure to get a high-quality 100 Watt capable silicone USB-C power cable. Make sure to get silicone so you won't damage / melt / burn the cable from an accidental soldering iron touch.
Cheap/reliable/older-gen station:
The Hakko FX-888D station is extremely common to find on eBay used, it's a proven workhorse and will do just fine for most tasks short of the most demanding (like soldering, say, modern video cards which are engineered to dissipate TONS of heat through the ground plane, making them frustrating to solder on without a high-wattage output cartridge based iron). You can find one of these for under $100 on eBay. Edit: this was my previous bench iron, I used it plenty and even though it is a tech generation old, it is indeed a solid, reliable workhorse.
My current choice and advice for a current-gen station is the AiXun T420D. - But only if you can wait / find it on sale for your max price of $250, which is something you can do by looking for it on AliExpress and waiting for a sale combined with the coupon codes they regularly have. I got mine for $327 shipped, but I believe you can find it for your target max price with some searching and looking at when Ali sales are happening. You could also go with the single-channel version which will be easier to find for cheaper, but getting the 2-channel model gives you so much more future utility (if you get the model that comes with all 3 handles, you will always have the option to use all 3 of the most common JBC-compatible cartridge sizes). DO NOT BUY their other soldering options - the T420D station uses a linear power supply with a giant toroidal transformer and provides a clean power supply for the iron. THIS MATTERS. Their other, smaller soldering stations use solid state switching power supplies and have a serious issue that results in the soldering cartridge tip injecting voltage into the board you are soldering on, and can result in damaging what you are trying to repair. AiXun (like many Chinese companies - I'm pretty sure this is a cultural issue) spent a while denying the problem and trying to cover it up, later claiming the problem that didn't happen in the first place was fixed when it wasn't. It's a hardware design issue that I do not believe possible to fix with firmware. Their flagship T420D is inherently safe from this issue by virtue of having the much more expensive linear power supply. If you wait and watch to get this on sale for your full $250 max budget, I genuinely believe this is the best bang for your buck. It is capable of the power output to solder even on large boards with thick copper backplanes (which conduct heat away from your contact point FAST and are an exercise in frustration to try to solder on with a lower-wattage iron). It is the iron I currently have as my main bench unit and I am very happy with it.
Other stuff: as you get further into this, you find that other tools, not just the soldering iron, are the right tool for a particular job.
A hot air station is a soldering staple, and needed for removing modern IC's like on-board CPUs / VRAM chips / etc... The Quick 861DW has been the gold standard for a long time, but many new options have come out more recently. Still, I use the 861DW and am very happy with it.
A desoldering gun is a nice, quality of life tool that you don't typically use often, but is soo nice when you need it. There are a number of options out there, I use the Hakko FM-2024 desoldering gun with the Hakko FM-204 power supply / vacuum pump station.
Supplies: beyond just solder, there is copper braid solder wick for cleaning pads and absorbing solder, liquid flux of many varieties for spreading heat more effectively (needed when using hot air to remove soldered on CPUs and VRAM chips), UV-curing solder mask (to seal and repair boards) with the needed UV curing light (very cheap to get) and so on.
Please, ask any follow-on questions you like. I love helping with electronics repair.
Imgur link for some picture references.
Edit: realized that first picture at the top of the post is from something like a year ago. Here is what my bench looks like today - to be honest that's just blatant pridefulness / wanting to show off, or enthusiastically wanting to share if you feel like being more charitable about it.
I want this setup so bad...unfortunately I can't afford a garage
Do you live in a city? There might be a maker/hacker space.
I'm slowly filling all of the spare space in my apartment with random electronics/computer/radio stuff... I also wish I had a garage for tinkering!
I actually have this in the room I use as my home office - computer desk on one side, electronics bench on the other. I could certainly use more room - my table is 5ft across and I would love to have an 8ft bench, or at least 6, but alas...
Oh, I just remembered this, I have a YouTube playlist you'll probably like if you enjoyed seeing my bench.
The playlist I've gathered of every Electronics Workbench tour I could find on YouTube.
I stumbled across this at 59 minutes, so I can safely call you a liar for not having your response in "30 to 60 minutes". (jk)
Depending on how much info there is, maybe consider writing your own top-level post. Search here might be better than I am used to on other sites, but having a good guide post to point to rather than a comment/response can be nice. Even if you just copy/paste it for visibility, it's still useful.
MY CAT WAS BEING A TOTAL DICK. I blame Floof utterly for this failure to deliver on my campaign promise, as I cannot ever admit to being wrong or failing to deliver (totally learned this from US politics), it must be my cat's fault.
Seriously though.. MROOOOOOOOWWWW!!!!! "stop trying to knock the Agilent box over!" MROOOOOOWWWWW!!!! "NO DON"T JUMP ON THE MICROMETER BOX IT'S EXPENSIVE AND SOMEONE JUST BOUGHT IT!!!!"
I use the Bookmark function to pin quality responses like this that I might need one day. But yeah if you can't find it we can always just re-summon l_one for electronics and prepper advice
Hahaha... but yes, true.
Take your time, I'm in no rush.
Also, can I borrow your Wera stuff? I super-duper-promise to bring it back.
Absolutely. I super-duper-promise they're in the mail as I type this.
I'm not worthy!!!
I don't even know what 90% of that stuff is for.
Clearly it's all for the cat to lay on.
You are correct.
Floof is not allowed on the bench. Floof is very smart and KNOWS he is not allowed on the bench. Floof loves to sneak onto the bench.
He also sleeps on the open flap of my low-voltage toolbag all the time. You can see him in the old picture of my bench.
Picture with letter labeling for ease of 'A does this...'
A: Older but nice oscilloscope, the Tektronix TDS 744A, a 500MHz, 2 gigasample per second, 4 channel scope.
B: Desoldering vacuum base station, the Hakko FM-204 (attached to 'I', the handheld desoldering gun).
C. Hot air station, the Quick 861DW.
D. Arbitrary waveform generator aka. Function generator - makes waveforms of various kinds for using as a test source or a system clock.
E: Precision 100V DC power supply, the Agilent 6614C. It will output voltage anywhere from 0-100 volts and up to half an amp with pretty good precision.
F: High-current power supply, Agilent N5745A rackmount system DC power supply - 0-30 volts, 0-25 amps, max 750 watts.
G (1 and 2): these are high-precision DC electronic loads, Kikusui PLZ334W, 1.5 to 150 volts, 0-66 amps, max 330 watts. Electronic loads simulate something that consumes power - supply it with a source, tell it how much voltage to pull down to, or how much exact amperage or wattage to pull, and it will do so while telling you all the other info about the power it is being supplied. You can use this to figure out battery capacity, of see if there is a fault in a power supply that only shows up when it is being used.
H: My bench microscope. Amscope Trinocular with base, and I've added the RisingCam RT5109 microscope camera (you are seeing the output of it on the screen behind it - visible are the tiny surface mount components).
I: Desoldering gun - the Hakko FM-2024. Used for applying heat like you would a soldering iron, but also has a hole in the center which you can vacuum through to suck liquid solder through.
J: My main bench soldering iron - the AiXun T420D.
K: My highest accuracy bench multimeter - an HP 34401a 6.5 digit multimeter. Gold standard meter for decades. Same model has been made by Hewlett Packard, then Agilent, and now Keysight. Copied by many.
L: My 'daily driver' bench multimeter, the GW Instek GDM-8255A - a 199,999 count 5.5 digit bench multimeter.
M: My 'daily driver' bench power supply (it covers most use-cases most of the time) - GW Instek GPD-3303S triple channel bench power supply - 2x 0-30 volt / 0-3 amp channels, 1x selectable 2.5 / 3.3 / 5 volt channel.
N: LCR meter - LCR stands for Inductance (yes, L for inductance), Capacitance, and Resistance. The Agilent 4263B LCR meter. Measures capacitors and inductors (resistors too, but the multimeters do that as well).
O: my modern oscilloscope, the Rigol DHO914. Android based 12-bit, 4 channel 125MHz digital oscilloscope.
That's most of the instrumentation. There's also the tools and storage and stuff. Under the bench is my fume extraction system, on top far to the left behind stuff is my 4-channel KVM switch so I can switch the monitor between my bench computer, the microscope camera, the Rigol oscilloscope video output, and a spare I keep for plugging in other computers when I'm working on them.
Questions (as I continue to bother you):
1: It is an old GPU, from my junk / random spares drawer. I put it there for visuals only - to display the function of the microscope camera setup.
2: It was a hobby for years and years. My career ran parallel to electronics: IT support and computer repair out of college, then various different telecommunications and low voltage jobs. Now I'm... I don't know, semi-retired I guess? I do occasional low voltage and security contract work, and I run an eBay store. I buy stuff at industrial auctions, clean / test / repair and then sell. That part has allowed me to take a hobby / passion and earn some money from it, though how much money... I'm super lazy about it most of the time and only put in a few hours a month, but it makes pretty good returns for the money/time ratio.
3: Hahahaha. I bought it considering upgrading my field soldering kit from the Pinecil to the FNIRSI. Just haven't gotten around to swapping stuff yet, and the Pinecil still works fine, plus I already have a bunch of cartridges for it.
First, thanks a ton!
Safety is important, I weld regularly, have never smoked, and like my lungs so I've got a handle on not screwing that part up.
Only two questions at the moment:
While I can fully attest in my many years of hobbies and fixing things and the like that a new tool often becomes a to-a-hammer-everything-looks-like-a-nail cycle in that new capability tends to make one more willing to tackle previously unseen or ignored issues, but at present my only intent with a soldering iron is upcoming wiring on my racecar and fixing a known issue of broken solder connections on a circuit board in my wife's car.
Being that my electronics enthusiasm is generally limited to old/vintage, simpler/larger/non-surface-mounted components, is there a reason I'd need the smaller than C245 handles/tips?
What's the tracking number? Wouldn't want those precious tools to get lost in the mail.
You're welcome! I love electronics and would be overjoyed to see an electronics community form here on Tildes.
Ok, then I'd say the right choice for you at the moment is the FNIRSI HS-02. It's pretty damn cheap, great value for the money, and JBC cartridge compatibility means there is now a ton of competition in the space of companies manufacturing reasonably priced non-JBC (but compatible) soldering cartridges. Edit: Since it works with either C-210's and C-245's, you're covered for what you want to do. Even the cheapest one still comes with 1 C-210 cartridge.
Oh, damn, I knew I forgot something. No worries though, Gas-Station Gus's courier service is top-notch, I'm sure it will arrive safe and sound.
While I've got your attention: Suggestions for a multi-meter?
FOOL. YOU KNOW NOT WHAT PANDORA'S BOX YOU HAVE OPENED.
...
Handheld / field meter? A bench meter? Budget? Help me understand your desired use-cases.
Oh hell.
Handheld, same uses as above for the soldering iron. The hobby I have that involves electricity is building, typically old, cars. I have some vintage electronics that I've made small repairs/improvements to, but that's about it. Needs to be portable as it's hard to bring a car to my workbench in the house.
Car stuff will typically be 14v and under, sensors are usually under 5v, wouldn't be opposed it if also can handle 120/240 as I live in a 100 year old house and sometimes I just don't know where a wire may be going or if it's live without giving it the taste test, but not a requirement.
Ok, well, this is fairly straightforward then.
Buy once, cry once? Get the Fluke 87V. Classic multimeter, it will do everything you need and it's an old-school Fluke design. Old-school fluke means you abuse it? It keeps working. Store it for 20 years? It still works - and it's still accurate. Freeze it in liquid nitrogen? ...it will probably still work, though maybe remove it from the liquid nitrogen before trying to operate the controls. There's a ton of them out there, but even so expect to pay $200+ for used. Their value is known, so they tend to not slip by for cheap, even with how many are out there on the secondhand market.
Something more midrange in price? Dave from EEVBlog (electronics enthusiast forum and YouTube channel) collaboratively designed a few meters, the 'low end' model (which is still excellent) is the EEVBlog / Brymen BM235 multimeter. It's sold here on eBay new for around $140 shipped.
El-cheapo? Hmm... Not sure how much I'd trust them for a safe meter, but FNIRSI has the DMT-99 for like $40. What do I mean about that safe comment? Multimeter design needs to have something in your hand you can plug the leads of which into a wall socket, and neither blow up nor electrocute you. Cheaping out here... can be risky. I tend to not go with the cheap meters, but that does not mean they are all crap, it just means I'm instinctively iffy about them.
Edit: you can get a Klein or Commercial Electric multimeter for cheap. They're.... kind of sort of crap, but I would trust them not to kill me from poor safety design.
I assume the answer to this is "Yes, of course, because that is the hell we live in!", but are there a lot of fake Flukes out there to worry about? I ask because even I've heard of Fluke and there are quite a few listings on eBay for the 87V in the $200 range for New-Open Box. Obviously there's there's some discount to be had by buying 3rd party that no business that actually needs Fluke meters would risk, but an immediate 50% discount for a high quality meter throws some red flags, but curious if it's just the state of the market since there are a ton of them out there.
In this specific case? No actually, not really, or at least not yet that I have seen, and not from my research.
I have found counterfeit test leads, but not counterfeit Fluke multimeters.
There are Chinese market Fluke brand meters which you might find cheaper (they'll have some Chinese writing on them) - these are licensed copies made by Chinese manufacturers for the Chinese market - only difference is you won't get US warranty support.
Regarding finding $200 range new/open box: you may have simply run into a reasonable price. Also be aware the V in 87V is the fifth iteration of the Fluke 87 model. There are Fluke 87's, Fluke 87 III's and such out there for sale. They're still fine meters, the V is just the current generation of that model.
Noted, thanks again!
Now to just wait for Gus to drop by with that package full of Wera. Any day now, I'm sure...
I like the cheap shitty Chinese ones that measure resistance +/- 1000 Ohms.
Very useful.
/s
What's with all these meters that have such tiny tolerances!?!? Our meters have the biggest tolerances! SO MUCH TOLERANCE.
Can you elaborate on the slight non-standardness of the Pinecil V2? I have had one for a while and use TS100 tips with no issues aside from some cheaper tips’ wacky temperature readings.
Sure. It's basically the TS100 cartridges, when the iron first came out they were essentially a new spec and there were only a few - and the design engineering around the contact surfaces left some improvements to be desired (at least in my view/experience).
Now, the various TS100-derived irons and cartridges are certainly more plentiful now, but it never felt like there were set specifications or standards around the cartridge (other than the physical dimensions of the inserting portion).
That there are a fair number of options for TS100 style cartridges is why I added the 'slight' qualifier, but there are a lot of differently spec'd carts out there that can endure higher or lower wattages and have different internal resistances - often with no actual data on those specs provided to the customer. That's why I view the TS100 derived family of cartridges as 'slightly non-standard'.
From what I'm seeing, JBC-style cartridge compatibility is the new norm for the majority of the current generation soldering irons and stations.
Great info, thanks.
You're welcome.
In case you are interested, I started a discussion asking for input on if we should make a group for electronics or makerspace stuff. Currently the discussion is trending toward 'if we do it would be makers as a larger umbrella compared to electronics'. If you have any opinion on the matter, I'd be interested to hear it there.
Any advice on models? Any example?
Just for doing some small scale soldering at home from time to time.
Specifically designed for soldering, there are a number of brands I know of and trust to do it right, though by no means does that mean anyone else is doing it wrong.
...before I go any further, if you are just doing this once in a while, your best non-pain-in-the-ass solution may just be wearing breathing protection in a room you close the door to and open the window of with a fan in the window for an hour-ish after you're done. A 3M half-mask respirator with any cartridge that is rated for both P-100 and OV (organic vapor) will have both HEPA and activated charcoal. This will be the cheapest and easiest while also not compromising your safety, just make sure to air out the area you used to the outside during/after you're done.
Ok, on to fume extractors:
It all comes down to a few basic things: volume of airflow, static pressure of the fan/turbine in the extractor, large and high quality filter (generally with a pre-filter layer on top).
Brand's I'll trust to have done it right (EXCLUDING the small desktop filters): Hakko (the modern FA-430 or the older HJ3100 (this is the one I have, just because I got a good deal on eBay for it), Weller Zerosmog / Zero-Smog series, PACE Arm-Evac series...
VEVOR (the large Chinese tool manufacturer) does make a series of reasonably priced fume extractors of the same design except for the 38 watt model, which is the small desktop design that isn't good enough. I found a review here - no idea if the guy is being paid for the review, but it lets you see inside. This is a very reasonably price new option - I would trust it to have the airflow and static pressure needed, and the physical volume of the filter is certainly good, what I DON'T know is 2 things: longevity of the motor, and much more importantly, if the filter pack actually conforms to standards like HEPA or if it has undergone licensed testing from an authority like Underwriter Laboratories or the like to verify that the filter pack does all it is supposed to, to the specifications it is supposed to meet. With all those buyer-beware statements said.... I would ABSOLUTELY trust it to be orders of magnitude more effective than any crappy cheap mini-desktop filter.
All of these, structurally, have the same design. A base station that contains a powerful fan (generally turbine design) meant for high static pressure, and a VERY LARGE filter pack that contains a ton of HEPA rated surface area and a ton of activated carbon. Out the top you have a length of 2 3/4" Loc-Line for the arm that you can direct over your workbench to where you are soldering.
These are stupidly expensive - don't buy new, they are perfectly good used on eBay for a fraction of the price. Replace the pre-filter cloth if it's dirty and you're good - they are all long life units.
Caveat: high air volume extractors are loud. The older models with stainless steel bodies are MORE loud, while the newer plastic-bodied units are less so. I made a project out of mine and after a lot of R&D figured out that walling off most of it with cut sections of rubber horse mat from Tractor Supply were most effective for damping the low-frequency sound of the air blower reverb. Spent a lot of time learning about acoustical engineering scratching my head on 'why doesn't this acoustic foam do anything????'.
Now, there are other fume extraction units not exactly meant for soldering out there, stuff meant for laser systems. Lots of used industrial extractors for cheap on eBay. You can get some really high-end equipment that gets liquidated from industrial closures for cheap.
I wonder if you've used Curie temperature stations before? You need at least a few tips (that can be 30$) if you need a variety of temperatures but they are nice to use.
There are Metcal/OKI older units on eBay in the US for under 150$ and with a few new tips would have a decent setup that should last many years for a bit over 200$. https://www.ebay.com/itm/387873031442
For anyone looking at new, be forewarned the modern stations are at least 1k before tips & handpieces. Edit: that's not really true; the simpler ones are 300-500$ and the tips are maybe half as the curie element (SmartHeat) is a heater block like traditional irons. I haven't used the simpler ones so I'm not sure if they're as great as the MX series.
I haven't! I actually don't think I had heard about this before, just finished reading up on it from some literature published by Metcal, interesting concept as a means of temperature control.
I don't think I'd want one for myself as I like being able to adjust my tip temperature without swapping cartridges, but it comes across as quite novel to me.
I'm not surprised at the new price of a Metcal station being high. They aren't priced quite as high as JBC, but like JBC and Pace, their products tend towards high-end high-price.
In all honesty, if you're not doing anything that requires soldering to a gigantic ground plane / heat sink, the Pinecil will do for you. It's far below the price you're looking at, and yet it's by far the most convenient soldering iron I've used, and I've used a few. Grab the extra (fine) tip-sets, and perhaps also the Pinepower 60W GaN charging brick with silicone USB C cable, and you're good to go. There are other accessories that you'd generally have in a soldering setup- stand, tip cleaner, etc- which you can buy separately.
I would agree. And I'll also add that most electronics these days are microelectronics - big ground planes are going to be fairly rare in modern devices. I have a TS-100 which is essentially the same iron (it uses the same tips). The convenience of it being small and easy to put it out and away when you're done easily outweighs the big ones in my perspective, and the Pinecil's USB power makes it even more convenient than my TS-100. Both irons also have good temperature control across a wide range of temperatures, so they're good for things like melting plastic without burning it and ruining your tips, or doing woodburning art.
I have this exact setup, but I use my UGREEN 65W powerbrick and it works flawlessly.
I have a nice Hakko somewhere, which cost significantly more than my Pinecil. I'm not actually sure where it is, however, as the Pinecil is simply useful enough that I haven't needed to find it.
Since I already carry a large enough USB C power supply for my laptop, and often have a battery pack with me, I can carry the Pinecil in a bag about as easily as I can carry a pen and use it, even if I'm not planning on doing any soldering, which makes it even more useful.
It may be 'not as good' in some ways, but the advantages that these sorts of cheap modern devices have over more traditional ones shouldn't be ignored.
Somewhat adjacent to your question- does anyone have a recommended guide on getting started with electronics soldering, for an absolute beginner? My experience level is just using a breadboard with an Arduino.
The most immediate project I would like to complete is soldering separate RGB light strands into one. (This is officially supported by the ones I purchased, it's just something I've never done.)
My "maybe one day" goal is to be able to pop open electronics that appear to be non-functional due to either loose wires or bad capacitors and try fixing them.
My "is a soldering iron able to do this?" eventual goal would be semi-precisely cutting through relatively thin plastic. My tolerance on this might even be as large as half an inch, so I'm not seeking perfection.
@l_one do you have an resources you'd recommend? You clearly have a lot of experience in this area! :)
Absolutely, there are plenty of great resources out there.
Lung safety. This means fume extraction (filtering) or fume evacuation (out the window) or personal breathing protection (3M half-mask respirator with P100/activated charcoal filters). DON'T SKIMP on not getting lung cancer. The iFixit video mentions homebrew options - that can work, but in the case of saving money, SPEND the research time.
EEVBlog's YouTube channel has an introduction to soldering series that is quite comprehensive. The video series was made 13 years ago, so there are some relevant updates in terms of better tools available that weren't really around, but in terms of how to solder, excellent.
iFixit has a short and sweet intro to soldering video to give you the basics.
Here is a video Louis Rossmann recorded while teaching a soldering workshop - it's longer, but there are a lot of niche tips and tricks buried in there.
Louis Rossmann on the importance of Fume Extraction and your health.
This is a great goal! It is also very achievable. Tons of broken electronics are broken for very simple, easy to repair reasons. A loose or broken connection. A blown fuse. A swollen / blown capacitor, as you mentioned. SO MANY repair's I've put on my bench ended up being simple stuff like that which did not need extensive electronics knowledge to fix. Often all you need to diagnose is the MK1 eyeball.
Now, you mentioned:
Eehhhhh... you can, kinda/sorta, but a soldering iron, even with a knife-tip, may not be your best option for precision cutting since you're going to get uneven blobby melting along your cuts. Can you melt cut? Absolutely. Will it be 'precision' cuts... no.
There is hot wire cutting, though this is much more applicable to cutting foam, not hard plastic.
What would be best for zero-force precise cuts is an ultrasonic knife - they have gotten MUCH cheaper recently, but are still expensive to the tune of a few hundred bucks. Heck, I want one myself, but I want a bunch of stuff so it's a bit far down the 'to get' list.
The pro move, which my brother uses, is to borrow a reasonably nice iron from a sibling, not say what you're using it for, and return it covered in charred plastic residue.
For best results, use the pointiest tip, and when you bring it back, hand it to the owner with that side toward them so they get stabbed in the hand.
(I no longer loan tools to him (mostly because I don't live nearby anymore but also because of the plastic thing))
Bwhahahahahahahahhahaha!!!!
Thanks, I'll be sure to work through those videos when I'm actually ready to get my hands dirty. Electronics repair & microcontroller stuff is something I'm forcing myself to wait on until I finish my degree program, but I'm only a few months away now!
And that knife is neat. My partner did recently buy a hot knife, so I might try that first since I don't really need the clean edges described in that video.
Be ready to put out a small fire... because it might start a small fire. Plan ahead 'what would I want to have ready if my working piece of plastic catches fire'.
That's fair... everything on the safety end is worth some significant consideration. It sucks a bit living in a desert that had 113 days of triple digit temperatures in a row last summer. So we need to put an A/C unit in the garage or find some other way to make working outside tolerable for the 8 months of the year it isn't cold.
These guys explain most things about soldering pretty well https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3jAw41LRBxU
Apart from that, you can get a few through-hole components and a PCB to practice soldering bigger components , as well as small kits of SMD components and a board to practice that as well at Amazon/AliExpress/etc. A lot of it is just practice and learning what works for you.
ETA: fixing loose wires or a bad cap is probably a lot easier than soldering SMD LEDs - they can be a bit sensitive to heat. Diagnosing the issue for the former can be a bit more complicated though and requires some experience
I've used a Weller WES51 station for PCB work and found it worked perfectly well (but haven't done anything really complicated like surface mount soldering etc.). I have also heard good things about the Hakko 888D.
Dunno if Amazon is an option for you but I've been reasonably happy with this $80 YIHUA 8786D I 2 in 1 Hot Air Rework and Soldering Iron Station. I have no professional experience (only experience with the garbage fire hazard soldering irons you mention), but did use this quite a bit for hobby electronics repair. As someone who only uses it intermittently, it does the job well. If you'll be using it all day long, you might want to look elsewhere.
My only gripe is the hot air tip is pointed directly at the wall, making it tricky to use without pulling the base away. Apart from that, I have no complaints. The temperature control is a nice bonus. Good luck!
Already a ton of good suggestions here, I thought I'd just throw in the soldering iron/station I use. I'm definitely more of a hobbyist that does the occasional soldering. I have the Weller WE1010NA. It is fantastic for my needs and is not too expensive. If you've only ever used the soldering irons you get for $20 at the hardware store, this would be a massive upgrade and makes simple soldering jobs go SO much smoother. But really any soldering iron with adjustable temp that goes up to 500-700 degrees is going to be a huge improvement for you.
... Fahrenheit, for anyone else who solders in Celsius and had the same instinctive "oh gods no what are you doing" reaction I did.
This gave me a laugh. I also think of soldering temps in Celsius and had a moment of oH MY AHHHHHHH!!! oh right Fahrenheit.
I also use the Pinecil (occasionally), and what everyone is saying about it is true! Just wanted to add, you can very easily get an adapter for your 20v (ish) tool battery of choice (mine's DeWalt) and a barrel jack and some wire and make it very easily portable. I have a small tool bag with the whole kit, everything I need to solder except for ppe. It's great to have it in my desk drawer at work when I need it.
I have a TS100 for drone stuff, it's been pretty good.so far, but I am not an expert.
I only solder a few times a year and have the pinecil v1.
For me, I only occasionally use it and I don't have a dedicated soldering spot in my house. The Pinecil really wins in this scenario... its super portable, tucks away nicely in a small drawer or box, can run off of a battery (caveat below), and heats up QUICK. All that comes together into something that works nicely on a workbench AND on a ladder
The one caveat for portability and battery usage is that you really do need usb-c PD; old dumb usb-a slow chargers won't actually heat the tip all the way but it will try. If you want to use a battery bank then ideally you want something that supports PD but I think the old USB-A quick charge does work (not 100% sure). I have a tiny little 30w brick that I keep with my kit, it's lots.
Buy the silicone usb-c cable! Or buy a couple.
Shipping is almost as expensive as the Pinecil and takes a month so I bought two and gave one to a friend.