Variable temperature is essentially plugging an iron into a lamp dimmer. You turn the knob to adjust the temperature of an idle iron to what you like. But when you're soldering, there is no feedback to change power to maintain the temperature as heat is drawn away.

 

Yes, my cheap iron noted earlier is power-regulated and cannot adjust itself to make up for working on a larger thermal mass. I have to turn it up a bit hotter and hope that it'll be "just right" once it's cooled by contact with a large object.

Is thermostatic control worth the cost? Not to me but I can see where it could be nice to have the tip temperature held more tightly near the target temperature. If my job was soldering it would be a no-brainer.

 

What do you mean "features"? one reviewer said it sometimes keeps heating, past the set temp. Other speak of tips lasting just a short time at high temps...

I'm very tempted to get it, but don't know what these complaints might indicate.

I set the timer to the max of 99 minutes, so basically don't use the auto set back function.
No problem seen with the temp settings or tip life.

 

I set the timer to the max of 99 minutes, so basically don't use the auto set back function.
No problem seen with the temp settings or tip life.

OK thx, ordered.

 

A temperature-controlled iron need not be expensive. This is one option with temperature control which uses commonly available tips for less than 20 bucks. I got one of these to use in conjunction with my main soldering station so I don't need to be changing tips all the time.

There are many options that look the same but this one has a significant feature over most of the similar ones. It has an on/off switch in the handle.

Try it out and if it's not up to your needs, you're not out much.

I'd toss the solder and stand that it comes with in the bin, and spring for a decent stand and Weller 63/37 rosin core solder.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C2Z1WNRV

 

Here's a tip I learned from a coworker who took a Pace soldering course.

Ditch the wet sponge and the brass scuby-pad tip cleaners. This works far better.

Take 2 paper towels, overlap them and roll them together into a tight tube. Tape around the roll 1/2" or so from each end and half inch back from each side of the center. Cut the tube in half at the center.

You now have two tip cleaning brushes. Clean the hot soldering iron tip with one of these and re-tin when necessary.

No, the paper towel will not brust into flames.

 

one thing ive not seen mentioned
you say you used to solder ,
a big difference now, as well as lead free solder tempratures, is ventilation.

The fumes from the flux / solder process are now classed as , shall we say bad for you..

invest in a minimum of a desk fan to blow / dilute the fumes quick, or better yet an extraction system.

re recomenation, 110 % metcal , the temprature control is exact, and they have amazing power , thats well controled.

 

The fumes from the flux / solder process are now classed as , shall we say bad for you..

Some of the activated and special purpose fluxes are indeed nasty.

Plain old rosin flux (not activated) is not harsh.

 

Some of the activated and special purpose fluxes are indeed nasty.

Plain old rosin flux (not activated) is not harsh.

Fyi.
I dont know of any that do not have CoSH warnings .

 

What about eutectic solders? do you guys use them? does it matter to you?

 

Uhm .
Aren't all soldered , even the old 60/40 eutectic , melting at a lower temperature than the individual components of the solder ?
I can't imagine soldering electronics with say just lead like we used to do on lead pipes , using a "mole skin"

 

one thing ive not seen mentioned
you say you used to solder ,
a big difference now, as well as lead free solder tempratures, is ventilation.

The fumes from the flux / solder process are now classed as , shall we say bad for you..

invest in a minimum of a desk fan to blow / dilute the fumes quick, or better yet an extraction system.

re recomenation, 110 % metcal , the temprature control is exact, and they have amazing power , thats well controled.

I think that the concerns over solder and flux fumes have been considerably over-hyped.
For the first 5 years of my interest in electronics, I used 60/40 bar solder and a can of flux paste with an iron heated on the gas stove. Then, for the last 72 years, I have been using regular tin/lead flux cored solder with a real soldering iron. I never thought seriously about ventilation. In spite of all that, I will be turning 88 in a few weeks, and still don't need to take any prescription drugs.
I plan on continuing to brandish my magic soldering iron and AliExpress solder for a few more years!

 

I think that the concerns over solder and flux fumes have been considerably over-hyped.
For the first 5 years of my interest in electronics, I used 60/40 bar solder and a can of flux paste with an iron heated on the gas stove. Then, for the last 72 years, I have been using regular tin/lead flux cored solder with a real soldering iron. I never thought seriously about ventilation. In spite of all that, I will be turning 88 in a few weeks, and still don't need to take any prescription drugs.
I plan on continuing to brandish my magic soldering iron and AliExpress solder for a few more years!

congratulation to you.
member of my famiky died of lung cancer , never smoked, never soldered anything.
thats statistics ..
just thought as the op said they had not soldered for a while, Id highlight the big change in safety since we both started.

 

What about eutectic solders? do you guys use them? does it matter to you?

I have used 63/37 almost exclusively for the past 50 years. The advantage of eutectic solder is that it's more difficult to make a cold joint.

Regarding an earlier mention of a Weller TCP iron not working well with unleaded solder; that just doesn't make sense. 60/40 solder melts at 361-460F and most unleaded solders melt at 350-450F. The coolest tip for a W-TCP iron was 600F (they list 500 and 900F tips, but I've never seen any).

 

I think that the concerns over solder and flux fumes have been considerably over-hyped.
For the first 5 years of my interest in electronics, I used 60/40 bar solder and a can of flux paste with an iron heated on the gas stove. Then, for the last 72 years, I have been using regular tin/lead flux cored solder with a real soldering iron. I never thought seriously about ventilation. In spite of all that, I will be turning 88 in a few weeks, and still don't need to take any prescription drugs.
I plan on continuing to brandish my magic soldering iron and AliExpress solder for a few more years!

I'm a relative youngster, and did my first soldering around age 14/15 I think, I remember buying the soldering iron from an electronics shop in Liverpool, very excited to be doing "actual" soldering!



I had pretty bad episodic asthma back then and recall that sometimes the fumes from soldering (it was common "Ersin" multicore) would actually bother me quite a lot, so I'd take a deep breath, hold that and do the soldering quite fast, then blow the fumes away, turn my head and breath in.

It was a technique that eventually enabled me to solder pretty well and pretty quick, no repeat attempts or anything, just clean the parts, assemble and "wham" solder it, done, no blobs, no spills, minimal solder. I attended full time electronics college a few years later and the soldering classes was no effort.

But that was fifty years ago, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've soldered since my mid twenties.

 

I had pretty bad episodic asthma back then and recall that sometimes the fumes from soldering (it was common "Ersin" multicore) would actually bother me quite a lot

It has been documented that about 20% of people have asthma attacks from soldering fumes (primarily rosin). So, a majority of people are unlikely to be affected. Personally, I like the smell of rosin fumes and have taken an occasional whiff intentionally. Rosin comes from pine and fir trees. I accidentally licked some from my finger after picking up a fir cone. It tasted sweet.

I downloaded the attached document over 10 years ago.

 

What about eutectic solders? do you guys use them? does it matter to you?

Aren't all soldered , even the old 60/40 eutectic , melting at a lower temperature than the individual components of the solder ?

63/37 solder is eutectic – meaning it goes from liquid to solid instantly with no plastic phase. 60/40 solder goes through a plastic phase as it cools. Any motion of the joint during the plastic phase leads to a cold solder joint.

Soldering theough-hole parts to a circuit board? It won't make much difference. Soldering wires to a switch or to a pad on a circuit board or tacking two wires together with a lap joint? 63/37 will save your sanity and reserve your swear words for more appropriate occasions!

So I strongly recommend:

● Name brand solder

● 63/37 leaded solder

● Rosin core (comes from pine tree sap)

I tried some "Happy Captain Solder Company" (i.e., Chinese no-name) solder once. A joint or two might solder perfectly....then the next bit of solder wouldn't even melt an the same or modestly increased temperature. I don't know how they even made something so bad.

 

It has been documented that about 20% of people have asthma attacks from soldering fumes (primarily rosin). So, a majority of people are unlikely to be affected. Personally, I like the smell of rosin fumes and have taken an occasional whiff intentionally. Rosin comes from pine and fir trees. I accidentally licked some from my finger after picking up a fir cone. It tasted sweet.

I downloaded the attached document over 10 years ago.

1 in 5 chance of having an asthma attack is worse odds than russian roulet ! though the outcome can be different !

 

63/37 solder is eutectic – meaning it goes from liquid to solid instantly with no plastic phase. 60/40 solder goes through a plastic phase as it cools. Any motion of the joint during the plastic phase leads to a cold solder joint.

Soldering theough-hole parts to a circuit board? It won't make much difference. Soldering wires to a switch or to a pad on a circuit board or tacking two wires together with a lap joint? 63/37 will save your sanity and reserve your swear words for more appropriate occasions!

So I strongly recommend:

● Name brand solder

● 63/37 leaded solder

● Rosin core (comes from pine tree sap)

I tried some "Happy Captain Solder Company" (i.e., Chinese no-name) solder once. A joint or two might solder perfectly....then the next bit of solder wouldn't even melt an the same or modestly increased temperature. I don't know how they even made something so bad.

Ha "Happy Captain" - Reminds me of these, always the cheapest option when I was a kid, made in Hong Kong.

 

Fly Bomb batteries? Inspires great confidence

Especially with today's LiIon batteries!