Soldering iron power question

Majorscale

Thinking of having a tinker with a DIY pedal kit and maybe do some pickup swaps. I will obviously need a soldering iron, but there is a wide array of choices. For those who do this a lot, what power (wattage) of soldering iron would you recommend I get for soldering musical electronics?

timhulio

60W with a fine tip and heat control for pedals. I've used a cheap 'Precision A55KJ' solder station for about 5 years. I'd replace it, but it works very well.
For soldering/desoldering pickup covers and soldering to the back of pots you'd need something with a big fat chisel tip. 80-100W. I use a big antec soldering iron for this. It was super cheap as I don't typically do guitar work.

Majorscale

timhulio said:

60W with a fine tip and heat control for pedals. I've used a cheap 'Precision A55KJ' solder station for about 5 years. I'd replace it, but it works very well.
For soldering/desoldering pickup covers and soldering to the back of pots you'd need something with a big fat chisel tip. 80-100W. I use a big antec soldering iron for this. It was super cheap as I don't typically do guitar work.

Thanks Tim, hadn’t given heat a thought, what sort of heat settings do you use?

baldy

At least 60 watt, temp control (digital or analogue), temp calibration function & a selection of tips.
I tend to use the biggest tip I can & as much heat as I can dependant on the job (as long as you are quick) & generally around 350-380 degrees for work on guitar electrics 
If you buy a cheap soldering station I would highly recommend that you get a calibration unit also so that you can calibrate the tip temperature as they can be wildly out compared to what the the unit setting/readout says.

thermionic

Are you asking about soldering stations or soldering irons? For building pedals a 25W (or even 18W) Antex iron is pretty much ideal. The power rating for soldering stations isn’t as important because the temperature of the tip is controlled - but they’re generally 40-60W.

baldy

But the higher wattage means that the tip temperature returns to it"s set level much quicker after use meaning that it is pretty much constantly at the correct temperature rather than having to wait for it to re-heat between solders.
Saves a lot of problems of the the tip being to cold for the next solder to flow or take properly.
You can get soldering stations very cheaply nowadays.

Hyster

I've spent most of my life as a field service engineer, I have a Wella soldering bolt in my toolbox but recently bought a TS100.
The speed these new things heat up at is really impressive, I love it.

ICBM

With the right tips and technique, 30W is plenty for soldering to the backs of pots. I use a 30W Antex for most of my work even though I have a couple of 50W Weller stations as well - I just rarely need to use them, really just for pickup covers and occasionally things on amp chassis. I have an 18W Antex for fine PCB work.

SteveF

I've been using one of these for pedal builds and guitar work (with a different tip) and it has been great. 

https://uk.farnell.com/duratool/d00678/soldering-station-48w-240v-eu/dp/1498367

thermionic

baldy said:

But the higher wattage means that the tip temperature returns to it"s set level much quicker after use meaning that it is pretty much constantly at the correct temperature rather than having to wait for it to re-heat between solders.
Saves a lot of problems of the the tip being to cold for the next solder to flow or take properly.
You can get soldering stations very cheaply nowadays such as the Hakko clones.

Yes that's just the difference between a temperature-controlled iron you get with a station and a simple mains-powered Antex or the like where 18W or 25W is a measure of how much heat is available. With a standalone iron, you transfer heat to the joint and then the bit has to heat up again, which is limited by the wattage. The Chinese 50-60W temperature-controlled stations can be found for a little more than the price of an Antex these days. Maplins used to sell them but they're available under a myriad of brand names. Plenty of people on here would recommend them.

BTW the Hakko "clones" are actually counterfeits.

robinbowes

I recently upgraded from my Union Brothers BP53:



...to a Hakko FX-888D:



And yes, I'm aware of the preponderance of fakes - I bought from the UK Distributor, Dancap.

The FX-888D is a 65W iron, temperature controlled. I'm finding it very good.

R.

thermionic

I bought the last Hakko in Maplins as it was closing down, but it was still more expensive than Dancap's price!

I haven't used it in anger yet but I have a pickup swap planned for tomorrow. I've bought a couple of spare bits from Dancap (ebay is full of fakes) including a hefty one for back-of-the-pot soldering.

robinbowes

thermionic said:

I bought the last Hakko in Maplins as it was closing down, but it was still more expensive than Dancap's price!

Yeah, and the best thing is I got a silver one, not that awful blue and yellow

R.

baldy

Sorry I didn"t mean to recommend buying counterfeits & have amended my post accordingly.
I have a Hakko FX888D which I believe to be genuine & a Katsu 936 Chinese soldering station.
The Katsu was only about £30 where as the Hakko was about £120 when I bought it.
Other than the temp needing calibrating as it was showing nearly 50c cooler than it really was the Katsu has proved to be a reliable station for the 2 years I have had it.

thermionic

No need to apologise! There seems to be a lot of fake Hakkos around which look right but have some things wrong with them. Bit like Chibsons really.

robinbowes

thermionic said:

No need to apologise! There seems to be a lot of fake Hakkos around which look right but have some things wrong with them. Bit like Chibsons really.

There are unboxing boxing and dismantling videos on YouTube, and the fakes are very good,to the point of being almost indistinguishable. 

robinbowes

BTW, @Majorscale, I could sell you my BP53 if you're interested? 

Majorscale

Thanks all, picked up a 60W variable temp workstation off Ebay last night when they were running the 10% off promo. Just a cheapy, but it should be able to cope with my occasional newbie-level soldering demands!