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Time to replace my 18 year old Ungar UTC-300 Soldering Iron. Mine was adjustable to 800 degrees, although that isnt usually necessary, I want a good unit that will get hot quick, and do the jib, Looking for imput from everyone regarding what would be a good replacement unit? I see alot of Soldering Stations with digital readouts, but dont know much about them.
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You will get many many opinions on this. I have used a Weller soldering station for years: http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-.../dp/B000AS28UC
Two years ago I picked up a fancy one at a trade show: http://www.hakko.com/english/products/hakko_fx888d.html
The latter is expensive but first class quality.
Having said that, my hero Tony ( Properchopper) has a much better idea, he picked a Hakko clone ? for less than twenty dollars at HobbyKing and he is still building the best boats, lol.......
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...h_US_Plug.html
Edit: with my Hakko station, I know exactly how hot the tip is, as you said, it isn't necessary for basic soldering, but I have found that I need to be careful if for instance I am soldering Deans' plugs. Usually 14 ga. wire and up is no problem, but I do have on occasion had to use 12 ga. wire and in order to do a complete nice job, I had to heat the wires and the plastic sometimes softens and melts, it is those occasion that I find the temp adjustment read out helps. I am also weary of heating up my electronics so yes, I do watch the degrees, this is much better than the Weller dial which has just numbers that don't correspond to temps in a meaningful way.
I don't know how the HK unit works, I see a dial but I can't clarify if it has temp written on the dial.
The Hakko does respond to any changes quickly.Too many boats, not enough time...
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Here is an other option....not cheap also....has lots of tips.
http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Programm.../dp/B00BSW69LI
DouggieComment
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There's NOTHING better than a JBC station. I love mine. It's one of the best investments I ever made. They're expensive, but mine has paid for itself multiple times over in saved time. I do a LOT of soldering. If you don't use it as much, it might be hard to justify dropping $500.
These guys have awesome customer service and sell JBC as well as other brands:
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Most high wattage irons can overheat rather quickly... which is bad therefore I think the best way without spending more money for an expensive adjustable solder would be to use a lamp dimmer that plugs into the cord to better regulate temperature for a better solder but to also avoid ruining tips and having to clean/thin the tips so often, etc.
Something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FKF7JY/...ing=UTF8&psc=1Comment
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The idea behind an intelligent soldering station is to keep a consistent temperature. When the tip of an iron is placed on the work piece, the temperature drops drastically. It's teh soldering station's job to recover temp as quickly as possible, without overheating. For this reason, a lamp dimmer wouldn't really help much.
I solder A LOT, and I solder mostly 8-10g wire and 6.5mm/8mm bullets, often for hours on end. With my previous soldering station, I went through tips about every 1-2 months (and they were expensive). I've been using the same tips on my JBC unit for a year, and they are still in great shape. I also solder at twice the rate (at least).Comment
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I use a $20 heavy-duty 80 watt Weller soldering irons with the big tips-- they overheat when they are idle.
and they're not too intelligent... it's just (too much) raw power there.
That sounds like a sweet station though.
How many boats do you build per month, man? Sounds like a ton.Comment
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Thanks for all the info guys. Just have to decide which one to go with.Comment
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