What do you recommend for a good soldering station?

Here are a couple threads on it and a good soldering station...

https://ogrforum.com/t...42#67314622783588942

https://ogrforum.com/topic/soldering

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-F...88+soldering+station

PRR,   A couple months back I purchased a new soldering station and it has worked out very well for me.  It covers all the inquiries of operation you list above, and as you state, I am no expert, but perform all my own repairs/upgrades and assemblies.  What I acquired is a Aoyue model Int 9378.  It is very reasonable in cost, and as I stated, has worked fine for me, including assembly of some components I purchased from John.  Yes, there are quite a few "out there" to choose from, select what works best for you and hope the need for doing repairs is the least of reasons why.

Jesse   TCA

Well, the one curve posted sure has a lot of capability for the price. Not sure if it would meet the the easy to fix part or reliability but maybe worth a shot. I have never heard of that company. You might want to do some research and see if the tips are compatible with another more established company like Ungar or Weller.

one other point. The ones you posted are for working on tiny surface mount devices. The soldering iron appears to be low wattage. You will be limited to PC board work. You won't be able do track work with this.

Pete

Here's a suggestion. TrakPower TK-950 Soldering Station.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/c...mp;I=LXATBK&P=ML

We use one daily at Hobby Town USA Duluth Ga 

Here's a link to the Aoyue

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-9...dering/dp/B00BSW69LI

that scrounge in the holder for cleaning the tip is awesome, by the way.

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-S...6GCRY6N01Q0Z57J3T41Y

Norton posted:

Well, the one curve posted sure has a lot of capability for the price. Not sure if it would meet the the easy to fix part or reliability but maybe worth a shot. I have never heard of that company. You might want to do some research and see if the tips are compatible with another more established company like Ungar or Weller.

one other point. The ones you posted are for working on tiny surface mount devices. The soldering iron appears to be low wattage. You will be limited to PC board work. You won't be able do track work with this.

 

Pete

I bought a rework station from that off-brand and it was damaged in the box from totally improper packaging. I think it's from China, but shipped from California. I have no doubt that it works, but the off brandedness of it might preclude getting new tips, etc . I would stick with the branded ones above like Weller or Hakko. I have a Weller WES51 that I have used for 20 years so far. I like the Hakko, might get one of those just to have it.

I have to toss in the recommendation for the Hakko FX880D.  It's a very capable soldering station, and it has the bonus of showing you the real temperature of the tip, not just a numerical representation of power as many do. 

I also recommend the Hakko FG-100 calibrator as you can change tips on a soldering station and significantly change the calibration, this little meter allows you to know the tip temperature.  I scored the genuine Hakko one cheap on eBay, but the clones that are now on eBay work just as well and are quite cheap.

MRich posted:

Here's a suggestion. TrakPower TK-950 Soldering Station.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/c...mp;I=LXATBK&P=ML

We use one daily at Hobby Town USA Duluth Ga 

I agree!  I formerly raced rc cars competitively and I used this unit for years.  I would set it up at my pit table and leave it on for hours.  No problems!  

I don't know if this would help, but what about a butane soldering set?  Recently picked one of these up and it's really convenient.  Especially under the layout where I don't want to be dragging a cord.  And it gets red hot fast!!

A butane iron is totally uncontrollable as far as temperature.  It's probably fine for heavy wiring, but for any finer work, it's not at all useful. 

One of the pluses of the Hakko is it's widely used in industry and has a very good track record.  Many days mine is on all day at the bench, never an issue, any decent soldering station should stand up to long hours.

I will second GRJ's recommendation of the Hakko FX888D. Very good quality and works great. I have one as well, and really like it.

Over all I tend to agree that the Hakko is the best value for the money...

But, What are you soldering?  The OP linked a pair of cheap soldering stations designed for SMT work.  Are you looking to actually work with  surface mount parts where the hot-air gun is actually needed?  Is the intention to solder the occasional through-hole circuit board and/or other light duty with electronic components?  Or are you looking to solder heavy gauge bus lines and wire to track?  All of these require different tools to accomplish efficiently.  Depending on the job at hand, the right tool for soldering could be a large, low temp, re-flow oven, or it could be a blow-torch.  

For most projects in model railroading, however, there are two tools that should cover you.  Something like the above mentioned Hakko FX888 is a great choice, but you can get away with one of the countless knockoffs of the Hakko 936 if you're only doing occasional work.   The second tool is a large wattage soldering gun such as the Weller D650, for soldering heavy gauge wires and track.  A proper soldering gun saves an unbelievable amount of time when working with heavy materials that won't be damaged by the heat.  

JGL

True John, I have the old Weller 100/140 gun for track work.  It's never failed to have plenty of heat for the task.  For what I encounter I think the Weller D650 would be a bit of over kill.

I have a Hakko 928 two iron station; each with individual temp control. Works pretty well. One iron is a medium tip, the other is a fine tip, so you don't have to change tips as often.

Rod

That's the "deluxe" solution Rod, I just have a second handle that has the larger tip, and if I need it, I just swap plugs.  However, I'm usually using the fine tip anyway.   I also do like the FX888D actual tip temperature display.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Many days mine is on all day at the bench, never an issue,

Heck, John. Just " . . .all day???" What a piker!

As I posted a few months back, my $20 iron was left on FOR TWO MONTHS!

Still works too. Maybe just a little carbonized in appearance . . .

After that fiasco, I bought a Weller WESD51 . . .

It has a digital temp. readout but, more importantly . . . it turns itself off!

I confess, my iron hasn't been on for 2 months solid.  OTOH, it has been on at least two months in clock time, and it's none the worst for wear.  It doesn't even look like it's been used like that.  Mine doesn't turn itself off, and a few times I have come in the next day (or two) and noticed it still on, so I just turn it off.

I have done the leaving it for one or two days trick and then found mine still on as well. Since it doesn't have an auto off, I installed a timer that I plug it into now, runs from 5 min to 4 hours (selectable). My Hakko was fine after that, but the tip was a quite black and crusty.