What Soldering Iron do you use?

[glassdoctor]

Hakko 936.. the one with the bigger iron.

I also have the cheap red handle weller 40w and huge 80w irons... the fatty is great for batteries. They only problem with the cheap wellers is that they will burn themselves up... not an iron to have on all day, like at the track etc.

The hakko can stay on all day, no problem.... esp if not turned up all the way

[MetalMan]

Originally Posted by glassdoctor

Hakko 936.. the one with the bigger iron.

Same exact thing I use. I've been using the same original tip for at least a year and a half. But I do clean it quite often while using the iron, and turn the temperature down to the minimum (about 300 deg., I think) when I'm not using it. About a year ago I accidentally shorted the iron across a 10s A123 brick (Dewalt 36v pack) while unsoldering it. The iron has a nice scar from that incident, but it definitely didn't affect the performance.

This iron is also capable of soldering the positive side of A123 cells. For those who don't know, the positive side of A123s is the entire ALUMINUM outer shell.

[jhautz]

Originally Posted by glassdoctor

Hakko 936.. the one with the bigger iron.

I also have the cheap red handle weller 40w and huge 80w irons... the fatty is great for batteries. They only problem with the cheap wellers is that they will burn themselves up... not an iron to have on all day, like at the track etc.

The hakko can stay on all day, no problem.... esp if not turned up all the way

I wouldnt even need to leave my Hakko on all day. Its ready to solder in 30 seconds after flipping it on. I use the 936 at home too. I would not hedsitate to recomend it to anyone. however at the track I just toss an old 40W radio shack iron with a bent tip in the bag just incase. It works, but thats about all I can say.