What Soldering Iron do you use?

[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.

[MTBikerTim]

I use a Goot 240V 46W Iron. It is a nice iron and can do the 12 gauge wire. Not sure how much further it would go though. I'd love a proper station but they are expensive.

[aqwut]

use a weller Soldering station, got it for free when company closed..
and a weller 110 Watt solder gun with wood engraving tip.... my favourite for soldering big fat wires..

[skellyo]

I got my Hakko 936 in last night and used it to fix a couple of wires on one of my daughter's toys. It makes my weller 40W station look pathetic. It also heats up stupid quick! I wish I had bought one of these years ago.

[bl-is-future]

I recently bought a Radio shack Soldering station from radio shack. It was originally around $80 and i got it for $40. I couldnt be happier with it. The sale is still going to.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

I have used a Weller 40 watt and at times wouldnt get hot enough and when I got my MMM I knew it wouldnt be enough for the 6.5mm conectors so I got the Weller 100/140 and havnt looked back

[JThiessen]

I have three - a Weller SP40l iron that burn tips like crazy, and then othertimes wouldnt burn its way through toilet paper. I also have a Weller Universal 140/100 gun that I've used quite often in the last year. But it too has recently started operating erratically. Sometimes it heats, sometimes it doesnt. The handle itself has started to warm up after being plugged in too long.

Why do they say not to use a gun for soldering batteries? Is it because they typically put out too much heat?

Second question: Is that Hako sold anywhere outside the RC hobby world (ie. without the flame job?).

I use 2 - 80watt Weller and a 100/140 Weller gun. 90% of what I need to do can be done with the gun. But for batts and bullet conns 5mm and up, 80watt iron gets the nodd. Much faster and just does the better job.

Check the nuts that hold the tip (if they are still made this way - my gun is ~40yr old) - they will loosen over time getting hot/cold and heat transfter goes way down if they are even a little loose.

For batteries, you don't want heat conducted into the cell to possibly damage and weaken the batt. A gun takes too long to melt solder on the end of the batt and the batt bar mainly cause tip is small and heat is conducted away too quickly. What used to take me 5 or 6sec with a gun to do on a batt, now takes just about 1sec with the 80watt iron. I would have to redo some of the gun joints too cause I could pop the bar off. That doesn't happen with the iron.

Hakko is available lots of places outside RC world. You can find it without the decaling if you want.

[gimpygolden]

Hakko 936 here,also with the large iron. What a difference from the cheapo's would also recommend. Best tool I've bought for RC

[jayjay283]

Originally Posted by JThiessen

Is that Hako sold anywhere outside the RC hobby world (ie. without the flame job?).

thee flames the cool part lol.. amainhobbies has the 936 sans flames link Ebay usually has a good selection too. Mgm electronics usually has a bunch link

[TexasSP]

Hakko is a pretty big manufacturer of soldering/desoldering equipment and the 936 is about the cheapest they make. They have a lot of high end professional equipment used outside the rc world. It is night and day soldering with the Hakko versus anything else I have tried including weller and other known brands.

I was also impressed with bulldawgrc where I got mine. Excellent service and communication along with extremely quick shipping.

The decals are just stickers that come with it. You apply them if you want to otherwise it's just plain black.

[brushlessboy16]

i just bought a hobbico 80w, anyone ever use them?

I bought the 60watt version and if the 80 is like the 60, buy some extra tips. They tend to disappear.

[TexasSP]

I have a hobbico iron I bought in a pinch one day. It works okay but burns through tips left and right.