Looking for a new soldering gun

C

captain_bob

Member
Messages
3,486
I'm looking for a new soldering gun for a pickup swap. Any recommendations? My old one just isn't heating up like it used to?
 
K

khromo231

Guest
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457
Parts Express sells a cheap station that will do for a few joints here and there. Don't expect much for this price, but it will produce reasonable quality work if you don't ask too much. Get an extra set of tips because the supplied tip is a little small for some jobs, like 16 ga. speaker wire.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=374-100

Want a great iron for not much money? Get a Haako 936!
 
XSSIVE

XSSIVE

D'Avanzo Guitars
Silver Supporting Member
Messages
1,631
DO NOT use a soldering gun on a guitar! the magnetic field from the transformers in most soldering guns can degauss pickup magnets. plus there is NO need for the extra heat that a gun puts out over a typical iron/pencil if you need that extra heat you're doing it wrong.

no idea what you're looking to spend but i've used this for years at home and another one at work and it's worked great for me and isn't too pricey...

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100...ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1262958999&sr=8-1

-Mike
 
Mike9

Mike9

Silver Supporting Member
Messages
10,999
Get a 40 watt iron from the Shack - not much money and I've had the same one for years.

I just treated myself to a Weller station so the old one is going into deep standby.
 
B

Bill Brasky

Senior Member
Messages
1,421
I bought one from Radio Shack that was switchable between 25/40 watts, which I really like. Good luck ever finding replacement RS soldering tips though. I cut off their iron and attached a cheap Weller to the base. People will say "only use a 25 watt on electronics" but IME you need at least a 40watt to solder to the backs of pots.
 
John Coloccia

John Coloccia

Cold Supporting Member
Messages
9,599
Hakko 936. I have their higher end irons both at home and at work and LOVE them. The 936 is an excellent iron.

re: where to buy
Do you live near a Frys? They carry them. Otherwise, there's tons of online dealers (Frys, for example). I don't know who has the best prices on them anymore.

Regardless of the iron, you want temperature control. A 25/40 watt switch, is really not ideal. You want to set it for 600 or 650 degrees and leave it alone. For the back of pots and bridges, you're going to want a large tip. The large tip allows a lot of heat to flow quickly from the iron to the work. The wattage rating of the iron only matters if your tip is large enough to transfer a lot of heat. An iron with a high wattage rating can keep up with a large tip. The temperature control keeps you from overheating things. What you want to be able to do is rapidly bring everything up to the proper temperature and then get off. A tip that it too small will transfer heat very slowly to a pot, never really using the power available to the iron. Most will try to compensate by increasing the temperature. This is exactly the wrong thing to do. You need a big tip with a big flat on it, like a chisel tip maybe.
 
Quarter

Quarter

Member
Messages
1,594
jcoloccia said:
... Regardless of the iron, you want temperature control. A 25/40 watt switch, is really not ideal. You want to set it for 600 or 650 degrees and leave it alone. For the back of pots and bridges, you're going to want a large tip. The large tip allows a lot of heat to flow quickly from the iron to the work. The wattage rating of the iron only matters if your tip is large enough to transfer a lot of heat. An iron with a high wattage rating can keep up with a large tip. The temperature control keeps you from overheating things. What you want to be able to do is rapidly bring everything up to the proper temperature and then get off. A tip that it too small will transfer heat very slowly to a pot, never really using the power available to the iron. Most will try to compensate by increasing the temperature. This is exactly the wrong thing to do. You need a big tip with a big flat on it, like a chisel tip maybe.
Click to expand...
A great explanation on a subject that is often overlooked or misunderstood, all to often temperature and heat are thought of as one.
 
G

GtrDr

Member
Messages
798
I work on about 40 gtrs a week. I use a weller 40 pencil, $8.00 at home depot. Never had much use for a soldering station,
 
G

GuitslingerTim

Member
Messages
2,176
Bill Brasky said:
I bought one from Radio Shack that was switchable between 25/40 watts, which I really like. Good luck ever finding replacement RS soldering tips though. I cut off their iron and attached a cheap Weller to the base. People will say "only use a 25 watt on electronics" but IME you need at least a 40watt to solder to the backs of pots.
Click to expand...

I guess you mean tips for the 25/40 watt iron--I have 40 and 25 watt irons from RS and have had no trouble finding tips for them.
 
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