Recommended Soldering Iron

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THend
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Recommended Soldering Iron

Post by THend »

Man, I hate soldering Deans connectors. I've got one nice soldering iron, but it isn't studly enough to do Deans plugs. I bought the Harbor Freight soldering gun, and it get hot enough, but it is kinda clumsy to work with.

Any recommendations, and where to get one?
ptsullivan
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Joined: Wed Jul 17, 2002 1:04 pm
Location: USA

Post by ptsullivan »

Spend $150 on a WESD51D and $50 on a range of tips and never look back.
I've messed around with every soldering iron under the sun and it is just not worth the grief to go cheap.
I just bought 5 of these for the techs in our shop, they are nice.

You can get them from Amazon, Technitool, where ever, just get a weller. You can get the 51 without the digital
display for cheaper, but what fun is that?

-Pete
Vapor52
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Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2006 10:56 am

Post by Vapor52 »

I use a 30 watt from Craftsman for 30 years, never had a problem---spent most of this evening in the shop soldering up a special 6 pin plug and now I can plug in one plug for the quad flaps on my Ultra Stick with one plug. Deans Ultra plugs are a piece of cake for 30 watts. ------rick
Vapor52
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Post by Vapor52 »

Terry, which harbor freight tool did you get? Looks like they have a digital soldering station that is pretty nice.
Vapor52
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Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2006 10:56 am

Post by Vapor52 »

Here's a fair price, my wife gets free shipping here.
http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WESD51-Dig ... B000ARU9PO
THend
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Post by THend »

I have a Weller that is not digital. I bet I just need to buy some tips that are larger to transfer the heat better.
Vapor52
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Post by Vapor52 »

Actually you need a fairly small tip on a 30 watt to do electrical like Deans plugs. The tip I use is probably about 3/32 with a fairly sharp taper to the tip.
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boiler
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Post by boiler »

It might help to re-tighten your weller tip or take it out, clean the screw contacts and then re-install. Brings new life to mine about every 6 months.
THend
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Post by THend »

Seeings hows I got to do some soldering this weekend, I will give the clean and new tip a go. I got a 1/8 "screw driver" style tip and I think it will work out well. Plus a good clean up on the iron connections.

Thanks

TH
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