Conductive epoxy/adhesives vs solder

[marurun]

What do you guys think of this Wirecutter article on this topic?

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/revi ... ing-irons/

[Ziggy]

I think I'm drunk right now and will comment tomorrow on that article as well as Nemoide's post. But I can say that the Hakko FX888D is amazing and worth every penny. There are better solder stations, but the jump from Radio Shack irons to the FX888D is much more significant. I might have built up my chops on cheap Radio Shack and Weller irons, but after owning the FX888D I wonder how I ever made do without it. I was struggling with those cheap irons and didn't even know it!

[Anapan]

The FX888D is what I use. I've only had it a couple of years. Very big jump in ease-of-use compared to the mains-pen types I previously used.

[Ziggy]

I use the Weller soldering station Ziggy linked to above and it serves me well. I might sometimes have it set a bit too hot and it may be discoloring an outer layer of the silicon board but I'm under the impression that those things are pretty resilient and I've yet to have anything I work on stop working. I also lack a steady hand and my technique is definitely amateurish, but it feels good being able to fix things!

I think they're worth every penny. I never owned one myself, but I used one in a shop that I worked in and never had an issue with it. For the price, you just can't beat it. As a beginner, I ended up with a 15w and a 40w Radio Shack iron, my temperature control was switching between them LOL and they still sucked. Had I known about this Weller station, I would have just got it instead. Not only is it way better, but it has a better tip selection (the Radio Shack irons only have 1 tip) and they last longer too.

Just about the only thing that's annoying about it is a lack of a temperature display. Not knowing the temperature is a time waster in the sense that you have to trail and error to dial in the correct settings. But once you figure out what settings work for which applications, then it no longer matters.

@ marurun - A lot of beginners ask what temperature to use. It's very simple. You want to use the lowest temperature possible to solder correctly. By that I mean, when you solder a joint you want to be in and out. Watch the videos I posted to get a better idea. But you want to touch the iron tip to the joint and be able to melt the solder instantly or at least near instantly. If you're holding the iron tip to the joint for several seconds and the solder is not yet melting, then you neat a higher temperature. Or possible a different size tip. You want to solder quickly because the longer you're applying heat to joint then the more likely you are to damage something. But you can't just bang the heat up all the way every time because excessive heat can damage things too. With tip size, you usually want the largest tip you can use for whatever it is your soldering. So if you're soldering wires or big solder lug terminals, then a fairly large chisel tip is what you want. But if you're doing surface mount stuff, a large tip obviously wont do. The size of the tip will play a role in what temperature you want. You may need more or less heat if you change tips.

I mention this to explain why a temperature display is useful, but not mandatory. But even with a display, it will still take some trial and error to figure out what temps you like for which tips and for which application. For example: If you're changing the battery on a NES cart you might choose a medium chisel tip and set the temp to 500 to start. But if you're changing the battery on a GB cart, which is smaller and surface mounted, you might choose a small chisel tip and start at 300. But if you had the Weller with no temp display, you would have to trial and error at first but after a while you would just instinctively know what setting to go to for which tasks.

The part that REALLY sucks about not having a temp display though is not setting the temperature but reading it. By that I mean, you can set the Weller to "3" which you might think is around 450 degrees. But how do you know when it REACHES that temp? You don't. With a temp display, you not only set the temp but also monitor it. So when you first heat the iron up, you can tell when it reached your desired temperature. But again, this isn't something that's totally needed. When I used my cheap Radio Shack irons, I just made sure to plug them in first and by the time I got everything else ready and set up the irons were up to temp.

What do you guys think of this Wirecutter article on this topic?

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/revi ... ing-irons/

I skimmed through the article. The X-Tronic solder station seems decent for the price, from what they are saying. One huge concern when getting a solder station is tip selection and availability. But reading the Amazon Q&As, it sounds like X-Tronic makes tips but they are interchangeable with Hakko tips. Which is great, because Hakko has a huge selection of tips and they last a very long time (keep them cleaned and tinned). There are a few reviews though that say it was great when they got it but starting giving them issues after X amount of time. I've never heard of this solder station before, so I couldn't say one way or another.

Here's an entry level solder station recommendation from Voultar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGdHJ3BTh_c

There's a lot of solder stations for around $50 but I have no experience with any of them. A lot of them are faceless Chinese brands, but I hear now and again how this one or that one is a good deal. At least with that X-Tronic, them seem to be a USA based company that manufactures them in China, but their support is US based. At least, they had a good presence in the Q&A section on the Amazon page.

edit: Here's another review for that KSGER solder station. It looks like a really good deal for the money. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0nZCK7B-0U

The FX888D is what I use. I've only had it a couple of years. Very big jump in ease-of-use compared to the mains-pen types I previously used.

I put off getting a proper soldering station for such a long time, but when I finally got the FX888D I was just amazing how much better it w as than shitty $15 irons. When I was shopping for a station, it was between the Hakko and the Weller WE1010NA. I read tons of reviews and watched plenty of YouTube videos. Honestly, I really don't remember exactly why the Hakko edged out for me.

One thing I can say though is that the Hakko can be a pain in the ass to change temperatures. The Weller looks like it would be much easier. I guess it's because with the Hakko it's basically impossible to accidentally change the temp (the Weller has a lockout wand) which is useful for a production environment but not so much for a hobbyist workbench or a solo repair tech. But, I really don't mind it. A knob would be easier and faster to dial in a new temp, but the Hakko isn't too difficult to use.

For anyone looking to get a Hakko FX888D, be aware of counterfeits! It's such a popular solder station that there are counterfeits of it out there. When I got mine, I made sure I was getting it from a reputable seller (IIRC they were an authorized Hakko seller) but even then the first thing I did when I got mine was check to make sure it had the correct IC on the main board.

[Jagosaurus]

Been following this and was just texting JoeAwesome on potential soldering set ups last week. While related, I didn't want to high jack the thread, so started this here:

Review Soldering "Kit" I'm Putting Together
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=53456