Need A Good Soldering Kit

[Mad_Hatter]

I'm looking into getting into soldering for things like:

modding/hacking consoles: saturn modchips, 360s, region hacks for sega consoles.

repairs: replacing capacitors for broken monitors/screens and tvs.

please throw me some recommendations.

[SpoonyBard]

I have a handful of inexpensive weller irons that have treated me well over the years. Usually only $10-$15 and extra tips are fairly inexpensive.

For PCB stuff you're typically going to want a lower wattage iron, 40w or less. And a soldering station isn't a bad idea either. Once again, weller makes some at fairly reasonable prices. Mine was given to me five years ago (and the previous owner used it for quite some time) and i've never had a problem with it.

I've also fallen in love with the Hakko 599B tip cleaner. It's cheap and does a great job, definitely worth the purchase.

I don't do a ton of PCB soldering (although I do a lot of soldering), so someone else may have some better recommendations for what you're trying to do.

[Xevin]

I might be a little crazy, but I really prefer the butane soldering irons. No cords and the distance to the tip is much closer to your fingers so you have MUCH greater control of the thing. Although no fine tuning of the heat may turn some people away. So long as it works predictably, I can live with it.

I've been using THIS cheapo one for the past year and a half. I do a lot of soldering. I've gone through 7 tubes of solder in the past 6 months...

If you go this route, one can of butane will last forever it seems. They are really efficient. One 165g can has lasted me nearly a year.

[fastbilly1]

My soldering skills are spotty at best, but a solder station with a cleaning pad and a place to put it when you are working, is the most important thing I can say to have. My father has a super nice one that was given to him, I prop mine up on a piece of wood. Also a set of helping hands would be advised:

[Anapan]

I'm using a cheap Weller (SP40L) with a fine-point tip.
I keep a couple of rolls of desoldering braid/wick, a desoldering pump, a razor-blade (tip cleaning & finished connection repair/trimming), a rosin-flux pen (always use it on every surface and wire being soldered), a hot-glue gun and some liquid electrical tape handy in the same drawer. If you want to get really fancy, some heat-shrink makes your wire-connections look professional.
The helping hands are useful if you don't have someone to hold stuff for you. I never really use mine since I can just ask my brother for assistance when modding. For wires being soldered to a motherboard, you can use electrical tape to hold the wires in place while making the connection (pretty much essential when connecting to the legs of an IC - lay the wires (pre-tinned) along the mobo so they're already in place when you heat them).
There's a few threads here about tips on soldering. I picked up some tricks from the regulars here while browsing so search for them.