QUESTION OF THE MONTH : What Soldering tool would you like next to add to your Workbench?

e14 Question of the Month

Soldering components is a necessary skill for any prototyping maker or engineer. But the right soldering tool you need depends on what you are going to do. A standard soldering station may work for soldering through-hole components to a PCB, but soldering surface mount devices needs a different tool. What are you thinking about purchasing next?

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kmikemoo 20 days ago in reply to shabaz +2

shabaz I like the idea of try before you buy. I used a Project14 prize cart to pick up a desoldering gun. Unless I'm "harvesting", I default to soldering wick or the pencil/solder sucker combo tool. The…
anniel747 20 days ago in reply to Andrew J +2

Andrew J JBC has something of the sort. I also have some Weller 0051504899 that can be used in a similar way for hot air nozzles. community.element14.com/.../da956889_2D00_59765292.mp4
dougw 20 days ago +2

I might like a fast heating iron/station. Mine take a while to heat up. I might use a reflow oven once in a while if I had one.

Andrew J 20 days ago

I’m not missing anything specifically but perhaps it might be nice to have an integrated soldering/hot air/de-soldering system. What would be very useful is a tip quick-change system if such a thing exists (or could be invented!)
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rsc 20 days ago

De-soldering is always a pain, esp. with the new lead-free soldered stuff. De-soldering wick seems to have a finite shelf life also.
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robogary 20 days ago

I'm still using thru hole brute force medieval age equipment. I'd like to take the jump to surface mount but not quite sure where to start, besides needing a microscope.
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anniel747 20 days ago in reply to Andrew J

Andrew J It already exists for all types of irons.
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anniel747 20 days ago in reply to robogary

robogary You can drag-solder with your usual iron and you can also get smaller tips for discrete components.
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anniel747 20 days ago in reply to rsc

rsc You can add a bit of flux to your wick.
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anniel747 20 days ago

Other; Already up to date.
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genebren 20 days ago

I have been looking for a pair of desoldering tweezers for my soldering station. (sort of rework system/Desoldering Gun, but I went with other)
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anniel747 20 days ago in reply to genebren

genebren The use of desoldering tweezers is the easiest, fastest and safest way for SMD.
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shabaz 20 days ago

I recently had a need for a solder pot (to soak some coax) but I would do that so rarely, it makes it hard to justify purchasing this : (

A powered desoldering gun would be nice, but I've never seen a review of one that seems of reasonable price (for non-regular use) and reliable enough for long-term use. In contrast, my plunger-style solder sucker is probably 20 years old! so that, and desoldering braid is all I use, and sometimes it's not good enough : ( I'd still like to know which desoldering system is reliable though; a friend needs one more than me, and I know of nothing suitable to recommend to him.

I've often thought about desoldering tweezers (and there is a reasonable -price Multicomp pair) but again, i think I would use this rarely, so for the times I need to remove a SMD resistor or capacitor, I just alternatively heat both sides of the SMD with the iron quickly, until it slides off. A risk of damage, but I'm not working on critical/customer boards.

I think for anyone getting into soldering, a super-important thing on the list (aside from the fume extractor, which is important too), is the soldering station. I purchased mine about a year ago, cost a fair bit (£500 GBP including a couple of tips) but I hope to use it for a decade or more.

There are sometimes shows where you can try some tools out, so you can see what you're comfortable with in advance (or ask the distributor for a demo). Farnell ought to do a roadshow, would be interesting.

For instance in the UK there's the Southern Manufacturing show every February. You also get to see really exotic tools there like high-end rework systems and so on.
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