Oh, I could have paid 10x as much for the same unit.
There's little point in using a multi-turn pot and getting that precise with a soldering iron. Mine is the older version before an LED display, so just a pot, I haven't borrowed a FLIR to check how close the labels are to the actual temperature, but with any sort of stuff being done on a hobby level, there's no need to get that precise - and if there is, any sub$200 soldering station isn;t going to do the job anyway. Just the hysteresis will drift several degrees around the set point, and if you need somethign that holds the set point, you need something with an induction heater instead of a ceramic one, they tend to have MUCH better thermal recovery.
Those TS100 and USB RS80 types seem to be not too bad, actually.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Is that a Gordak station?
I have been looking at the Gordak 868D (which combines the temperature-controlled "500W" iron with the forced hot-air gun, two separate handpieces with separate multipin sockets) which is as of March 11th supposedly available here for under $70 shipped
This has knobs for adjusting the temperature of the iron and the hot air separately, instead of up and down pushbuttons, and there is another knob for the hot-air volume. I see eBay listings for replacement hot-air handpieces in the $15 range (perhaps for off-production or 'knockoff' quality) but that's almost cheap enough to buy a couple of spares 'just in case'.
I'm wondering if you could substitute a couple of multiturn precision pots behind those knobs for finer temperature control -- the device ratings say it will 'hold' temperature within 2 degrees C for the iron and 5 degrees for the hot air, which is probably accurate enough for most prospective work we'd be likely to do in the hobby. A fine-tip hot air gun like this is tremendously useful if you use shrink-wrap tubing for insulation or flexible seal between liquid or air lines...
Note that the machine also has a USB port with limited amperage (800ma, so not quite up to even cheap wall-wart capacity) -- cynical me thinks this is so some marketers can bill this as a 'three-in-one' station, leading the unwary to think this has a desoldering pump built in. Desoldering pumps are nifty to have, but they will cost you considerably more to get and aren't usually too much more useful than a spring-operated $10 manual vacuum desoldering tool with tips for the kinds of things we do with soldering.
I learned many years ago that good soldering is an acquired art. You may know that.
Practice on scrap material, Code 100 rail, #22 or #24 wire.
I have the Weller WLC100. No temp readings. Only numbers. Bought when it first came out.
I use the plated wedge tip at about 75 percent and the fine conical tip at 50 percent for PC board work. No filing of tips. Your mileage might vary.
Radio Shack tip cleaner and sponge.
I have used Cardas Quad Eutectic Silver solder with Rosin flux for many years. Goes from liquid to solid very fast. Amazon sells it.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
It's a knockoff of someone's, not sure - Yihua has a soldering only one that's a knockoff of Hakko, the all in one sort of looks like the Xytronic all in one. I was thinkign about getting one, but it has been pointed out that if somethign fails - and more likely it would be the hot air or the desoldering pump, you now have a very large solder-only device taking up bench space. But it should do the job - something with all those features in one woudl typically be in thr $300 range for a 'name' brand, so it's a good deal.
Definitely temperature controlled, not like the overpriced Weller I linked.
Hmm, so this one is hot air, soldering and a power supply? Seems an odd combo of features. Also it looks like maybe the really cheap ones are actually not Yihua, but knockoffs, the real Yihua one seems to be closer to $120. Might still be ok, but some teardowns of these things often show the knockoff types have zero protection against overloads and shorts inside.
Also - real or knockoff, the temp is controlled by buttons next to the readouts, the big knob is to adjust the air flow from the heat gun.
It is a 853D, cheap but gets good reveiws, if I like I will get a better one but this is my first time to get into anything more than the pencil type and not a higher end one of those. I got it more for installing a few decoders but track work comes first. Got most of the cork down so track is coming up fast.
What sort is it? The Weller one where the iron plugs intot he side of the base with a 3 prong plug is not temperature controlled, you'd be dialing the wattage of the iron.
If it's an analog temperature controlled like mine, I put it somewhere in teh green, which is about 3/4 of the way up, for all soldering. I turn it all the way down to the lowest setting if there will be extended time between joints, and also it can be used to shrink heat shrink without melting it - still don;t touch the tip to the heat shrink, even on the lowest setting, but it's not like a traditional always on iron that gets so hot you just have to get close to melt right through the heat shrink.
I might turn it up to the top of the green for something heavier like track, but I had no problems soldering Fast Tracks turnouts. The biggest thing I solder with the station is Code 83 rail. You need a lot more power to solder feeders to #14 and #12 bus wire, I have a 150 watt soldering gun for that.
One to avoid:
https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC
This model - is NOT temperature controlled! It's cheap enough, I supposed, but I only paid $50 for my true temperature controlled one. And Micro Mark actually has the gall to ask $79.95 for this!
the melting point of most solders is around 188 C [370 F], and tip temperature can be 330-350 C [626-662 F] ...
mine is from china [the one upstairs] and reads in Celsius, it's set to 325 C,about 620 F or so ..
I set mine really high, 650-700 degrees.
That gets me in and out fast, it does the job, and fewer plastic parts melt.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
The title says most of it, this one can dial in a temp. Would like opinions on temp to set for varius model railroad tasks, like feeder wires to rails and decoder hookups.