recommend a soldering iron

Alrighty, My POS 15watt Rat Shack soldering Iron has given me way too many headaches to count, and it's time to invest in a decent iron. I know at least a few of you guys can recommend a decent setup with variable wattage... so recommend away. I'm really looking at a butane iron from http://www.solder-it.com. My buddy who does car installs uses butane irons and they seem to kick much ass as they are ready to roll within 45 seconds or so, and no cords to get in the way... as well as having the added ability to act like a mini-torch, hot air blower, etc. Do any of you use butane soldering irons?

Keep in mind i'm looking to spend $60 max (i know i know, not much.)

Thanks in advance.

Portosol used to make a pretty good kit, right around that price range. Try here. I still have one I bought 6 years ago...

That's Portasol, if you were looking for a more complete description.

my bad...

I've always gone with Antex. The 50W version is pretty zippy and I use their 25W for surface mount and MPC's (Million-Pin-Chips)

Thanks for the tips guys. After researching it a bit more... i think i'm gonna get a Portasol... they seem to be really entrenched in a lot of utilitarian markets and have been around forever. Now... which one to get... I'm thinkin' the Pro Piezo kit. Thanks!

Go with the 125W model! You never know when you might need to cordlessly weld some wrought iron!

LOL... don't tempt me!!

What about an iron that solders for you? For some reason, flux + solder + iron + me +wires = nothing. I've never been able to solder worth a damn. My dad tried to teach me when I was 8, but it never stuck.

g

This one is adjustable from 25-75 watts. Weller has been around a LONG time...

http://www.coopertools.com/brands/weller/cordless_hotair.htm

I have this Iron (Weller pyropen). Bought it from Frys for ~$60 (memory fades)

I wouldn't use it for building PCB's, but its great for automotive / car stereo jobs.

PeterK

Yeap, that's the one i'm prolly getting. Weller just rebrands the Portasol in the US and distributes through Cooper Tools and Snap-On. You can't for the love of Brian find their newest model online... the one with the piezo ignition. I've searched for 3 days now. I even emailed Portasol and they said that Coopertools was the only online site, but they only have their power tools for sale online at the moment. Time to start calling electronics stores, or maybe just Cooper Tools straight away.

The 125W one has the piezo ignition, as well. Go for it, dude! The one with the measly 90W does, too.

So, did you ever get one? Do you like it?

Yeap, i got the Pro Portosol with the Piezo ignition. I love it. It seems to be pretty short on the fuel supply side, but i haven't used it enough yet to really know. I used it to do the empeg button hack though. The 1mm tip you can get for it is weird... it's got a sort of flat tip which makes things difficult instead of a pointed tip. Otherwise, the hot knife, hot air blower, and torch aspects just rule. Not to mention the portability. I keep it in my car most of the time. I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking for a portable.

The Pro Piezo or the Pro II?

How short on the fuel? I rarely need to do something that would require more than 15 minutes or so of work.

The thing is that I bought a RadioShack branded Professional a while back and it never seems to be hot enough. Or rather, it's hot enough until whatever I'm soldering wicks all the heat away from it. Maybe it's defective. Or maybe I just don't know how to solder....

I had a gas iron when i worked with marine radars the little s**t would only run out if gas when i was on top of a mast no matter how long ago i refilled it.


Refill it before you go up the mast it would still run out.

I got the pro piezo model in that link. The fuel goes for a while... i'd guess more than 15 minutes depending on how high you have the flame... i haven't timed it. And there's NO problem with it not being hot enough... This sucker gets insanely hot. The nice thing is that the piezo ignition makes it easy to start it and stop it, and it heats all the way up in about 15 seconds, so you can stop it when you don't wanna waste fuel.

Very cool. I'll have to look at replacing mine.

I've got the SuperPro - adjustable up to ~125W, which I have (so far) found to be superb. I used the hot air attachment for reflow soldering the resistor pack for the button LED hack (add lots of flux, solder paste, place component and heat until the solder melts - the surface tension pulls the component into place). It made quick work of it, and ended up being the easier part of the install.

It's also great for heatshrinking, desoldering etc, and the convenience of being cordless and very quick to heat makes it a joy to use.

One thing that I would say is that it takes a little while to get used to the hot air jet that shoots out of the side of the tip...you need to learn to ensure that it points up and away from you and the work.

Hi, I currently have one of these. Its worked great for everything i have ever needed to solder. No Gas, cordless, gets very hot within 5 seconds. It even has a handy light so you can solder in the dark. Did this once when hooking up new front speakers (clif designs) in my passat. I would highly recommend it to anyone! The website says it reaches 900 degrees F, i couldn't find the actual companys website, just did a search on google and come up with this.


ISO Tip Quick Charge Soldering Iron