My new soldering station...

[tribi9]

Anybody familiar with this brand or use one of these?

Hopefully this "Velleman" will last a lot longer than my last 5 cheap soldering irons...

[IMG:800:600]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n271 ... C02748.jpg[/img]

[IMG:600:800]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n271 ... C02745.jpg[/img]

[Noval_novice]

Not familiar to me, but looks nice

Here's mine:

[Drumslinger]

I use a Weller as well. One with temp adjust and another without. That Velleman looks pretty cool. Let us know how it works out for you.

[tribi9]

Not familiar to me, but looks nice

Here's mine:

I just noticed there's no temp. knob, so does it automatically adjust to whatever temp you need it to be at?

Yes, I will provide some feedback when I start using it. I got a screwdriver tip on back-order from the store I bought it at, should be here in a 10 days. The conical tip on it now is really thin and not my favorite to work with. According to the temp display it reaches target temperature fairly quick but I find it's taking a bit longer to melt solder blobs than I'd expect it to, but I think it is because of the thin tip.

The guy at the store said that I could return it before 7 days so I'm kinda undecided as to whether I should swap for a weller like yours , or wait for the thicker tip and see... The thing is if the tip comes after the 7 day return period I might be fucked...

[KindaFuzzy]

looks wicked, i've got the weller too with the digital display and I love it.

[jaysg]

I just noticed there's no temp. knob, so does it automatically adjust to whatever temp you need it to be at?

The older Weller irons use a numbered tip. A No. 7 is 700 degrees, for example.

[Noval_novice]

That's correct. It's supposed to self-adjust to keep the tip at 700 degrees.

[dynaman]

Dang, that looks sweet! I used to use a pricey soldering station until it broke down on me. Being in a pinch, I picked up a cheapy Velleman VTSS5 and have been using it ever since. Works great with even cheaper Rat Shack solder. It heats up slower than my previous station, but the tips are cheap and I rarely have to replace them. I just use a standard conical tip and I've since learned that there's a reason tips are shaped like that! For lack of better words, there are definitely different "speeds" to a conical tip. I almost never have to adjust its heat setting - different areas of the tip do different things at different speeds.

[M Fowler]

I have seen the Velleman cheaper models in some of my catalogs but RS is just down the road and keeps stocked on tips and my cheap unit is adjustable

[dynaman]

I have seen the Velleman cheaper models in some of my catalogs but RS is just down the road and keeps stocked on tips and my cheap unit is adjustable

Amen. Having access to tips is most important unless you're buying them in bulk. I also have an RS about five miles away, but.....I can walk to the Electronics Connection and they give me a 10% discount on everything I purchase. And they stock my Velleman tips!

[Structo]

I have a $20 Velleman station I bought in an emergency.

But yours looks like a real quality unit.

How much was it if I may ask?

[tribi9]

How much was it if I may ask?

I paid $110 plus tax. I got an extra tip that cost $12.95 both in CND funds. CND dollar is almost at par with the US.

It feels really solid and there is a bit of weight to it. It seems like it just might hold up.

[argonaut]

That looks pretty sweet. I could see the preset buttons being quite useful. Have fun!

I have a Hakko that I bought on a whim on ebay a few years ago. I had never heard of them at the time and they were cheaper than the Weller that I was replacing. I gotta say that I'm really impressed with the unit. I like to have the heat cranked and I regularly use the iron as a prybar and I've never had to replace the tip yet.

[dynaman]

That looks pretty sweet. I could see the preset buttons being quite useful. Have fun!

I have a Hakko that I bought on a whim on ebay a few years ago. I had never heard of them at the time and they were cheaper than the Weller that I was replacing. I gotta say that I'm really impressed with the unit. I like to have the heat cranked and I regularly use the iron as a prybar and I've never had to replace the tip yet.

Haha, I thought I was the only fool that did that. I'm constantly salvaging old parts and sometimes the easiest way to get something loose is to just crank the heat and pry with the tip. Nothing pisses me off more than when folks wrap a lead multiple times around a lug. Needless to say, I've gotten pretty good at salvaging things with short leads using nothing but my iron. Don't need no stinkin' pliers....

[dartanion]

Wrapping a lead around a lug makes for a good physical connection that the solder holds in place. Solder shouldn't be the only connection.

I have been using a Hakko 936 for a couple of years now, love it. The only issue is that I had to replace the iron as mine broke from being dropped and the replacement was almost as expensive as buying a whole new station. The ceramic internal part broke into 3 pieces, thus it was toast.