Which watt soldering iron do most of you guys use?

Tech Talk
21

I’ve used a 25 watt for everything. A 15 watt is fine and also recommended for beginners. It’s hard to screw up on a 15.

22

these work perfect for hacking controllers. just the tip is a little ghetto and it doesnt hold solder correctly out of the box.

also for hacking controllers dont use anything over 15watts UNLESS it is adjustable on the temp. you will burn the fuck out of the pcb.

23

Is this the best tool for soldering arcade stick?

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062730

24

Im gonna buy the 15-watt soldering iron from RadioShack…I dont have soldering experience so i think buying a cheap one wont hurt

25

I use a 25w Antex for everything, just got to be careful with PCBs :smile:

26

I’ve gone through 3 Radio Shack soldering irons (15W, 30W, 45W). The 15W is probably what I’d use for hacking pads. Anyhow, after going through 3 Radio Shack irons, I decided to spend a little more and got a Weller WLC100 soldering station. This seemed like a good purchase at the time, having the ability to change out tips and vary temperature. However, nifty features aside, it still didn’t really perform all that much better than the Radio Shack irons. Then one day, a coworker showed me his Metcal soldering station. The first time I turned it on, wow! The iron heated up in 5 seconds. On top of that, you get a soldering wand that you can hold like a pencil instead of those clunky Radio Shack/Weller ones where you hold by the handle. That totally sold me. I got mine used for $100 on eBay. Since then, I’ve soldered probably over 50 projects with no regrets.

By the way, Metcal is the brand of choice in soldering re-work industry.

Now, if I had to pick an iron to buy just for soldering one or two pads and never plan to use it again, then I’d probably just get a cheap 15W iron at Radio Shack.

27

25 watt Weller Iron. it rox.

when i work on my cars electrical, i use a butane one.

28

I use a 50w variable temp iron. I got it at fry’s for $25-30 it works great for me. I use to assemble boards, padhacks and just about anything that I would need it for in joystick modding.
http://www.vellemanusa.com/us/enu/product/view/?id=522806