can anyone recommend a decent soldering iron??

[pegz]

preferably with a link, i have one 18w iron but the element is too long from the tip to the handle making it hard to conrol the tip, i also have a 12w micro iron this is perfect for length but not hot enough to do a good job.

anyone kno of any good ones, don't mind paying a bit to get a good one

P :)

[TRABEL]

hmmmm....... if you talking about regular iron ... then dono ;)
but if you want to invest in a station , many good things are there ...
i have a station from HAKKO , waller are good as well....
check on ebay , you can find very good prices , maybe used station ?
good luck

[9HOMERSIMPSON9]

Check ebay for an ANTEX soldering iron.

Its the best out there ;)

Homer

[GeToChKn]

I have a nice antex with a 1/64" inch tip. It heats up in like 45 secs and isn't very big or bulky. You can order from http://www.hmcelectronics.com/cgi-bin/scripts/product/6520-0002 or http://www.mmnewman.com/content/antex/index.asp is where i ordered mine from. I love it. Beats the crap out of anything from Radio Shack and is well worth the investment.

[SDU101]

Thats interesting. I never knew that antex did 1/64" (0.04 mm) soldering tips. Well I'm takling about the official antex ones from www.antex.co.uk. Smallest they do are the 0.12 mm unplated copper tips. Also, if you are going to order some tips make sure you get the iron plated ones. The unplated ones don't last very long, after 2-3 machines modded the flux have eaten the tip to the point there the tip is more like 1 mm thick than 0.12 mm. Well thank god that most machines I mod now are mostly slimlines, which I can get away with using a 0.5 mm tip. Try modding a pre v4 machine with a 0.5 mm tip and I am sure you will either kill the playstation or you kill yourself out of frustration.

Now I need to get my hands on some of those plated 0.04 mm tips...

[dick_onion53]

I use $9 radio shack ones... what can I say? they melt the solder and are pretty easy to control. Only spend big $ on an iron/station if you plan on using it alot (as they will surly outlast ones from radio shack) and the tips will last longer as well...

[9HOMERSIMPSON9]

Thats interesting. I never knew that antex did 1/64" (0.04 mm) soldering tips. Well I'm takling about the official antex ones from www.antex.co.uk. Smallest they do are the 0.12 mm unplated copper tips. Also, if you are going to order some tips make sure you get the iron plated ones. The unplated ones don't last very long, after 2-3 machines modded the flux have eaten the tip to the point there the tip is more like 1 mm thick than 0.12 mm. Well thank god that most machines I mod now are mostly slimlines, which I can get away with using a 0.5 mm tip. Try modding a pre v4 machine with a 0.5 mm tip and I am sure you will either kill the playstation or you kill yourself out of frustration.

Now I need to get my hands on some of those plated 0.04 mm tips...

Of course they do, i have a 0.5mm ones which is excellent.

Mine is an 18watt ANTEX aswell.

Homer

[jockthecock]

you can also get them in maplins got me a 12 watt antex for a tenner was ment to be 14.99 but they had the iron's all mixed up so they just rang it through the lower price :) but don't buy maplins solder station crank up the heat and it blows the fuse

[SDU101]

Of course they do, i have a 0.5mm ones which is excellent.

Mine is an 18watt ANTEX aswell.

Homer

I know they do a 0.5mm but i am talking about 0.04mm (notice the extra zero) within the UK. Try soldering directly onto the cd/dvd controller legs with a 0.5mm and you will surely be frustrated. Last time I modded a v0 i spent 4 hours on the cd/dvd legs alone, then I finally just gave up and ordered a 0.12mm instead. After that arrived it took me like 2 minutes to do the cd/dvd legs.

As for soldering stations I don't bother with them as I tend to have 3 irons heated up ready to use with different tips. A 15 watt with the 0.12mm tip, 18 watt with 0.5mm tip and a 25 watt one with a 2.3mm tip. Soldering stations are nice if you do alot of SMT soldering like replacing those pesky SMT resisters and fuses as too much heat for too long isn't ideal. But for my own modding and general soldering needs I prefer to have different irons with different tips. It's just that much more versatile and saves me changing tips because I need a bigger/small tip than the rest just to solder 1-2 points.

Damn still can't find those 0.12mm tips that are iron plated within the UK... and http://www.hmcelectronics.com don't deliver to the UK....

[cubistproject]

I'm a big fan stations. If you're really seious about fitting chips, I highly recommend a Hakko station. Weller is okay too, but most users that have tried both recommend Hakko, as do I.

If your iron dies in like 5 years, you can just replace the iron.
The hakko 963ESD (or 936ESD can't remember what it's called) has 3 irons - a large one, a regular sized one (which I use) and a small one for super fine micro pcb soldering.
Then for each of those there are numerous tips.
They make stations that take two irons so if you've got work mates, or you want multiple tips heated at the same time, that is an option, however one .1mm tip with the regular sized iron is perfect for all points on any PS2 install.

[mp3boy]

http://www.electronelec.co.uk/acatalog/Electron_Electronics_15W_soldering_irons_546.html

They do the 0.12mm unplated soldering iron bits in the UK, i've ordered several already.

[GeToChKn]

You're probally going to go through those unplated tips fast. My one unplated lasted maybe a month, my plated one is going strong after a year.

[wrathofpyro]

hmm run to radioshack or thesourcecc for canadians and get the next tech dual wattage 15-30 iron,I'd personally find the tip a tad to big but it gets the job done.

[jurai29]

I use a weller WES50 which is now replaced by the WES51, its a station type, Comes with a fairly midrange ETA tip which is ok for dip IC's and discrete components that arent surface mount. The ETS or ETR tips for this are better, much finer pitch tip. I use the ETS for any surface mount stuff such as installing mod chips. This station can be expensive if your only doing a few mod chips for yourself and a few friends, but if you're gonna do a lot of them, or a lotta other electronics work then its definately worth it. Another important feature found on many stations (including this one) is the temperature selection. Myself I typically use 600F to 700F temperatures and only apply the tip for a very short time, under a second, just enough to let the solder flow properly. Generallly if the solder flows to a smooth shiney solder joint then its ok, if you get a grainy dull solder joint then you'll probly get a bad connection from too short a time.