soldering iron recomendations

Jimbobjoeyman

what would be a good soldering iron for modding consoles.
i'll be installing some wii modchips and flashing some liteon drives and i might jtag my own personal 360.
just want a good soldering iron which wont cost a bomb

Wez

This one.

TouchingVirus

There's one in Lidl this week too, it seems all right

Vic Vinegar

TouchingVirus wrote: »

There's one in Lidl this week too, it seems all right

Hmmm, do you have a link and/or price? i had a look but couldn't see it.

Wez... wouldn't that 50 watt one be too powerful for delicate circuitry?

thenightrider

http://www.aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/special_buys3_14505.htm

Cant go wrong for a 10

As for 50 watt being too powerful for delicate circuitry you can ajust the heat of the iron

TouchingVirus

Bombleswizzum wrote: »

Hmmm, do you have a link and/or price? i had a look but couldn't see it.

Wez... wouldn't that 50 watt one be too powerful for delicate circuitry?

I meant Aldi

preytec

Sorry, i know it's an old post, but this is a really misinformed thread.
The 10 euro soldering irons are useless. plus the tips they come with are poor to say the least. That 1st reply is wrong. If anyone wants a good iron, get a hakko fx 888 or something similar. But look up "how to solder" on youtube, you'll find a lot of good info there.... when you pan out the rubbish.

TouchingVirus

The OP by now is an experienced solderer.

On a point of order the Hakko FX-888 is discontinued in favour of the FX-888D, currently retailing around $95 USD, not exactly a hobbyist tool if you ask me. Many cheaper soldering irons are perfectly adequate for soldering and offer interchangeable tips so you can get better quality ones when you get better at soldering.

Next time please don't bother dragging up a three year old thread.

Myrddin

preytec wrote: »

Sorry, i know it's an old post, but this is a really misinformed thread.
The 10 euro soldering irons are useless. plus the tips they come with are poor to say the least. That 1st reply is wrong. If anyone wants a good iron, get a hakko fx 888 or something similar. But look up "how to solder" on youtube, you'll find a lot of good info there.... when you pan out the rubbish.

Strange, I've done everything from Jtags, 360 pad hacks, a ps2 modchip, cap kits, region & display mods on tons of consoles, to building a jamma test rig & replacing IC's on arcade monitor chassis units...all with cheap €10 Antek soldering irons.

Sure you can get better ones, but they're not essential.

machiavellianme

Myrddin wrote: »

Strange, I've done everything from Jtags, 360 pad hacks, a ps2 modchip, cap kits, region & display mods on tons of consoles, to building a jamma test rig & replacing IC's on arcade monitor chassis units...all with cheap €10 Antek soldering irons.

Sure you can get better ones, but they're not essential.

Where are you getting Antex irons that cheap? They're one of the best brands around but they're certainly more than 10 bucks in my experience!

Myrddin

machiavellianme wrote: »

Where are you getting Antex irons that cheap? They're one of the best brands around but they're certainly more than 10 bucks in my experience!

Well slightly more than a tenner, but here's an 18w Antex iron for €20 - http://radionics.rs-online.com/web/p/soldering-irons/3286049/

ufc pro

dont know much about these but would this not do?
http://www.woodiesdiy.com/Product/ROK-30Watt-Soldering-Iron/9645/1.0.12#.UllcqVNA4vs

Myrddin

ufc pro wrote: »

dont know much about these but would this not do?
http://www.woodiesdiy.com/Product/ROK-30Watt-Soldering-Iron/9645/1.0.12#.UllcqVNA4vs

30w is pretty high for console/mainboard jobs, I'd be worried about lifting traces etc. Plus with the Antex you can change the tips for more precise ones etc, not sure if you can do the same with that Woodies one?

ufc pro

makes sense! might get into this myself at some stage, thanks for the info!