Before I buy?

[No Longer Active]

Hi,

I am looking to buy a better soldering iron than the Iron that I currently have.

The Iron I have is wide boddied, chunky, 25watt, the cable is too stiff and you really cant do good soldering at all.

I am looking at the Antex soldering Irons, as I have heard that they are one of the best on the market, but would like to know what wattage.

Personally I am thinking that a 15watt will do nicely, but what abou the 18watt, whats the difference.

I will mainly be soldering encoders and switches, and that's it really, but not too sure on the wattage, I am thinking 25watts is a little too much, but the 15watt or 18watt is what I am deciding on:

Either this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Antex-C15-15W-...8#ht_500wt_848

Or:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Antex-cs-18-wa...#ht_500wt_1074

Just don't know what's best?

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Alex

[mpl330]

Hi Alex,

I had a cheapo soldering iron (£5 job from ebay) and had to replace it so I got a 15w antec, unfortunately I just couldn't get on with it, for some reason it just didn't seem to melt the solder enough for it to run cleanly onto the joints, it remained in a ball. This was probably due to my poor technique but I didn't have these problems with the cheapy 30w iron I previously used. Needless to say I have gone back to a cheap 30w as I can get a number of these for the price of the antec and I can solder succesfully... I wonder if the 15w just didn't get hot enough???

Just my recent experience...
Cheers
Mike

[Sean Nixon]

Hating all things wired, I got a gas soldering iron from my local electronics shop. I haven't used it much as I'm not ready for soldering yet, but I tried it out and it works fine. The freedom from a stiff flex was wonderful.

I got the cheapest one they had, 40W for £12. Ronson lighter fuel is £1 a large can from local newsagents.

http://www.esr.co.uk/electronics/too...dering-gas.htm

[No Longer Active]

Thanks for that advice.

Maybe the extra 3 watts will make all the difference, maybe it would be a good idea to ask everyone what soldering iron do they use, my instinct tells me that the 18watt is the better option.

To be honest, I just want something that's light, and thin and easy on the hand.....

Thanks for your experiences though!

Alex

EDIT: Sean, really like the gas soldering Iron idea! Do they come with a tip or is that an extra?

Cheers!

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

hi alex.......
i use an antex csl18. cracking iron, i've had it for years and it's great with lead free solder too
18watt is the way to go.........
good luck

ian

[No Longer Active]

I was thinking the 18 watt version, my instinct was right then!

Cheers Ian, once again!

Alex

[No Longer Active]

By the way, I think that nothing beats this for price £9.00!!!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...#ht_1440wt_831

These retail usually at between £18 - £23, thinking this is a good buy.....ooops just bought one, lets give it a shot, I cant see much in difference beween this and the Antex.....

[wojteku]

Hi Alex,

Hava a look at this one as well:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/50w-Variable-T...item53dcef4123
I got one myself a while back and it's great. You can also get different tips for it from almost any maplin store or online.

Ooops, I just noticed you''ve bought one already...

[No Longer Active]

Hi,

Thanks for that, I do indeed like the vari temp irons, but I don't do too well with the chunkier irons as I tend to prefer the slim line irons (like holding a pen - my soldering is better)....

A very good buy, it appears that 360 people have bought one, must be good!

Good find!

Alex

[No Longer Active]

I bought this earlier, to help me solder small parts such as encoders etc, this is a very good tool for very little money......

For a few quid, the uses are endless....a very handy tool! Bargain!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...T#ht_500wt_848

Alex