Mandrew wrote on Today, 09:37:
appiah4 wrote on Yesterday, 08:36:
I recently upgraded from a simple pen solder to a Yihua 878D solder/rework station and I love it.
I also have that soldering station under a different brand although it's probably the same chinosium tech. It's surprisingly good and very affordable, not the fan of the short, rigid tangly wires though.
I have this exact same hot air station. Incredibly cheap, but so far has worked just fine for my needs.
In general I’m of the opinion that one should invest more for quality soldering iron/station and save money with these additional tools that aren’t always even needed. I would also skip combo stations, because iusing individual tools makes upgrading equipment much simpler and in the case of something like PSU failure, you don’t lose all your equipment. When you buy a quality soldering station, you can most likely use it just fine for 20 or more years.
Soldering iron is the most important tool in electronics repair and when you are working with something with large ground planes, a poor iron will make it an infuriating and frustrating experience. It is not about the wattage alone, but the thermal design of the tip and heating element.
