WELLER W61 60w 370°c good for reacap. now and leadfree?

[gonzo0815]

Hi all,

i have seen this very decent priced soldering iron for about 35€. Usually it is about 70€. It uses the Magnatec kontrol tips. Now i think it should work good for any leaded board, but i am unshure about leadfree boards.
I do not that mutch recapping work, but i like to tweak my (new) boards and PSu`S. Therefore i did not want to spend for an soldering iron. Did anyone have this iron or know it?
The best other thing i would trust would be the ERSA RDS80 station, wich is consicerably more expensive (about 110€), but with the 80w i would be shure on the safe side.

[starfury1]

Re: WELLER W61 60w 370°c good for reacap. now and leadfree?

Hi gonzo0815

its a mains powered iron from what I found, if it works like may old weller station its the tips that set temp, You buy higher C/F rated tips....

If its of good quality (weller) should serve you well, my station is 28 years old...granted it doesn't get used all that often these days

me I would spend up on a station but if you aren't doing it very often probably cheaper way to go.

Seems opinion on this forum is; for recapping the hotter the better just don't over do it.

If I remember rightly lead free (just about all tin) you need hotter irons, don't know what the spec is for tips from memory (or if you require special plate type)

There are a few posts on lead free and recapping best temps tip types etc here on the forum

Guess the Guru's that "live and breath" recapping here will have much better advice to offer you so I'll leave it to them

Just my thoughts
HTH

Oh footnote for a laugh....did a search to try and get a bit more info on the iron...guess what....your post were first two hits shown on google

[willawake]

Re: WELLER W61 60w 370°c good for reacap. now and leadfree?

110 is a good price for the ERSA RDS80
i see it is 150 some places

i vote for that. its a new model also. i have ersa ana60
with some parts periodically it should last for many years.

[gonzo0815]

Re: WELLER W61 60w 370°c good for reacap. now and leadfree?

The only thing wich scares me, is the price difference compared with the usuall industrial used ANALOG 80 and 60. They do not have any fancy LCD but are way more expensive.
The heating & control system is named SENSOTRONIC for the Analog 80 and Resistronic for the RS80. This means, the Analog 80 is equiped with an seperate thermosensor, whereas the Analog 60 and RS80 are based on a PTC ceramic heater elemnt, wich is probably not that acurat and fast. Any way, probably any of those are ok for soldering.

[starfury1]

Re: WELLER W61 60w 370°c good for reacap. now and leadfree?

Hi All

Well mate I haven't used any ERSA products

can't comment on the pro's and con's of the technology used but looking at what that Mob make and it looks like your are talking more professional type equipment here.

you maybe right re recovery responce times but I cant see them pushing a hobbyist type product to the professional or semi professional market so if you getting it at a good price it would be my choice of the two,
if it meets the specs you need....no mention of lead free? from what I can see

Do wonder if its made in Germany or (more likely) China to ERSA specifications, which may account for price.

lastly it appears to be a new design product so may have issues unknown as yet.

be nice if someone here had one for awhile and could post a user review...so you could get a better idea ....anyway

Going to email Aust distributer, probably better be sitting down when I read the reply LOL

Just my opinion and I know its of no real help to you

cheers all