Is the Weller Wesd51 a good station?

[teeDee]

I am thinking that the Wd1002 is a little too much solder station for me. Does anyone have advice on the type of station I should buy? I need something for light soldering, borderline hobby stuff and saw this station Weller wesd51 . I am trying not to break the bank on more than I need, this one is more than $100 less!

Please give me your thoughts. (quickly, I currently don't have one)

[gonzo0815]

Re: Is the Weller Wesd51 a good station?

It should suite your needs very well, but for excesive recapping work a 60or 80w unit would be best. But this unit is a very decent allrounder IMHO. Don`t forget a chisel tipp and tip cleaner (Tippy and one of those metallwhool things, forget the wet spong...). I am shure, you won`t regret this decision.

[Xeor]

Re: Is the Weller Wesd51 a good station?

It should suite your needs very well, but for excesive recapping work a 60or 80w unit would be best. But this unit is a very decent allrounder IMHO. Don`t forget a chisel tipp and tip cleaner (Tippy and one of those metallwhool things, forget the wet spong...). I am shure, you won`t regret this decision.

Personnally, I found the wet sponge very practical to use. http://www.edsyn.eu/catalog/product_...oducts_id/3352 is nice to use because it will let the particules falling into the hole of the sponge leaving the tip completely clean or it's because I can't use the metalwhool one properly, I end up eating it.

[gonzo0815]

Re: Is the Weller Wesd51 a good station?

Well, i ma used on that sponge too, and i coinue to used it. But i realized, that may iron plated tips are geeting very soon very dark and are not gettign wetted by the tin. I was near to trash my iron. Then i learned that this is typicall for those tips if used with too wet sponge. This is especially true for higher tempertaure solring e.g. lik recapping or doing lead free PCB`s. Thus i bought the tipcelaner tippy, it is basically a mixture of salmiak, thin and some other flux. This removes this inert oxid layer from the tip and tinns it. Then i use the not too weted sponge until the tip is oxidized again. If you do some more soldering, i would suggest those mtall whool highly. personally i do not that mutch soldering, thus i haven`t bought it yet. But if i afford a new station, i buy this metal whool too.

[Lance Thornton]

Re: Is the Weller Wesd51 a good station?

I personally have one and I've found it invaluable for most of the things I need to repair. Make certain that you have tip cleaner and the brass wool thingy, yes thingy is the proper term, and you should be fine. I have only not been able to desolder caps on one board, and that was a Tyan dual socket A something. It had too many layers I believe. If you need to contact me, you may e-mail me at lthornto@tampabay.rr.com I would be happy to help you with questions or concerns if I can. Good luck!