Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

[Almighty1]

Does anyone have any experience with the Solomon SL-30CMC which seems identical in pictures other than color and specs as the Tenma 21-1590, are these any good as it's 48W but supposedly can do 480C/900F which I thought required more wattage?

http://soldering.com.tw/soldering-station/SL-30CMC.html

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/produc...-1590-/21-1590

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

i had one of those, they are pretty good if they are real cheap.
it's worth maybe just under $50

they arent made now afaik because they have been replaced by an lcd display dual-readout design.
(that i also have)

[Almighty1]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

Thanks, which branded make/model do you have? Would the Hakko 888D be a better choice?

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

the 888d is in a different class, that's why it's twice the price.
if you want to pay $100 or whatever it is, the hakko is much better.

as for your first question,
my led based one said Solomon on the box - said nothing on the equipment though.
my lcd version also says nothing on it, but it was sold as Duratool.
http://uk.farnell.com/duratool/d0067...-eu/dp/1498366

and that has now been replaced by this one!
http://uk.farnell.com/duratool/d0067...-eu/dp/1498365

all the same iron, just improvements to the base each time.

BUT NOT AS GOOD AS THE HAKKO!!!
make sure you dont buy a clone hakko though.

[Almighty1]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

Good point, I thought the Hakko 888D was like 20% higher in price. The Duratool's seems to have a lower max temperature at 450C compared to the one I mentioned in the original post. I wonder who the actual manufacturer is since I would think Solomon is the actual OEM and Tenma and Duratool just sells it under their own name. The only thing with the Hakko is it seems to be a two piece base excluding the iron vs just the iron and base. I actually have the Solomon referenced in the original post and noticed that the tips don't tin if the temp is set at 450C as the solder will just melt into a ball, it seems at lower temperatures, it will coat fine.

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

i had the original makers name somewhere because a friend got one from china and it was on the shipping box.
http://www.china-zhongdi.com/

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

and you need the datasheet for your solder - you arent supposed to over heat it because the flux will burn.
you NEVER need 450.
i solder at 310 because i'm very fast - you really dont need to ever go over 350.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

The problem is those cheap stations don't have enough power and enough contact area between the tip and the heating element and thermocouple, so you always need to set the temperature higher to compensate.

With a Gordak 936A my normal soldering temperatures are just over 400C on the dial for leaded solder and sensitive work like cleaning BGAs and pads, and 450 for lead-free. Any lower and the solder doesn't even melt fully if the component involved is large.

I have good quality tips both conical and chisel. The tips i use say Hakko on them but i think they're fake. Regardless, they're good tips. The main problem of these cheap soldering stations is the low power (they say 60W but i kinda doubt it) and the poor contact between the heating element with thermocouple and the soldering tip.

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

the cheap irons dont say 60, they are honest and say 48.

btw, isnt the gordak a "tip-fits-inside-element"style iron?
the onesi listed are the "tip-fits-over-element" type design.
the thermal transfer iso.k. on them.

[Almighty1]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

The Solomon I have on the box says made in Taiwan. I'm still a amatuer at soldering since it's like I only use it like when I need to fix something which isn't very often. I have some silver solder which requires higher temps for the melting point so not sure how to figure out what the correct temp to tin is as I noticed the only time I tin properly by accident was because I lowered the temperature to the lowest it can go. The 450C was because I was desoldering the capacitors. I think where I'm confused is if both these cheap irons at 48W and the Hakko 888D at 70W can do 480C, what does the actual wattage actually do since it seems like the 48W recovers quick. Do you know if these cheap irons can use tips made for Hakko or someone else? Also, since you are more familiar with the iron, how much time should I give to change tips after powering down?

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

the cheap irons dont say 60, they are honest and say 48.

btw, isnt the gordak a "tip-fits-inside-element"style iron?
the onesi listed are the "tip-fits-over-element" type design.
the thermal transfer iso.k. on them.

The Gordak has the tips with a hollow cylinder that fits over the heating element. So it would be "tip-fits-over-element" design. It's still sub-optimal because the margins are pretty lax and the tip fits only loosely over the element.

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

well the 48w ones are a tight fit, they even have a thin spring-metal insert in the bit so the element does not react with the copper.

@Almighty1
you set the temperature to match the optimal melting point of the solder.
the wattage has nothing to do with the temperature, it's related to recovery.
if you have a small tip iron and you touch a big joint on something the tip will lose some heat and cool down.
the temperature controller in the iron will then try to compensate.
the higher the wattage, the faster it can cope wih large joints.

as for temps,
silver solder has the lowest melting point of all solders.

solder wih tin,lead and silver melts at about 160
solder with tin.lead only melts at about 190
solder with tin,copper and silver melts at about 217
and:
modern solder with just tin and copper melts at about 227

i mostly use tin/copper and set the iron to 310
and when i use tin/copper & silver i set the temp at 260

if you set the temp too high the flux in the solder will burn and you wont get good joints.
you will also oxidize and damage the iron tips.

[Almighty1]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

That makes sense, I thought the wattage was supposed to be able to also deliver higher temperatures too. On these 48w irons, is the temp reading actually from the tip or is it measured from somewhere else? 350C seems fine for soldering but for desoldering and to clean the hole of solder, it seems 450C works better. I always thought Silver had the highest melting temperatures since 60/40 tin/lead solder melts at 188C. Radio Shack 96/4 Silver Lead Free Solder melts at 221C. The Silver solder I have for audio/video electronics: Cardas Quad Eutectic Silver Solder which is 3.8% Silver is 170C and Wonder Solder Signature 4% Silver is 194.4C. So looks like I had it in reverse except maybe because I was looking at the lead free solder which seems to have a higher melting point. In the 96/4 Silver solder which is 4% silver, what is the % of lead and tin anyways? Do you know on these 48W irons, how long it takes for the tip to cool down after shutting the unit off before you can change the tip? Speaking about tips, it seems like the original stock tip chipped a little at the point, does this take tips for more widely known make/models of soldering irons or do I need a specific tip as I have the 5 pack of tips but none of them are are pointy as the original stock tip which is 0.3mm according to this picture:
http://soldering.com.tw/soldering-st...0CMC.html#pic2

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

the radioshack solder must be very old, all lead-free solder now has some copper in it to lower the melting point.

the readout on the iron base comes from just behind the tip btw.
if you need to desolder large joints you need a decent size tip to hold the heat.
3mm+ wedge / screwdriver style not one of the spike type tips.

solder ingredients vary - it should be marked on the roll.

now as for your last question, no idea - it depends on your stand, and the room temperature and airflow etc.

i can say this, i'v turned mine off, and changed tips instantly by using longnose pliers to unscrew the shield and change the tip!!!

[Almighty1]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

The Radio Shack solder is at least 5 years old I think.

I meant desoldering joints for capacitors on a PSU or motherboard, it seems like the pointed tips is better for melting the solder in the hole as it fits inside so one can use a manual solder sucker to clean the hole out.

As for solder, what I mean is silver solder is usually 96-98 with the rest being silver, so 96/4 would be 4% Silver but isn't the 96 actually just 96% of tin? This is the same Radio Shack Silver solder I have, it says 96% tin and 4% silver so doesn't look like there is any copper in it as you can see from the information on the bottom.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062723

The last time I changed the tip, I basically grabbed a thick towel and did it while it was still hot even after it was off. Wouldn't long nose pliers actually put scratches and such on the body of the tip though since I noticed even using needle tip pliers without teeth, it still left marks on the capacitor heatshrink and top vent. I noticed that the original tip somehow is a lot harder to push in/out of the barrel as it's way more tighter.

Would Hakko 900 tips work on these since I see those on Ebay a lot.

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

i dont think hakko tips work,
the zhongi tips are dirt cheap though.
just look for a supplier selling bases with an iron that looks like yours and you will usually find the tips for $1

as for solder content,
i use this for fine work.
(TSC)

you can see it lists the content as silver,copper & tin.

[Almighty1]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

It seems like the Hakko Tips are pretty generic on Ebay but problem is hard to tell if it works or not. Wow, never realize the tips were that cheap.

Yes, I think the TSC does have silver, copper and tin. I think what I have is closer to the Sn96Ag4 ECOLOY TS which other than the Sn99Cu1 would have the highest melting point according to the chart on page 2 of the PDF.

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

i think these are compatable
http://www.rapidonline.com/tools-equ...it-lab-1-74232

just to show how cheap they are!!!

[Almighty1]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

Wow, that is cheap... Never knew there was a 3 in 1 Digital Multi-meter, Power Supply and Soldering station all-in-one. I think it's harder search Ebay unless one searches for 48W Soldering tip and none of them are that cheap... Probably because all the sellers are located in Europe.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw...g+tip&_sacat=0

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on Solomon SL-30CMC/Tenma 21-1590 Soldering Station?

that all-in-one thing is obviously for schools.

the bits at the top of your link btw are wrong - atleast for my iron.
the tapper at the top indicates that they arent hollow and are intended for an iron the bit's drop into.

my iron the bits drop OVER the element.

so they have a straight edge all the way to the top.