Soldering Equipment Reviews

[willawake]

It would be nice if everybody could post on this thread a short review of their soldering/ desoldering equipment to help people choose what to buy. Please include details of any accessories like tips (especially sizes or part numbers) that you think are great for cap replacement. Please post some pics if possible.

*cmon ppl dont be lazy, wanna see some reviews

[willawake]

Ersa Analog 60 and Accessories

Here is a review of my ERSA Analog 60 Soldering Station. It was quite cheap when I bought it (forget how much but it was on offer). I chose ERSA because a shop in Athens called RADIO KATOUMA http://www.katoumas.gr/ has a full range of ERSA spares and tips so I could see that it would be a better solution than ordering a japanese one online and having difficult access to spares.

The MIL-SPEC antistatic station is the Analog 60A and which I would recommend you buying instead for this job if you had a choice. (It was not in stock for me). Mine is modified because it has the antistatic ergo tool instead of the standard tool. I highly recommend the ergo tool, it is very comfortable and the power cord is soft and does not interfere with your work. The handle is also a nice comfortable large size.

I actually dont feel the need for a digital station, the analog is fine and it just stays on full (450oC) all the time.

The included iron holder and sponge is very nice and safe, holding the iron well. The sponge holder part is also good but i would recommend to get 2 more sponges when you buy an iron, they get worn quickly. I have no problems with the station, it just does it's job fine. I am glad I got the 60W, it maintains enough heat to remove difficult capacitors.



Above you can see the iron and accessories which I bought. You can see I like Goot products (Japanese). So if we start from the right we have the solder station and holder. Then a cheap solder wick (I dont find this very useful at all for capacitor rework but it is useful for other pcb work). The green lead clippers are from Pro's Kit of Taiwan (8PK-30D) they are really great. I recommend anything from Pro's Kit, it is cheap but good. You wont be getting anywhere with big standard wire clippers, they do not cut the capacitor leads properly.

Below the clippers you have the Goot Soldering paste BS-10 which is not for capacitor rework but i use it for making power or stereo cables, it makes the solder flow nice over larger surfaces. Then next to that is the Goot Tip Refresher BS-2 which I have not used yet but i should. Both great products. The 3 blue tools are part of the Goot Solder Assist set. The whole set is 5 tools. It is a very useful set which I have been using for other uses as well. It is very good for putting components on pcbs. The yellow solder sucker is from Piergiacomi of Italy and it is a good quality product, much nicer than the Chinese ones I have had. That size is what you want for capacitor replacement, it is a standard size, nice and powerful. Then next is the Ersa Ergo Tool which is nice and comfortable. Next to that is the Goot antistatic wriststrap. I did not notice a difference between the Goot and a Pro's kit one I use in the office. Dont worry about getting an expensive one but you must wear one when doing capacitor rework. Above you have standard canned air, I have no preference for brands although i prefer ones which spray mostly air and not occasional bursts of liquid gas. The Flux-Off spray is also from Cramolin like the canned air and is great, you use it to clean the flux from your board when you are done. The solder is from Alpha-Fry Technologies and is 60/40 2.2% flux and 0.8mm diameter. It is fine for working on boards, maybe you can find better.



Above I want to show something that suprised me when i started replacing capacitors. The two loose tips I thought would be very nice, the conical one was recommended to me by the shop owner. The thin one was my preference. Actually neither hold enough heat to remove capacitors from motherboards. The standard tip which is included with the soldering station is perfect for the job because it holds so much heat due to the larger tip area and becuase it is short. That is the one which is on the iron in the photograph. Maybe this is a failing in ERSA irons and the small tips, maybe not.

If you are in Greece you can order the Panasonic FC capacitors from http://www.rsgreece.com (in English) and then they are sent to the Greek Agents of RS components which are Caritato Supply http://www.caritato.gr/ then they can be sent to you by post and you pay at the post office or you can go to Caritato and pay/collect there. I still am not clear why RS dont want to take your credit card and send it direct to you but anyway the system works. The site of RS is more user friendly than others (like Farnell for instance)

RS Components has a prescence in many countries, you can find yours at this page http://www.rs-components.com they also have weller, ersa and the very expensive metcal soldering stations and accessories. but i think you can find better prices elsewhere for the equipment.

[paule22]

Re: Soldering Equipment Reviews

Many thanks willawake much appreaciated for this great post, as am new to electronic repair and just looking through the forum to try understand what kit is needed

[ratdude747]

Re: Soldering Equipment Reviews

i should do one on my xytronic 258... for a $20 iron, it sure rocks!

[Toasty]

Re: Soldering Equipment Reviews

Welcome Paule22!

See these threads or search the forums using the advanced form for:
solder*
Choose "Search Titles Only"
and choose "Show Results as Threads" at the bottom instead of posts.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8160
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=669
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8429
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8770

Toast