10 best soldering stations
Working with modern electronics without a soldering station is still an occupation: no, of course, and the author had the opportunity to re-solder TQFP-128 packages with EPSN-100, so you can argue with this. For serious work you need at least a good compact soldering iron with replaceable non-fusing tips and temperature settings, ideally – and a heat gun to unsolder “many-legged” cases and work with BGA-elements, because ordinary soldering iron is completely powerless.
However, choosing a quality soldering station is not an easy task, especially if you are on a tight budget. You can poke around on specialized forums, read reviews – but, look, you don’t want to waste your time on this, do you?
This is where we step in and traditionally take the “razing of the Augean Stables” upon ourselves. In today’s rating we can’t, and shouldn’t, cover all the variety of soldering equipment: In addition to highly specialized models, we will look at the most typical applications and the most suitable soldering stations for them.
Rating of the best soldering stations
| category | location | family name | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best inexpensive soldering stations with a hair dryer | 1 | REXANT 12-0727 | 9.6 / 10 |
| 2 | ITEM 898BD | 9.5/10 | |
| 3 | ITEM 702 | 9.4 / 10 | |
| 4 | LUKE 868 | 9.0 / 10 | |
| 5 | LUKE 702 | 8.9/10 | |
| Best budget soldering stations | 1 | MEGEON 00361 | 9.5/10 |
| 2 | STAYER ProTerm 55370 | 9.3 / 10 | |
| 3 | MEGEON 00308 | 9.1 / 10 | |
| The best professional soldering stations | 1 | ERSA i-CON 1 | 9.6 / 10 |
| 2 | Ersa ANALOG 60A | 9.3 / 10 |
Best inexpensive soldering stations with a hair dryer
REXANT 12-0727
This model really gives us all the out-of-the-box enhancements that cheap soldering stations usually have – but you have to pay a decent amount extra for them. Fingers curled – the hair dryer on the plug, it has a “hot” interchangeable nozzle, the mains cable is also removable (and on cheap soldering stations often not removable), the mains power is switched off. on the input”, and even cooling “stuffing” station is active, with a fan (and this is a serious plus). The icing on the cake is completely digital regulation (including airflow) and a large informative LCD display.
Has China finally made a good soldering station that you can just take out of the box and start soldering, not what’s out there? Well… Not really – the Hakko style soldering iron traditionally has poor contact between heater and tip, and what to do in that case is described a thousand times on the internet.
- Fully digital setup
- Removable hot-swappable hair dryer
- Active cooling
- Informative and easy to read display
- These “frills” have raised the price of the station a bit, but it’s actually the same ELEMENT 898BD, which is half the price
Great station, the screen is easy to read, assembly is normal, at least the power triacs inside have bubble cooling, not as usual!
ITEM 898BD
A hobby soldering station doesn’t have to be a big “coffin” with a carrying handle – especially if it doesn’t have a compressor hair dryer, then there’s no need to blow the dimensions either. And in this case the Chinese have a very interesting option in the store – Element 898BD, a station with digital temperature control for a soldering iron and hair dryer (controller – Samsung) in one compact case.
This soldering station (like its many counterparts from Aliexpress) is structurally simple: soldering iron “Hakk o-compatible” and, unfortunately, not with ceramics, but the usual n e chrome and average quality of contact quality heating with a stinger (now, the technology “treatment” This technology at radio amateurs worked long), thermopot with a turbine (up to 450 degrees, 120 l / min). The hair dryer does not stand out separately. Automatic shutdown with smooth cooling is provided after laying the hair dryer in the bracket available in it, And the bracket can be installed on each side of the soldering station. The only similar setting is the fan turbine turnover, everything else is on “digital” with the settings memorized after separation.
The hair dryer nozzles are four, all with a screw holder, no “hot” (although as applied to a soldering hair dryer, you can write it without the quotes). The dowel is one, a thin “cone”. However, since they are standard – “hacky”, to buy a few replacement plates is not a problem, and the money is not required. On the same aliexpress there are stingers, which simply sit on the Chinese heating elements, somehow caught the author’s eye (but they do not sit on the usual “hacky” heating elements).
In general, the station for hobby work is fully suitable, the hair dryer quickly goes to the desired temperature and the soldering iron even “out of the box” works decently – if you do not have enough power to melt a big drop of solder, there is a hair dryer, so who cares about the hands! So what is a soldering station with a hair dryer and how do you eat it, for your 4 thousand and a bit – why not?
Selection of soldering systems and tools for electronics repair (Aliexpress)
List of necessary workplace equipment for electronics repair at home and at work. Successful repairs require special tools and supplies, which you can buy directly on Aliexpress without a surcharge. In the list you will find soldering stations and oscilloscopes, recuperators and solder in coils and balls, you will find special stencils for the necessary sizes of BGA chips. All this and much more can be bought for relatively little money on Ali.
A compact oscilloscope comes in handy for almost every radio amateur and every repairman. A good DSO Fnirsi 2031h (also known as ADS2031N) is on sale now at Ali with an excellent working bandwidth: up to 30 MHz. The built-in ADC provides 200 MSSPs (megahertz per second). On the product page you can choose a voucher, the final price is $47, minus ali vouchers (in addition to the sale or for coins). By the way, the oscilloscope is also installed in the multimeter. A selection of multimeters can be found in the article selection of multimeters.
However, if you need a better model, I can recommend an interesting portable oscilloscope from Fnirsi ADS5012H with a working range up to 100 MHz. The price is a very, very modest $67. The built-in ADC offers 500ms (megadeconds per second) for the BNC channel. Large 2.4″ color screen, built-in 3000 mAh battery, there is the ability to save photos. I created a separate article comparing two popular models ADS5012H and Hantek 2D42.
High-quality, high-resolution 13 MP digital microscope that connects to a TV or monitor via HDMI or VGA. The microscope gives a total magnification of up to 100x. Sold complete with tripod (bracket) and lighting ring (56 LEDs). Delivery throughout the Russian Federation by IML-Express (courier to hand). Compared with the 5 MP USB camera I used before, the image quality is heavenly! This is a great device for the money.
The simple binocular arm microscope comes in handy not only for repairs, but also for home use, especially for educational purposes – this is a high-quality AomeKie model with a 20x optical magnification. The microscope provides high-quality stereo imaging and there is LED illumination for soldering circuit boards. This tool is commonly used for repairing cell phones. 20x total magnification = (10x eyepiece) x (2x objective). Distance between the pupils: 55-75 mm, working distance: about 40 mm.
Store with a large assortment for repairmen: BGA Surf (balls), stencils, solder pastes and flux, tools and fixtures. There is plenty to choose from. Great prices (BGA stencil and bead kits start at just~ Dollar), you can choose specifically for yourself. Similarly, tools – soldering iron tips, tweezers, vacuum holders, pumps and dispensers and more. Large selection of consumables – flux and lottery all sizes.
Large universal kit for repairing and soldering BGA chips (reballing). The kit contains flux, BGA-Lot (balls), stencils for old computers, laptops, video cards, obsolete, high-temperature duct tape and much more. The KIT also includes SMT repair tools. There are a total of 110 soldering tools in the kit. Supplied in a plastic case. There are 4 attachments according to component size for vacuum infusion. Overall, we can recommend this kit as a starter kit for repairs, and missing or consumables can be purchased later.
One of the best desktop and compact roles with STM32 controllers (with calibration), color OLED display, and T12 nozzles. Model T12-952 Quicko. Select the appropriate handle and stitch type when designing. There are options with multiple T12 stingers. But if you need a more serious class of soldering station, you can see that in the previous selection of soldering devices.
A good game with a large selection of lots in different diameter (0.8mm/1.0mm) coils and with different tin and lead contents: 1. SN63 PB37: tin content 63 %, lead content 37 % 2. SN60 PB40: tin content 60 %, lead content 60 %3. SN38 PB62: Tin content 38 %, lead content 62 %4. SN30 PB70: Tin content 30%, blood content 70%. 5. SN25 PB75: 25 % tin content, 75 % blood content. 6. SN15 PB85: 15 % tin content, 85 % bleached content. SN60/PB40-Lot has a low melting point (183-190°) and is suitable for repairing computers, cell phones, precision instruments, televisions, etc. SN38/PB62-LOT has an average melting point of 183-238°) and is universal. SN30/PB70-Lot has a high melting point (183-258°) and is suitable for welding metals, tanks, electrical devices, etc.
The reel for the Kaina opener. The best option on Aliexpress. The size of the coil is standard, weight 100 grams, wire thickness 0.5 mm, which corresponds to about 40 meters. I personally use – the lot is just fire! Of the characteristics – the characteristic metallic shine after cooling – the soldering is smooth and without lumps. Shiny after drying. Lusten smooth with no lumps. Excellent solder, melts at 180 degrees. Much better than the usual PIC-60. A large number of positive reviews and fast delivery in Russia.
High quality solder detectors in 10ml syringe tube (10cc). Marked NC-559-asm and suitable for both BGA and conventional PCB soldering. No flushing required. A lot of $3 to $11 to choose from (1 piece/lot 3 pieces/lot 5 pieces/lot) sells a tube (1.8 cm diameter) with storage caps. There are several needles of different diameters in the set. Solder is smooth, no oxidation, even after a long time. Does not conduct electricity. Suitable for lead-free solder paste.
