(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best soldering stations

I typed up a great list last night, then somehow, I managed to screw it up and lost the whole thing. So I decided to heck with it... and found a beer.

Let's try again.

Standard tools:

• screwdrivers, needle nose pliers, sockets, and most important, hollow point nut drivers. I got set from Sears on sale for about $20. You don't usually need the metric ones, but I love the zipper case they came in. It's worth the $20 alone if you ask me.
  
  Standard tools with more specific uses:
  
  
• You need a decent multimeter. It doesn't have to be fancy, I have a $300 Fluke that works just as good as a little cheapie that I got for free. And vice versa. The fluke does make somethings easier, like it's autoranging and has longer and better leads, but for just getting started, you should be able to pick up something decent for $20.
  
• You'll also need a soldering iron. Get a pencil, not a gun. Guns get too hot for most things. There are times when they are great in a pinball, like soldering coil lugs, but for most solder work, a cheap 25 watt pencil will get you by. I used cheapies for almost 10 years before I finally got a nice hakko and now I don't know how I ever lived without it.
  
• You'll also probably need to learn how to desolder stuff as well. There are a couple ways to do it. It takes practice, and I'd strongly suggest practicing soldering on junk boards before ever going at a pinball board. To desolder, there is the cheap way or you can spend a lot of money on a pricey desoldering system. I got one of these when I got my Hakko soldering iron. I love it, I don't know how I ever lived without it, but I also know that it's very expensive, especially if there are still a lot of other tools you don't have yet.
  
• We've already talked about you may need to replace some pins in your board connectors. You need two tools for that. First, you need a Molex Flat Pin Extractor. This lets you get the pins and wires out of the housings. You don't have to have it, you could cut the wires and use new housings, but those housings are increasingly difficult to find and it's not the housing that's a problem, it's the pins inside. This tool lets you extract the pin from the housing, cut it off, strip your wire and crimp on a new pin to slide back in to the housing.
  
• Speaking of crimping on a new pin... You're going to need Pin Crimpers for that. I have the yellow pair and they work great for most everything pinball. Yes, I technically also have some much more expensive ratcheting pin crimpers, but honestly, I tend to use these cheaper ones more. I don't really know why.
  
  Finally, pinball specific tools:
  
  
• Flexstones are used for cleaning contacts on switches. You want to be a little careful with these though... they're meant for some of the heavier switches. Often times, a business card will clean the gunk out well enough and doesn't risk destroying the contact points on the switch.
  
• Palnut removal tool is a very handy tool. Until you need one, it's kinda hard to describe what it's for, but trust me, you want one if you're going to try and take the plastics off your playfield posts to replace rubbers or change light bulbs. It's not really necessary, but for the money, it's a damn handy tool.
  
• Contact Adjuster is also a very handy tool. More for older EM games with lots of relays than for solid state games, but I mention it because Hulk, like many early solid state Gottliebs likely has a couple relays inside. It's unlikely you'll need this tool for Hulk, but it is a handy one to have around. Especially if you think you're going to be working on anything older.
  
  That should be about it. At least to get started. Depending on where you go from there, there are a bazillion things you could spend money on. But since you only have one machine right now, this basic list should take you a very long way. And don't kill yourself buying a ton of expensive specialty tools like fancy soldering irons if you don't think this is something you'll want to do a lot of. If you decide you like it and want to spend more money later, those are great upgrades.

I would actually advise against a development board. The time spent getting up to speed on the MCU/SOC, tooling, datasheet style, etc, is huge. Usually for most designs the IC is chosen specifically to cater to the design. For example, one design needs very low power (like an MSP430), one needs many fast ADC's, one needs one or two high resolution but slow ADC's, one needs a very beefy CPU with tons of RAM, etc. It's unlikely that the knowledge gained from that development board will translate well to other designs.

Instead, consider getting them a tool. An oscilloscope is always a very safe bet, but they tend to be a few hundred dollars. The DS1054z is cream of the crop for hobbysts right now, and is $350 roughly.

If you need cheaper, then a nice proper soldering iron like the TS100 here for $80 with a few tips is a very, very, safe bet.

Those tools will stick with him/her for years and years and will be used often. The development board on the other hand likely won't.

If you must go for a development board, I would actually recommend a teensy for $30 instead of something like an Arduino. The teensy 3.6 is an awesome platform that is very arduino like but uses an actually modern beefy MCU on it. The library support for it is fantastic, and it has a decent bit of I/O for future designs. It also uses a Kinetis chip which is in my opinion very well documented, so once he has to go beyond the Arduino library he can easily do it himself.

Then on the side, get him an ESP32 which is very cheap. Sparkfun has their own ESP32 module for $20 but is very thoroughly documented. You can get them cheaper form Amazon for like $10 like this. The cool thing about the ESP32 is it's insanely cheap and very well documented in terms of API. If he wants to use an ESP32 in a design, you can get modules for $4 each. This thing is a very fast chip with Wifi built in and very easy to work with.

TLDR; Get him an ESP32 module for like $20 and a Teensy 3.6 for $30 and he should be set. Ideally get him a piece of equipment like a TS100 for $80 or a DS1054z for $350 if you are willing to spend that much money.

Well, the easiest would probably be to buy one prebuilt. Making keyboards isn't very hard, however you need a few items such as a Soldering iron, and solder (of course), as well as a source for your own switches.

If you would like a prebuilt option of this keyboard, you can get one from here: https://kbdfans.myshopify.com/collections/keyboard/products/tada68-mechanical-keyboard-gateron-swtich-65-layout-dye-sub-keycaps-cherry-profils?variant=34710238797

A kit that you build can be found here: https://kbdfans.myshopify.com/collections/keyboard/products/tada68-keyboard-diy-kit

There is also the option of sourcing directly from China, however this may seem tedious. You can find these prebuilt, and in kits on https://world.taobao.com, however they can not be bought directly from the site, and you would need to go through an agent such as https://www.superbuy.com.

The main benefit to building a board yourself is that you can use whatever switch you want, rather than picking from a few different options. This board in particular does not support any other layouts aside from the standard 65% shown. I will say that the prebuilt options for this board are great for a first board. From the site I linked, you can choose from various Gateron switches. They are "cheaper" cherry MX clones, however they are sometimes considered better than their "genuine cherry" counterparts. They are very smooth, so are overall nicer to type on, however some report that the switches are a tad wobblier (which means that keys may shift more than on cherry mx). This often is not noticeable however, and Gateron are overall very good and cost effective switches.

If you would like to build, like I said you will need a soldering iron, solder, and switches for this board. The keycaps that come with this board are superb. Great feel, and great quality PBT. Of course you can change these later on as I have, but the ones they come with are fantastic.

You can find cheap soldering irons pretty much anywhere, be it local stores like walmart or homedepot etc, or online shops like amazon. You don't need to spend a lot of money on these, however if you're okay with spending a bit more, there are irons that allow you to control temperature like this one (that I use myself, and find to work great): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0725GYLVH/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For solder, you will need either 60/40, or 63/37 leaded solder. I use https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IQN8PDG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Leaded solder is generally a lot easier to work with than lead free.

Switches can be found from many vendors in our community. Here are just a few that people often use:
https://kbdfans.myshopify.com/collections/swtich

https://www.novelkeys.xyz/product-category/switches/

https://mehkee.com/collections/switches-and-parts

There are MANY options to choose from as far as switches go, so I recommend grabbing a switch tester from https://www.novelkeys.xyz/product-category/switchtesters/ to help you decide. You can decide from a very wide variety of options to place in each slot from here.

I believe that is everything that you really need to know, aside from knowledge about actually soldering. For this, I suggest searching up basic soldering tutorials on youtube, and also find some keyboard build logs of people putting together their boards. Really it's quite easy, but this was a lot of information to take in I'm sure. Hope this was helpful, let me know if you have any more questions or if i wasn't clear enough about something. :)

This one on Amazon seems to have pretty good reviews. I'd recommend getting a stand like this to go with it for safety reasons. (I decided to solder without mine a few weeks ago, and wouldn't you know it, the one time I decide I don't need the stand, I burn myself!)

You can easily spend a lot more on irons, and if you start doing a lot more soldering you may want to make a bigger investment. A lot of people really like the Hakko FX888D, but I personally prefer the Weller WTCPT-60 because I don't like fussing with knobs. (Despite not having a knob, the Weller actually does have very precise temperature control, but depending on what temperature you want you have to buy different tips, which isn't worth the hassle for most people. I use only one kind of solder so it doesn't matter for me, but I digress.)

I've never found any tutorials I really like, and my advice is to just get busy! You'll make a lot of mistakes and do a lot of projects slowly before you get good, and I don't think there's a tutorial out there that will let you skip that. To help you stay pointed in the right direction, here are a few things I look for in a good solder joint:

• A clean, consistent meniscus around the parts being soldered. If I'm tinning stranded wire, then I want to be able to see the contours of the strands underneath the solder once it's cooled, while still using enough solder to get good penetration. Big gobs of solder all over the place look tacky, can cause shorts, and can indicate the next problem:
  
• "Cold" solder joints. By this I mean that the conductors you're soldering together weren't hot enough when the solder melted, and so the solder didn't stick. Solder on "cold" joints will often (but not always) have a frosty appearance, and will usually bead up instead of forming a meniscus like I described earlier. To make sure your joints aren't cold, use the iron to heat the joint, then touch the solder to the joint (rather than the iron), to melt it. If the conductor is hot enough to melt solder by itself, you can be sure you're joints won't be cold. (Usually you have to melt a little gob of solder onto the iron first to get the heat to conduct into the joint. This is a trick you can only get good at through practice.)
  
  There are a few intuition issues you should be aware of that I've observed while teaching students to solder. For instance, most of the stuff you'll be soldering is so small that it will be "cold" (as in "too cold to melt solder") the instant you pull the iron away, and cool enough to touch within seconds. Try it if you don't believe me. The part will only stay hot as long as the iron is touching it. You'd be surprised how many people can't get their head around this.
  
  Also, oxygen is your enemy. The longer the part is hot, the more oxidized the surface will become and the harder it will be for solder to stick. This is true even when the joint is hot, but not hot enough to melt solder! So once the iron contacts the work, you have to be expedient. Most joints can be finished in 5 seconds or less, and if you're holding the iron on there for 10 seconds or more but the solder still isn't melting, stop and reexamine what you're doing. You may want to get some fine-grit sandpaper to clean the conductors off before you start again.
  
  Keeping oxygen out of your solder joint is the job of flux, and like /u/avialex (edit: fixed) said it's very helpful (provided everything is relatively clean to begin with). But again it's a balancing act. If you use too much flux you'll make a mess, and raw flux is slightly corrosive and can be very difficult to clean off your work.
  
  There are lots of other tricks you'll learn through practice too. I guess that's where tutorials might come in handy. You'll probably learn to splice wires (probably the most difficult thing to do with a soldering iron) much more quickly from someone with experience on Youtube than struggling through it 20,000 times yourself, doing it a harder way because you didn't know any better.
  
  At the same time though, there's no substitute for practice. This went on a lot longer than I intended, but I think now you have plenty of information to keep in mind as you get started. Good luck and happy soldering!

That's actually a good ideal TBH as you run the risk of damaging the PCB way more than damaging the switches should things go south. Then if you end up lifting a few pads in the de-soldering or soldering process, you can always just jump them as long as you don't burn too many up. Worst case you fry a $20 KB which would suck, but not be a huge waste or anything for the experience you with de-soldering/soldering TBH.

I would clip & lube the stabilizers while you have it all apart, I'm sure those could use the help from that bad. Also most likely you will need to de-solder & remove the LEDs to get the original switches out so you can get enough in one color to cover the whole board & solve the rainbow LED problem while your at it too!

A few tips though, the lead free solder used on these mass produced boards has a pretty high melting point & is tough to get to flow. I highly recommend getting a cheap de-soldering iron like this or this for doing it, also solder wick is a must too. Then any joints that don't come completely clean on the first try, re-solder with leaded iron & repeat the de-soldering process on them. That usually helps to get any remaining lead free solder to move.

The other thing is to get yourself a temp controlled soldering iron. If you plan on getting into building boards I suggest something fairly decent like the Hakko FX888D, it's a little pricey but well worth it if you will using it alot. If you plan on only doing a few projects here & there, you could get away something a little cheaper like this. Anyways GL with the project & I hope to see a success post sooner than later! :)

Capacitors can definitely be real troublemakers sometimes. I haven't recapped a C64 specifically but I can give a few general tips on replacing them:

• Commodore 64 uses what are called through-hole capacitors, which as the name implies means the leads go through a hole in the motherboard and are soldered on the back. Some C64's have it easy to reach the back of the motherboard and other C64's have an RF shield soldered to it. Either way, you'll need to get the old caps off by desoldering them. For desoldering through-hole stuff, I really like this desoldering gun. It might be a little more than you're willing to spend if this is the only thing you're planning on recapping, but it's a great tool to have in your arsenal. If that's too much you can just use a regular soldering iron to heat up the solder point and pull out one leg of the capacitor while the solder is molten, then get the other one.
  
  
• As for replacing the capacitors themselves, there are two numbers you need to care about. Fortunately these are always labelled on the capacitor itself. You should make sure your new caps have the same Microfarad (μF) number as what you're replacing, but the Voltage rating can be the same or higher. If you don't wanna hunt down the caps on your own, there are cheap C64 capacitor kits you can buy.
  
  
• Check the area around the capacitors for any kind of corrosion. If you find any, clean it off with 99% isopropyl alcohol and if the alcohol leaves any residue (which it shouldn't but sometimes you move old dirt around) purified water is good for getting the rest off. Just make absolutely sure to dry everything before you solder and before you power anything up.
  
  Overall replacing caps isn't hard or scary. I'd recommend watching some videos of people doing it on Youtube to see what the process looks like, though I don't have any specific recommends on which videos. I watched a ton before my first recap project just to get a feel for what to expect.

I've been messing with small electronics since I was a kid, but just started getting more serious about it in the last few years. I own a recording studio so I like to build my own gear and make repairs.



One of the best investments I ever made was buying some high-quality Hakko tips (and a decent solder station of course). I didn't realize what a MASSIVE difference the tip makes. In both even heat distribution and length of life for the tip. I also got really particular about keeping my tips clean and properly-tinned. I check before and after every use to make sure there aren't any rough spots or leftover solder/burn marks. If your tip isn't properly tinned and cleaned you're going to end up with exactly what you see in your picture.


Something like this: Radioshack Tip Cleaner & Tinner has been absolutely invaluable to me!


I also never use flux, but I do typically use a solder with a rosin core. It all depends on what you're working on, but it seems like you may be running your iron too hot, or completely un-tinned. Which is just going to burn out tips pretty quickly. Look up some rough temperature guidelines and recommended tip sizes/types for what you're working on.


I work on small electronics. So guitar pots and jacks, audio connectors, PCB boards (not the teeny tiny surface mounted ones), making audio cables, swapping dead components on a PCB, etc.

So I use This soldering station that I actually just got recently. It was only $50 and I'm REALLY impressed with its performance and build quality. Couldn't recommend it more for a rig on a tight budget. I typically run it anywhere from 350c to 450c (if I'm working pretty fast).

I use This Hakko tip which I found to be the perfect one-size-fits-all solution for what I usually need.

Sure thing. Like with most hobbies, it's when you first get into things that is the most expensive. Thankfully, it's not that bad to get started.

First off, you'll need some solder. That's a meltable metal used to join two things together. This roll will last you for several projects: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000G36BYU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Next, you'll need a soldering iron. I've been pretty happy with this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KS8XA2Y/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 but people swear by Weller. I'm not sure I'd get that 40 watt one that's a similar price on Amazon though, I tend to keep mine at a fairly high power and it works nicely that way.

(I'm assuming you have a Harbor Freight near you for the other stuff. They're pretty common) Then you'll want a multimeter. This is your cheapest option, and if you check your junk mail you might have a coupon for a free one: https://www.harborfreight.com/7-function-digital-multimeter-90899.html but it's lacking in audible continuity (translation: if you want to check that two points are electrically connected, it beeps if they are). This might be worth the extra money: https://www.harborfreight.com/11-function-digital-multimeter-with-audible-continuity-61593.html. Or if you really have some money burning a hole in your pocket, get one of these: https://www.harborfreight.com/5-in-1-digital-multimeter-98674.html - that has some extra features that really come in handy, but aren't totally necessary either.

That covers the most expensive tools, but there are still a few odds and ends you'll want.

• Wire stripper: https://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-wire-stripper-with-cutter-98410.html
  
• Wire cutter: https://www.harborfreight.com/4-1-2-half-inch-diagonal-cutters-40695.html for the little things, and https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-diagonal-cutters-63816.html for some of the bigger stuff
  
• Electrical tape - pretty common stuff
  
• Wire - maybe something like this? I wouldn't go much smaller than 16AWG. BTW, higher AWG means smaller wire. https://www.amazon.com/TUOFENG-Silicone-Wire-Feet-black/dp/B075L5Y6L9/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1519509184&sr=8-6&keywords=hookup+wire+16+awg

I literally just bought the upgraded model of the one you linked. I purchased this one

I really wanted to buy the Hakko 888D but I couldn't justify spending twice the price right now.

I got mine yesterday and I set it up and testing it out. For just a first impression, I'm very impressed. My 2 year old 40w Weller takes 3-4 times longer to hear up. You can see the actual temperature of the tip as it's heating up/cooling down. It heats up quickly and having the ability to control the temperature of the tip is awesome. Also the one I purchased includes a three year warranty vs the 1 year warranty of the one you linked and based on their responses to bad reviews on Amazon they seem committed to honoring their warranty.

I don't know anything about toddler safety as I don't have kids but I honestly wouldn't use this with them around. I even get nervous if my cat gets interested in what I'm doing when I have the iron on. What I did do however was mount both the temp control unit and the iron holder to the table I'm using them on with some strong double sided tape from 3M.

Everything looks messy, and most don't look solder properly. I say you de-solder everything, clean everything up and start over.

Follow this wiring diagram, that can be found on Seymour Duncan website. That wiring diagram is a standard tele.

If you don't know how to solder there are some good YouTube videos on soldering. A quick video on soldering


Just make sure you have a proper soldering iron that's about 40 watts or higher. It's important not to destroy the internals while soldering and having proper soldering iron will help. The longer you have to hold on the soldering iron to the electronic the greater the chance you may damage it.


This would be a good soldering iron.

Pricey but worth it if you plan to do your own work.

Anyways good luck and have fun. I have always found soldering peace and relaxing. If you have the proper tools.

I am out of town, but can try to help..

Cheap soldering kits make it hard to get a good, consistent temperature on the tip, and the recovery time (time for the tip to get hot again after bringing it down by cleaning, etc) is poor. You'd want to get an adjustable one if possible. You could easily be working too hot and causing yourself problems. Lead free solder is harder to work with. I have a Hakko that I love, but something in this range would be a worthwhile investment and a fine iron.

As for the soldering, you really are just jamming the iron into the two pieces of metal you are trying to join, and then slowly feeding the solder into the junction. Use as little as you need to get a tiny, clean joint, and never a 'bubble'.

Removing solder is a horse of a different color. That is a pain in the ass. For that, you will want a lot of flux and a hot-hot iron (as hot as you can go before you start damaging things/burning down the house like you say). It's not fun to remove these components. Sometimes you get lazy and snip out the old one and try to work out the lead with a needle-nose and the iron (fluxed up hole) at the same time. Helping hands or a good vise can be crucial for this.

I'm no great master at it, but it's really one of those things you can pick up watching a few youtube videos or hearing instructions (with the right equipment) and pick up. I taught a friend the other day for a project they are working on. It really is just practice to get good, and that seems to happen quickly once you get a feel for working the solder.

Your list looks fine, but it seems to me like this would be cheaper than buying all of that individually and still give you more than enough variation in tip sizes/styles. I personally like the digital display so I can pre-program settings and easily see what temp the iron is at. The Weller iron on your list is good, though.

If you have rosin-core solder, you probably don't really need the flux pen. I'd say it's a nice to have, but not a need to have.

Desoldering wick is really only helpful for large components because you have to apply a lot of heat to get it to work right and it can easily damage small stuff. For small joints, just heat and the sucker will do. - Not that the option you have there is expensive, just a head's up to be careful with the wick.

I personally don't find the helping hands nearly as useful as I thought I would, but the one you have there looks like it's maybe better than the one I have.

You certainly can use that soldering gun but it won't be fun or easy because it is so large (that's what I started with and used for a few years). I'd suggest picking up a Hakko FX-888D or Hakko FX-951 if you have a desire to continue with electronics.

Definitely add more solder because it has flux in it which will clean the oxides and allow the solder to flow out. You will also need to use a bit of solder wick/desoldering braid to clean up the pad before fixing it. You'll want to get some Kester leaded solder to work with.

Watch these Pace soldering tutorials before you begin to understand the basics. Heat the pad and wire then touch the solder wire to the joint. If you add it to the tip of the gun/iron the flux will burn away and it will start to oxidize. Doing it that way certainly has it's place but it isn't for this type of work as you'll need to add extra flux to protect the joint.

Soldering irons with adjustable heat are usually pretty good. I bought this one and its great. I also use Kester solder 60/40, and have never had problems.

Regarding the Oscope, the best budget option is the DSO nano. It has large enough bandwidth to be good for audio. If you want something more robust with a better reputation and built in multimeter, the TPI 440 is an excellent option. Its available for $250 shipped from www.kiesub.com .

These are super reliable and super effective. $265

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FR-301-Desoldering-Tool/dp/B07BKSLLG9/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1539496196&sr=8-6&keywords=desoldering+gun

This one gets good reviews and Amazon and is more affordable. $200

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Function-Soldering-Desoldering-Absorber/dp/B009Q5ZH58/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&qid=1539496394&sr=8-27&keywords=desoldering+gun

These are really good if you clean it often as you use it and are even more affordable. $99

https://www.amazon.com/Desoldering-S-993A-Electric-Suction-Desordering/dp/B073TRPBHM/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1539496513&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=desoldering+gun&psc=1#customerReviews

Hey everyone, I didn't have the forethought to take photos as I went along, but here's how I did it. Fair warning; this project requires an intermediate amount of soldering experience. If you have surface mount soldering experience, you'll be golden. If you don't, make sure you can handle sacrificing a few light strip segments for this project :)

1. De-solder the sections of an existing Hue Light Strip. The first half of this video shows how to separate the sections. In the video, he uses a soldering iron. I used a hot air gun to desolder mine; I found the hot air gun approach easier.
   
2. Keep careful track of the start and end sections of each strip; you cannot reverse them! Each segment has "PHILIPS" printed on it in blue letters. To help me keep track, I always kept the PHILIPS logo facing upright. At the end of the original light strip, Philips added a female 6-pin connector, so I used female connectors for the end of my segments and male connectors at the beginning. Philips used surface mount contacts with 2mm spacing, which is a lesser-used spacing standard. I bought these for the male end of each segment, and these for the female end.
   
3. Break the headers into 6-pin sections. The male ones are easy to break apart with a vice and a pair of pliers. The female headers were a bit more difficult; I held them in a vice and hacksawed them into sections. Then I used a dremel to clean up the messy cut. Someone mentioned using this cut-end to 6-pin product to save on soldering, but I chose to solder each end of the strip. Since the connections will be under some tension when they're bent at 90 degrees, I wanted to make sure they were 100% solid.
   
4. Solder the 6-pin connectors to each end of your cut strips. If the female headers were too difficult to break apart or solder, you can technically use male ends on both sides of the strip. Litecessory's cables can be converted to either female-female or male-female.
   
5. Spread hot glue over the solder joints to prevent them from making incidental contact with other conductors and to give the connectors more strength.
   
6. Use pre-made 2mm 6-pin cables (2 inch, 3 feet) to make your strip as long or as short as you need! When connecting segments, make sure to connect them in the same polarity, such that pins 1-6 on one segment are connected to pins 1-6 on the next segment. If you flip the cable, connecting 1-6 -> 6-1, at best your segment won't light up; at worst it'll fry it for good.

I have the hot air only version of the first one, the 858D. It's okay, gets the job done. I got it on the recommendation of a friend who uses it all the time and is really happy with it.

For a soldering iron though, IMO you'd be better served by something name brand like the Hakko FX888D or the Weller WES51. I have the WESD51 and it has served me well. For J Random Soldering Iron, the temperature control might not be very good, and it might be tough getting different tips.

A decent budget option might be a hakko 936 knockoff, which should have pretty good availability of replacement tips.

I use a Hakko 951: https://www.amazon.com/AMERICAN-HAKKO-PRODUCTS-INC-FX-951/dp/B0012B8NW8

It works great, comes up to temp in less than 5 seconds, and stays at the temp you set it at. It is pricey, so not for everyone, but if you are going solder more than just your keyboard, it is definitely worth it. I also recommend the Hakko desoldering tool. I am still a beginner to soldering/desoldering, but with that tool, I was able to desolder an entire keyboard in about 7 minutes. It is a real time saver. Again, its not something you would buy just to use once, but definitely a good addition to any workbench.

Hum. Well, we've been trucking along for a while and found some good tricks for keeping it manageable without the solder mask.

We don't have an oven, but we do have a reflow soldering station. If you don't have one available, you may want to look into getting an air bath and reflow station, with a good soldering pencil for touchups. Works great if you are low-volume.

The air bath keeps things pre-heated to the melting point of the solder, so you don't have to tin the pad first. You can then use the solder paste, place the part, and hit it with the reflow gun to melt it in place. Then use tweezers and the soldering pencil to fix up.

Not sure if that is helpful -- if you have a solder oven, you probably have a higher budget than we do. However, this is a pretty good solution for everything but BGA chips.

Though... we also have a trick for BGA, too. Ends up you can double-fold packaging tape, use a laser cutter to poke holes in it in the same pattern as the ball grid, and smear solder paste through the holes. Then manually place the IC, hit it with the heat gun, and you're good.

Our lab is full of hack.

There is no local place that I have found that sells the top quality stuff. I do macbook logicboard Repair’s. Phones and random crap as well. Microsoldering etc. Amazon is where I typically grab parts. Or if you wanna help out an awesome guy that has countless YouTube videos on repairing MacBooks http://store.rossmanngroup.com to buy like me the quick hot air station. Here’s a wire I use very very thin great for jumping bad vias

Remington Industries 44SNSP.125 Magnet Wire, Enameled Copper Wire Wound, 44 AWG, 2 oz, 9975' Length, 0.0022" Diameter, Natural https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076CB54ZR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_NpvDDbAFK1ZHD

Great solder station. And then buy the micro pencil

Hakko Soldering Station, FX-951-66 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012B8NW8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_OfvDDb1QAAF78

Cool. I'd say if it's $50 or less it's a steal.

The ts-100 is very popular, because it can be powered in the field with a lipo. And that's super cool, but I've never needed to solder in the field, so I love my Hakko. Plus it's got more power so big fat connections can be a little easier. But both work, and for smaller connections they're both great. See if he's got fresh tips for it to throw in too, they're ~$10 a pop if it needs a new one.

Do you have a "third hand" to help you with that? I've seen people use a bit of tape on a block of foam to hold small stuff in place for a bit while soldering. I have one of these but I wouldn't recommend it unless you plan to do a lot more of this.

​

The other major thing I see /most/ folks new to soldering struggle with is just a good iron and a clean tip. You really want a high watt iron that can dump enough heat into your solder to cleanly heat up the components you're soldering to and have the solder wick nicely over them (flux can help with that wicking action).

​

I general you should be heating up the bigger heat sink (in this case the board) rather than the wire, then just bringing the solder down to lightly touch it.

​

Lastly lead free solder can just be a little bit trickier to work with and requires higher temperatures.

Use more flux and get a good temp controlled iron. It makes a huge difference. If the iron cant compensate for the temperature drop when you touch something its much harder to get a good melt.

I use this one in my office. Its stupid cheap and works great:

https://www.amazon.com/Kendal-REWORK-SOLDERING-IRON-STATION/dp/B004ZB9D4O

Also invest in some nice stainless steel needle pointed tweezers if you dont have some. Like these:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/apex-tool-group/EROP7SA/EROP7SA-ND/114194

Edit: And for a Microscope, I use the free Army Knife for Android app's Magnifying Glass tool. It lets you control the flash as an objective light and double tap to focus. I use a cardboard wedge as a stand to hold my phone and free up my hands to solder.

I highly recommend the Hakko 936 soldering iron Hakko 888 soldering iron, which is still actually available. It's hard to fathom how a $100 soldering iron could be that much better than a $20 one, but once you start doing anything more serious than just sticking some wires together, it's worth it.

As for other tools,

• Standard needle nose, dikes, and pliers set
  
• Tweezers - Additionally plastic ones if you're going to do PCB etching.
  
• Dental Picks - for positioning surface mount parts and pushing wires into molten solder.
  
• Wire strippers - You'll often see people using the combo wire stripper / crimpers. They're not as nice as a real pair of strippers.
  
• +/-12V power supply for basic analog electronics, 5V for digital work
  
• Breadboard
  
• Solder sucker - Copper braid is useful for the same thing, but given the choice of the two, I prefer the sucker to undo soldered joints.
  
• 30x Jewelers Loupe - Mostly useful for surface mount work, but pretty much all soldering is easier when you're able to look at it.
  
  As for components, I've been buying them piece-meal for years, so other's will probably be able to yield you a better recommendation for kits than anything I can find just from a quick search. I do mostly digital work, so as far as passives, my main stock is:
  
  
• 0.1uF and 100uF capacitors, 25V
  
• 100, 330, 1k, 4.7k, 10k, 100k, 1M resistors
  
  If I need any other resistor for a specific project, I'll tend to just buy an extra 10 and keep them in labeled coin envelopes.
  
  Random other pieces:
  
  
• Precut Breadboard jumper wires
  
• 7805 - 1A 5V linear regulators
  
• 1N4007 diodes
  
• 1N4148 small signal diodes
  
• 3V linear regulators if you do low power work (MSP430, etc)
  
• An Arduino - If not for real projects, I use this a lot to hack together crude digital signal generators to test other chips.
  
• LEDs - I found a good deal on bright red ones, but any will do
  
• push buttons, power switches, DIP switches (4 in a tiny package that fits in breadboards)
  
• Copper clad perf board - To make through-hole projects permanent. Be careful because this also comes without the copper pads, which is just more of a pain in the ass to use.
  
• Copper Solder braid
  
  Edit: Fixed the soldering iron model.
  
  Disclaimer: I'm using my Amazon Associate links for all of these, which always feel a little amoral and a conflict of interest, but really, if my apartment were to go up in flames and I could afford it, I'd buy every link on this list right now. Does anyone have strong opinions one way or the other on using them?

A cheap hot air station would do a better job. I have a Hakko 850D but my friend has an Aoyue and works pretty good.

>These are cheap and a good way to get some practice in without fear of messing up your flashlight parts!

Yes, they are cheap but not at that price. Wow! Those go for less then $2 on aliexpress.

I do, wholeheartedly, encourage the use of cheap kits/suites for practicing soldering.

You can buy some switches pre-made, but unfortunately you're pretty much limited to blue LEDs... And without modifying the driver, the flashlight's behavior will become erratic, especially with a backwards-mode driver like the A6. The parts are pretty cheap though! So if you're willing to learn, buy extra and practice until you get it right!

These are cheap and a good way to get some practice in without fear of messing up your flashlight parts!

Thanks! Amazon has these models but they vary in wattage from 45w to 50w and cost more... I didn't think finding a decent soldering iron would be this tough haha.
I use Amazon for most of my hobby purchases(swagbucks rewards) so I'll have to save up a bit but this looks like the choice for me.
Thanks again!

Braid is great for small surfaces and quantities but pins..... I found the investment in a good desoldering pump to be totally worth it.

I got this one from Amazon. Yeah, it's kinda pricey but it works so well! I took apart a computer keyboard with 30+ switches (2-pins per switch) and it was less than 10 seconds to desolder each pin.

Hi Eric,
Congrats! It's always fun to unlock new skills and easier SMD soldering is definitely one of them.

I just got done doing my first batch run of one of my boards and I found a heat gun station really made it easy. I could also adjust things with tweezers while heating them up. Maybe check out this guy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I5JXA0/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_20_w

For the tops of my board, I didn't even bother using my stencil, I just used the syringe like you did, and it turned out great. The hot air rework station is a real life saver.

Also, if you want to get very precise with your solder paste you might want to try out OSH Stencils. I just used their stainless steel stencil for my board and the precision is easy if your board is less than 5"x5" (outside of 5"x5" my paste would smear, but was still solderable). Check 'em out: https://www.oshstencils.com/#

It doesn't solve all your problems, but I use a magnifying lamp for working on my minis. It means I don't have to get so close. (Though I still always end up with nose smudges on the magnifier!)

Also, using things like makeshift stands or third hands help lift your mini from the table while still not being so high you have to raise and tire your arms.

(Note, there are much cheaper versions of both those items, those were just great examples, don't loose faith over money.)

This guy is pretty well recommended. I just bought one and it's pretty friggen sweet.

Definitely need to invest in a good soldering iron if you want to get into building. Ideally something like this one.

Right before I graduated from college I was getting into soldering and decided once I got my diplomas I would treat myself to some nice HAKKO equipment using the 30% discount while I was still considered a student. The stuff below is what I purchased. Note that the 30% discount is only applied to the soldering station nothing else. Anyway, if you can splurge, I highly recommend the FX-951-66. It is truly fucking AWESOME. If you are on a tight budget and not sure if soldering as a hobby will stick, get the cheapest HAKKO they sell and it will still be a good unit. I am a huge fan of hakko so clearly I am biased but they are a well-known reputable brand

Hakko Soldering Station, FX-951-66

Hakko T15-JS02 Conical Bent Tip R0.2 / 30deg x 1.6 x 7.9mm for FX-951

Hakko CHP 3-SA Stainless Steel Non-Magnetic Precision Tweezers with Very Fine Point Tips for Microelectronics Applications, 4-3/4" Length

Hakko CHP-170 Micro Soft Wire Cutter, 1.5mm Stand-off, Flush Cut, 2.5mm Hardened Carbon Steel Construction, 21-Degree Angled Jaw, 8mm Jaw Length, 16 Gauge Maximum Cutting Capacity

I'll just give you a list of the items I've been using (and like):

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-T18-D08-D12-D24-D32/dp/B00C1N30DI Hakko FX-888D. The extra tips may be unnecessary, I only ever use the one chisel tip

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068IJPO Leaded solder

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SPGFT8 Brushes

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FZPDG1K Side cutters

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00425FUW2 Flux

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008O9VLA2 Solder Wick

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013HT2QW KimWipes

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B5JT8C Isopropyl Alcohol

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005CU56KM Acetone spray (use carefully/sparingly)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004G5T9M0 Jewelers loupe

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019SLLOMY Tweezers

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P8Z4RPG Hot air station (works well despite Chinesium)

Also, I noticed in Dave's videos he rarely adds flux, just the flux that's built into the multicore solder. I don't know if I'm alone on this one but with flux I always felt the bigger the glob the better the job. Just have to clean it afterwards with the solvent, tissues & brushes.

Edit: Okay that's a much bigger list than I thought, this stuff can get expensive!

Cool, already got one of those wire tip cleaner things. Use it all the time and love it.

Is this any good?

Youyue

That one claims to be 700W (not sure what temp that translates to).

I am using this currently but this is coming in the mail tomorrow ;) along with some more lube and solder.

Edit: I have built all of my boards with the Weller without any issues. I also have a desoldering iron which is 10x better than the pump. If you ever plan on desoldering pick yourself up the desoldering iron for the extra 10 bucks. The solder pumps will break and you will end up spending that much on them anyways so its definitely worth it.

> You need a $120+ soldering iron

That's not necessarily true. This Weller is normally over $120, but it can be found for cheaper (like on Amazon.)

EEVblog, the author of the video linked above, even recommends (on a budget) this Hakko ripoff that even takes Hakko tips. Super cheap and is temperature controlled. You can find it cheaper than its Amazon listing too.

Based on the recommendation by Rossman; My package had 3 straight nossles attachments to concentrate the air (which i wish would have been 45° ones) but i'm still very happy. The hose could be a little longer; depends on your setup. Heats quick, when docked it cools down (to prevent burning the table).

Quick 861DW 1000W Digital Rework Station with LCD Display

*english

Are there any desoldering irons that you personally recommend? I'm currently looking at this one, https://www.amazon.com/Anesty-Digital-Desoldering-Station-Professional/dp/B07542D82F/ref=sr_1_25?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1518219768&sr=1-25&keywords=desoldering+iron#customerReviews, I'm really only going to be using it for this project so i think this might do me ok. I dont really have a budget while doing this so i just want to get the best tools that will make it the easiest for me. (By no budget btw i mean nothing absurdly expensive like a $300 desoldering iron)

Quick 861dw https://www.amazon.com/Quick-861DW-Digital-Station-Display/dp/B00EID23J6

Louis Rossman did a YT review on it. It's a great machine and not too expensive. I bought one and love it.

The Hakko are nice irons, we have several of the older 900 series irons in the office, and with the large and affordable tip options, they are great. Replacement parts are easy to come by. Now there are lots of other companies selling compatible parts. I recently for home picked up this unit from X-Tronic. It's not "pretty" but does a good job, compatible with the Hakko tips, and heater elements. Also comes with replacement heater elements for both the iron, and the hot air tool which was it's selling point over the a bit cheaper (same unit) model from Circuit Specialists.

http://www.amazon.com/X-TRONIC-MODEL-4040-Soldering-MAGNIFYING/dp/B003TC8EQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406830377&sr=8-1&keywords=X-Tronic+4040

I am looking to buy a new soldering iron/station off of Amazon. I don't really do any electrical work that would warrant needing an iron around the house, but the one my dad has is a POS and it's time for fresh equipment.

I am planning on building at least 2 more keyboards this year (though I'm not sure I'll build any more after that, but I wouldn't put it out of the question).

Is this station off of Amazon okay? I was recommended this Weller station but I don't like that it doesn't have an exact temp display (people complain about the 1-2-3-4 settings). However, it's a good amount cheaper.

What do?

Thanks for this guide! I've decided to go with the Weller WES51, and have a couple questions for you before I place an order for everything.

Would you recommend this tip assortment? Also, how do you feel about this for a helping hands with lighted magnifying glass and solder holder?

I got this one as a Father's Day gift and I've been very happy with it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0725GYLVH/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A pair of helping hands helps prevent burns and makes tight solder jobs easier

Thanks for the suggestion.

The Quick 861DW looks like a sexy little unit. Unfortunately at $428 Canadian pesos, it's a bit outside the price range I wanted to spend.

Trying to keep my expenditure around $100-200 for this (will update the question to mention this).

https://www.amazon.com/Anesty-Digital-Desoldering-Station-Professional/dp/B07542D82F

I use this one for years and it’s perfectly fine :)

If anyone is looking for a desolder gun. it’s the most commonly used afaik.

this should peak your interest, i use this guy to re-flow GPU's and changing out components on main boards, sooo much cleaner and easier with hot air.

Any old iron will work. I used this $9 iron to fix my Hubsan many times.

I have a Hako now and it is MUCH nicer and easier to use but a pencil iron will get the job done for small projects like the Hubsan. If you plan on doing scratch builds or other projects that require soldering I highly suggest getting a variable temperature iron with integrated thermostat.

I love this guy, but you can probably find some better deals depending on what you wanna use it for.

I have this rework station and LOVE it for the price.

Ah. I was thinking an actual pump pump, like this https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009Q5ZH58/.

I always called the hand held things "solder suckers".

Do you mean something like this pencil solderer and this solder?
I've never done any soldering before so I'm not quite sure what I need to do. Would watching guides on youtube be enough for a simple soldering job like this?

I've been happy with this super cheapie for regular shop repair and prototyping use for a year or two: http://www.amazon.com/X-TRONIC-4040-Soldering-Assorted-MAGNIFYING/dp/B003TC8EQS/ref=sr_1_9?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1319760013&sr=1-9

For the price the heat is consistent and the performance is solid. The only issue I've had is that the ceramic element in the soldering iron is a bit too small for the hot knife tip and should you actually use it the tip can shift which cracks the ceramic. This means you have to use the replacement ceramic that they include earlier than if it just wore out while soldering. I was able to quickly get a replacement tip from the company though.

I have one of those little 2 arm stiff things from harbor freight and it just sucks. And I couldn't bring myself to buy the likes of this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AX1VO2I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xvUszbQJWW83M

I am so trying this... Thanks for the idea and the link OP!!

This is beyond your budget (it is $200+), but this is what we use in our high-tech firm for general-purpose work:

Hakko FX-951

However, if you ever use lead-free solder, you absolutely have to use something like this. It lowers the tip temperature significantly when the iron is in the holster. This is critical for extending tip life - the lead-free stuff corrodes the tips VERY quickly otherwise. Our lives became much easier once we figured this out and moved to these soldering stations.

Anyway, lead-tin solder is still available in North America, but the whole industry is moving to lead-free...

If you insist. It looks an amazing amount like this, which is a smd rework hot air gun.

Through-hole was my choice for precisely that reason. I've done a bit of soldering, but nothing that small. I saw this kit the other day that should be a good soldering practice exercise, maybe after I make that I'll try it with a surface mount.

I got this one several months ago to replace my cheaper one and am very happy with the upgrade. I hardly ever used the old one but use this one quite often for holding various things while soldering. The old one seemed to be too small or tipped over and I eventually just stopped using it.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01882K0OC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The old one was like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Soldering-Helping-Hand-Magnifying-Glass-Clamps-Arms-Stand-Station-Solder-Base-/282243361923?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

Not sure if it’s available in Canada but I have this and it works really well. I think it’s the same price

I personally recommend this over the hakko - https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Function-Soldering-Desoldering-Absorber/dp/B009Q5ZH58/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1494113285&sr=8-3&keywords=aoyue+desoldering

it has a desoldering station

They make small heat guns specifically for this. Just borrow/buy one of those. Otherwise good luck destroying everything while trying to desolder that connector.

http://www.amazon.com/X-TRONIC-MODEL-4040-Soldering-MAGNIFYING/dp/B003TC8EQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374728744&sr=8-1&keywords=solder+heat+gun

like this but you can get a cheaper one.

You can find solder stations that also have a hot-air rework gun. Those are perfect for heat shrink. One example: http://www.amazon.com/Kendal-REWORK-SOLDERING-IRON-STATION/dp/B004ZB9D4O

I was looking at these 3 on amazon


Xtronic
Yihua
Aoyue

Got it on Amazon, https://smile.amazon.com/Hobby-Creek-Helping-Hands-Soldering/dp/B01AX1VO2I/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1518638502&sr=8-7&keywords=helping+hands+vise+mount that kind goes over my panavise.

I like to use a rework station, to reheat plastic parts for touch ups... You could probably connect the two halves and then heat the seam up to get it to hold. Then if you're really worried about the seam, you can heat it up and smooth it out.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072FNVQZ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Tuk7Bb1MHR6H8

I've got this one collecting dust, thoughts?

And it can be yours for only $73. 98!

Choose my SOLDERING IRON for me

Option A

Option B

enjoy!

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Function-Soldering-Desoldering-Absorber/dp/B009Q5ZH58/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1501447394&sr=8-2&keywords=desoldering+station

Never look back

ew :P.

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WTCPT-Temperature-Controlled-Soldering/dp/B00004W463/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1398010594&sr=8-3&keywords=weller+60w

my baby, the replacement / specialized tips are so expensive hahah.

I just upgraded to one of these Such a solid iron, heats up crazy fast too.

I solder for a living and am shocked at the price of this thing. I might get one to try out on some shit boards because, if this can match anything near the performance of my FM-203 or my FX-951 I'll be shocked and thrilled.

This is the one we use at the shop: https://www.amazon.com/AMERICAN-HAKKO-PRODUCTS-INC-FX-951/dp/B0012B8NW8/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1482558487&sr=1-3&keywords=hakko+soldering+station

But that's probably a little too much for something you're going to use once. Remember, all the soldering iron is going to do is just melt the solder.

Get something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Soldering-Ceramic-Heating-Element-Ergonomic/dp/B00IKMC2N8/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1482558529&sr=1-1&keywords=15W+soldering+iron

And just practice on some shitty PCB you have lying around.

Can you order one online? For $18 you can get a better station. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/soldering-station-with-adjustable-heat-range-us-warehouse.html

Or, if you need to order from somewhere like Amazon, it's $30. https://www.amazon.com/YiHUA-936B-110V-Anti-Static-Soldering-Station/dp/B00O4ORHMM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1483017642&sr=8-2&keywords=soldering+station+yihua

The station you linked isn't adjustable temperature, it's high/low which doesn't really help.

If worse comes to worse and there's no way to possibly order one online, I'd go for the 25w weller. 40w will be too hot and won't work very well for you. If that's not available, get the canadiantire station and use it on low. But both of these are expensive for not very good options.