That video of a guy testing solder joints with a multimeter changed my mind about cheap irons

I always thought a $15 soldering iron from the hardware store was good enough for my little Arduino projects. Then I watched a channel called EEVblog where the guy showed how bad cheap irons regulate temperature. He tested a Hakko station next to a no-name one and the cheap one swung 50 degrees every time you touched a joint. Has anyone else seen real world results from upgrading to a proper temperature controlled station?

2 comments

2 Comments

sanchez.robin13d ago

Yeah that EEVblog video is pretty eye opening. I read somewhere that with a cheap iron the tip temp can drop over 100 degrees when you're soldering a big joint like a ground plane on a PCB. It takes forever to recover and you end up burning the board or getting cold joints. I upgraded to a T12 station clone after that and the difference in joint quality is night and day.

fionarodriguez13d ago

That 100 degree drop is brutal, especially when you're just trying to get a ground plane done. I noticed it most on old boards with big copper pours where my cheap iron would just sit there struggling to keep up.