Aldi soldering station review

[tabbypurr]

I got one. It works fine, can be set in increments of 10C with presets of 200, 300, 400. It displays the current temp rather than the set point, which is a plus. For what it is it's remarkably cheap.

But... The tips are oddly shaped for electronic work. They work though. The sponge is maybe 2mm thick, and the sponge holder similar, so that feature is fairly hopeless. FWLIW there are 2 solder reels that can sit on the base unit - they're tiny. But the no 1 limitation is that the bits screw into place, they're threaded. So there appears to be zero hope of it lasting decades.

NT

[Jeff Layman]

I have an Oryx 50 I bought in 1963. I'm still using the original bit (4mm? Never had a use for the smaller bit). Admittedly, it has only been used for very intermittent hobby use, but the bit still unscrews without problem.

[Brian Gaff]

Yes when I could see I had an otherwise good iron from Tandy, which had screw in bits. No matter how careful you were to extract them and put some lubrication on, eventually it got jammed.

Brian

[Dave Plowman (News)]

A solder station where you can't buy a selection of bits easily is a waste of time IMHO. You might as well just have an ordinary soldering iron.

[Theo]

I think somebody said they have an M5 thread, and M5 is a common kind of bit:

You would need to thread them yourself, though.

Theo

[Bob Eager]

Indeed. Just bought a Weller!

[alan_m]

Are you aware that the sponge has to be used damp? Usually the sponges that come with soldering irons are compressed and the first application of water expands them by x5 to x10. The thickness may actually be 20mm.

[alan_m]

No iron that I've owned in the past 40 years has had a screw in tip. I would think that after some use, especially with the fumes from flux that unscrewing such a tip would be impossible.

[tabbypurr]

cheers, that's good to know. Is silicone effective at stopping the threaded part corroding & jamming? Ptfe starts decomposing at 200C.

NT

[tabbypurr]

it's partly the water that does the job. Wet denim works too.

I ought to check that. The well for the sponge is only about 2mm

NT

[Steve Walker]

I have a Weller. Excellent bit of kit. My father has one too. I am pretty sure that his is older than me ... and I'm 51!

SteveW

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I find Weller slightly clumsy to my taste - having used them at work. But of course any personal choice might be down to hand size, etc. My favourite by far is Antex for the hand piece.

[Bob Eager]

It's only my fourth soldering iron in over 60 years. First two were Antex, and I still have the Xytronic (the third).

Decided to treat myself with the Weller. WT1 and WTP90.

[tabbypurr]

Sounds like its keep is weller nd

NT

[Bob Eager]

My new Weller is a lot smaller than the Antex. And that includes the motion sensor! Weighs 70 grams.

New+products/WTP+90

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Must admit not to having looked at weller recently. But no need to since I'm more than happy with my home made solder/desolder station based around Antex and Pace. At the time, no one really made one I liked. One requirement here was two soldering irons selectable by a switch. With the two most common bit sizes I use. And auto shut down.

[Bob Eager]

At a price, Weller do a two station version of the WT1 base unit. Then two irons will work!

Auto shut down is all there; it senses when it is stationary and shuts down after a (selectable) timeout, and auto restarts when picked up.

[whisky-dave]

I agree I've always thought the wellar to be a bit nmore expensive than they need to be. Designs by both seem to change more frequasntly now and that;s a pain because I have two antex stations that I can't get irons for.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Could well be now. My unit was built ages ago when the only unit that came close to what I wanted was Pace - but at some 6 times the price I built this one for, ie serious money.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Which model do they use? Mine uses the TC50 (shows the age) but haven't had problems getting spares last time I looked.