[Boatanchors] 'Wifey' bought me a new Soldering station for my B-Day, now to find another "project" to use it on ; -)

[Phil]

Hi All,
Well, we all do a LOT of soldering (don't we?).  Over 15 years ago I 
rescued a Philips SBC345 adjustable temp controlled soldering station 
from the dumpster at the shop where I worked.  The tech that owned it 
threw it out and bought a new one of the same model because it didn't 
work.  It also looked rather disreputable as the case was badly cracked 
and water from the wet sponge had leaked down into the case.  Anyway, it 
was far better than the old Weller station that I'd been using  and 
which needed a new "Magnastat Switch" in the iron anyway (it too had 
failed about the same time).

Anywhooo, I rescued the Philips station (was it named after me?), found 
that the wire to the iron itself had a broken lead, cut a few inches off 
the cord and reconnected it.  Surprise, it worked just like new, even if 
it was/is ugly!!!

Probably the best thing about the Philips station is it uses the same 
Weller tips as the station I already had, but isn't magnetically 
controlled like the Weller.  I had a lot of the Weller tips (and still 
have a few).  The Philips uses electronic temperature sensing and 
displays the temperature on an analog meter.

Several times I tried to find a NEW Philips station like the one I have, 
I like it that much, but they apparently don't make them any more.

But I can't complain, over 15 years of service out of something I 
rescued from the dumpster isn't half bad (big grin).

The original is getting a bit long in the tooth and I've had to service 
it a few times lately.  It may be on it's last legs, so when Wifey asked 
what I wanted for my b-day I told her a new soldering station would be 
REALLY nice.

Since she doesn't know tools she told me to order the one I wanted and 
gave me a budget limit of around 150 as we have to budget EVERYTHING 
around here.

So I've spent the last week doing a LOT of research and trying to figure 
out what would be the BEST one for me, and what would MOST fit the work 
I do.  I thought about one with an iron and a hot air station, but I 
VERY RARELY work on anything SMD.  However I do often have to change 
tips, with a large conical and a very long skinny conical being my two 
primary choices for most work. Occasionally a mid sized chisel tip.

I looked at and studied dozens if not hundreds of soldering stations, 
and asked questions on ones that looked nice and fit my budget.  I 
finally settled on an X-Tronic Dual Iron station.  As the name says, it 
has two irons, each can use a different tip and temperature, temperature 
memories etc.  Comes with 10 tips and even a lit magnifier lamp 
(although I have a large lit magnifier mounted on my bench the small 
magnifier may be handy).  The fairly long iron cords will be handy too 
as the one on my Philips has "shrunk" over the years from repairs

Here's the soldering station I just ordered, should be here next week. . .
http://www.amazon.com/USA-EXCLUSIVE-X-TRONIC-8010-XTS-Programmable/dp/B00QU25JNA/ref=sr_1_105?ie=UTF8&qid=1439098313&sr=8-105-spons&keywords=soldering+station 


-- 
73 de Phil,  KO6BB
http://www.qsl.net/ko6bb/  (Web Page)

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