[Elecraft] soldering station info, from a guy who does it all day: slightly OT

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Craig, NZ0R asked:

I'm curious what makes one unit better than another other than the obvious
differences between a temperature-controlled iron and a $10 radio shack
unit. Are you thinking of technical issues like recovery time and supporting
multiple irons/accessories or is it subjective issues like size, weight,
feel, cord length, etc?

I've got a Hakko 936 that does a fine job, and I'm having a hard time
imagining what else it could do that would make it "better".

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If you look at the soldering stations offered by these manufacturers, there
is little difference in price or features compared to the Hakko. 

The Pace and Edsyn soldering stations are in the $130 range. The OKI (was
Metcal) soldering stations like the Wellers with front-panel temperature
controls get up near $200. Of course, they all have special purpose tools
that cost much, much more, but which do different things such as provide far
higher heats one would ever use on a PCB (up to 1000F), desoldering tools,
etc.

Like you, I have a Hakko 936. The reason I like it over the Weller in a $100
soldering station is for the Hakko's front-panel temperature control instead
of changing tips to change temperatures. Of course Weller offers front-panel
temperature change too, but at substantially more money than the Hakko. 

In the sort of work I do servicing and building I find that it's important
to crank up the temperature for soldering large pads or those connected to a
ground plane, or for those fairly rare occasions that I use desoldering
braid instead of my pump. Maybe I'm a bit lazy, but if I'm faced with
changing a soldering tip to change temperature, it's too easy for me to try
to use the cooler tip for those things and "cook" the pads longer than I
should. The danger of debonding a trace or pad has to do with how long it is
kept hot as well as with how hot it gets. Indeed, keeping the time the pad
is hot at a minimum may be more important the temperature used.  

With the Hakko, I crank up the knob to 800F and by the time I've grabbed the
iron and got it to the work, the tip is up to the requested temperature. Set
it back to 700F for routine work and it's ready to solder small pads and
joints without excess heating of the PCB or parts.

Ron AC7AC