Soldering Station

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Description

A pretty standard soldering station, and my first real one, because all the other times I had those, they were standalone soldering irons. They have this terrible construction where they don't stop heating up until they burn out, so you have to keep unplugging them from the outlet, and I actually burned quite a few that way. This one is not well built, but it works, and I got it because it was quite cheap. It also comes with the brass wool cleaner and the spool holder for the solder. I'm now thinking of getting another one.

Impressions

It performs really well. It's very quick to heat up, so no complaints there. It's stable in the temperature, even though I think it varies a lot, especially when you are soldering large components like voltage regulators or heat sinks. The tips are kind of weird, because the ones that come with the package don't really convey the heat so well, so I needed to get another set for those.

The big issue I have with it is that it doesn't come with a wire holder, so the wire that connects the soldering iron to it keeps getting in the way. I did a DIY solution there, which is quite hacky, but it works. The other thing is that you cannot really hold it very strong against anything because it will get crooked, so the one I have now is like a crooked hook, but it still works.

Final thoughts

I'm going to get another one, an iron on the T12 standard. Probably the Mechanic brand, which seems better, but those are significantly more expensive, so I'm holding off until I get one of those.

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