Yep. At the very least, one should get an iron/station that has the
option of changing tips. I can still buy diff temp and tip profiles
for my ancient non heat-adj Weller.
I can no longer remember who made what.
My first soldering irons for some reason lasted a very shrot time. I
wasn't abusing them, but they were cheap and overheated and soon died. I
was too inexperienced to figure out why. The first was new, a birthday
present, the second was used, someone gave it to me with a new cord
attached.
Somewhere about then I was given a Weller soldering gun, useful because
tubes were still being used. That gun has lasted me all these decades, it
was used when I got it, a few scrapes and burn points in the cord. The
cord has a lot of electrical tape on it now, and some years back I put
some epoxy on some places where there were cracks (though no structural
breaks). Finally a couple of years ago it fell off the bench, and the
lower part of the handle actually broke off. I drilled some small holes,
used some wire to "sew" it back together, then covered with epoxy, still
working fine though rather ugly looking.
So I decided to buy a new one, but they cost a lot now. I wait, and find
one at a garage sale for ten dollars, in a case with some accessories,
though a somewhat later model. Then last year I found one identical to
mine, but in much better shape, in the original box, for five dollars.
But after those first two soldering irons died prematurely, I went with
the system Radio Shack had at the time, a handle, a heating element and a
tip. I think Ungar made them, but they were branded Radio Shack. That
was great, except I kept dropping the iron, and the tip would break off.
The ones I liked (there was a variety) threaded into the heat element, and
thus without the means of drilling out the rest of the tip, the heat
element was junk too. I slowly got better, dropping the iron less. That
lasted about 20 years, actually the handle is still fine. I replaced it
with a newer model, direct from Ungar, this time having a third prong in
the AC cord.
That ones still working. I actually made up a stand for it, complete with
a light dimmer to vary the heat, even though I've never found that feature
all that useful.
Then a few years ago, I found a Weller soldering station, the light blue
kind with the magnetic tip that kept things the same temperature. Only
five dollars (it was the same place I'd found a drill press vice a couple
of years before), too cheap to turn down. My first temperature controlled
soldering iron in all these decades. Oddly, the switch had gone bad, the
previous owner adding some wire to bypass it. I thought of various
schemes to replace the switch, it's square so I didn't think I had a
direct replacement, then thought of the AC power strips I'd found a box of
lying on the sidewalk one night. The switch form one was a fit, so I did
the transplant, and the Weller soldering station is like new.
It's kind of neat, but I like the Ungar, I'm used to it, I'm used to the
feel in my hand, so though I have both set up right next to each other,
it's the Ungar I turn on much of the time.
Michael
