Wasted 80 bucks on a cheap soldering iron kit

Picked up one of those no-name soldering stations from Amazon for like $80. Figured it was fine for basic board work. First real job was reflowing some joints on a monitor power supply. Tip wouldn't hold temp at all. Kept dropping to 250F no matter what I set it to. Ended up with cold joints all over the place. Had to redo the whole thing with a borrowed Hakko. That cheap iron went straight in the trash. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way?

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2 Comments

gonzalez.alice4mo ago

I remember reading a review from some guy who said those cheap irons can't keep temp because the heating element and tip are just poorly mated together. Sounds like that's exactly what happened with yours, 80 bucks down the drain just to learn that lesson. My buddy swore by his Weller for years after going through three of those no-name stations.

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jamie644mo ago

See I kinda disagree. I've had a cheapo station that worked fine for years, just had to learn to keep the tip tinned and dial it in right. Maybe it's just me but sometimes the expensive stuff is overkill if you're just doing basic hobby soldering now and then.

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