op pls, you're giving me anxiety

I would only suggest doing this mod if you are extremely comfortable with a soldering iron. I'm not responsible if you mess up your Joy-Con. With that being said below are the things I used to make this possible:

Parts

• Clear Joy-Con Case: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076SJVPSV
  
• Tactile Push Buttons: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071KX71SV
  
• 30 AWG Wire: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GWFECWO
  
• Weather seal: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQL29G
  
• Drill and drill bits (Bought these from a local hardware store.)
  
• Solder: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017WK9HQS
  
• Soldering Iron: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C2BHTBI
  
  Steps
  
  

1. Take apart your Joy-Con.
   
2. Run two wires from the Pin 10 pad and the ground as shown in this picture: https://i.imgur.com/mpbtqVQ.jpg Leave some extra wire so you can cut to size later. Soldering to the ground plain can be a pain I brought my Iron up to 750 F, used a bigger tip and had to hold it there for awhile before it would become molten.
   
3. Re-assemble your Joy-Con up to putting the back on it.
   
4. Take the 6mm x 6mm x 6mm Tactile push button and cut off the leads on one side and bend the other leads flat.
   
5. Cut two small pieces of weather seal and place them on top of each other and hot-glue the button to the top of it.
   
6. Place your weather seal and button down to the left side below the battery so it doen't interfere with the rail.
   
7. Cut your wires to size and solder each wire to their own lead on the button.
   
8. Place your back cover on to the Joy-Con to see where the button is and make a mark in the center of the button.
   
9. Remove the back cover and slowly drill a hole stepping up bit sizes until the button fits in.
   
10. Re-assemble and enjoy!
    
    More pictures
    
    

• https://i.imgur.com/vtLW1ce.jpg
  
• https://i.imgur.com/zTHOr4G.jpg
  
• https://i.imgur.com/SmiNtfK.jpg

I have a Weller WES51 Analog Soldering Station, and I highly recommend it for just about any kind of work. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BRC2XU/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1518809457&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=weller+wes51&dpPl=1&dpID=41WVs6AdNqL&ref=plSrch

The slightly more expensive digital version doesn’t solder any better, it just has buttons and a display instead of an adjustment knob.

If you’re working on tiny components, then you’ll just need to buy a few smaller tips, but there are plenty of sizes and shapes out there for Weller irons. I’ve always just bought cheaper knockoff tips, like the ones where you can get a variety pack of 10 for ~$30 on amazon. I don’t think tips are really worth spending a premium for the Weller brand, unlike the iron itself. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00VFYPKN2/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmr2_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1518809384&sr=8-2-fkmr2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=weller+replacement+tip+set+wes51

I’d also recommend a good vise or workstation to hold things steady, because there’s nothing worse than trying to use crappy little helping hands or just solder on a bench top. I use a Panavise like this, just as an idea, but there are probably some decent cheaper options out there: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00011QA0M/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518809613&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=panavise+350&dpPl=1&dpID=41smUr9QAlL&ref=plSrch

I've started to get into electronics myself, and I can say that soldering is easy, but you need the right tools for the job.
You'll need an adjustable temperature soldering iron and 1/2 milimeter iron/lead solder as the bare minimum.

I suggest grabbing some tip tinner, solder wick & vacuum, and some cheap boards to practice soldering.

This video shows how to do the actual soldering, while this video covers the tools you'll need and explains their use. These videos are made by EEV Blog and explain soldering in GREAT detail, which is how I learned to do it.



As far as making actual circuits, you have to have an idea AND parts to fulfill your idea. The Arduino UNO is a great way to program and test circuits. It's essentially a small comptuer designed to repeat whatver task you give it over and over. Alternatively, there's the Raspberry Pi, which comes in a few different models. The difference between the Pi and the Arduino is that the Pi is essentially a mini computer. You can literally hook it up to a monitor via hdmi and slam an operating system into it.

Both boards typically come in kits like this one for the Ardunio, or this one for the Raspberry Pi. The Ardunio kits with come with a lot of peripherals, like sensors and LEDs that actually do things, while you'll have to invest more with a Raspberry Pi. These kits come with detailed instructions, code you can copy and paste, and are a great way to learn how circuitry works, and is exactly what I'm doing right now. I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination, I've just done a decent amount of research to find out what's what.

There are two ways to hook up circuits - temporarily and (somewhat) permanently. Breadboards are used to prototype circuits without having to solder anything, typically using these wires to link different parts of the circuits together. Soldering components to those green boards I linked earlier is what you'd do when you have your circuit up and running and want to move it to something more permanent. I say "more" permanent because you can usually de-solder stuff if you needed a component for something.

Adafruit has a decently sized library of projects you can try. They often sell stuff in kits where you get everything you need to make something -- for example, this DIY MIDI controller.

Sparkfun has a great series of articles that explain the very basics of circuits and electricity

Hopefully I've explained everything enough so that you can venture off on your own. Feel free to ask questions!

You may have heard the old saying:

>The road to success is through experience.
>
>The road to experience is through failure.

It sounds like you have already achieved some failure, so this means you are well on your way on the road to success!

Let me add another old saying that I just made up:

>Good technique may overcome a bad soldering iron.
>
>A great soldering iron will never overcome bad technique.

You didn't mention what kind of iron and what kind of solder you are using now. But if you are getting cold joints, that is more likely a sign of bad technique rather than the wrong iron.

Cold joints happen when you heat the solder instead of heating the work material. The hot solder hits the cold metal and freezes in place instead of flowing onto the hot metal.

You need to heat the work material itself first. If it's a through-hole component, then after you turn the board upside down, touch the iron to both the component's wire lead and the board's pad. Only after both of those heat up do you apply the rosin core solder to melt onto and into them. Then you will have a beautiful shiny solder joint.

This does take some finesse and attention to timing. So I would do this Heathkit style. The Heathkits I bought when I was a teenager always came with clear instructions on how to solder, and most importantly, some extra pieces to practice with. I learned to get the technique down on those before tackling the kit itself. So practice on scrap material until you have it down.

Of course a good iron and good solder will help. If you're using lead-free solder, I might suggest a traditional lead-tin solder instead, as it is easier to work with.

For an iron, you didn't mention what you're using now, or what your budget might be. If something around $100 works for you, you can't go wrong with the Hakko FX888D. You might want some extra tips of various sizes too.

Desoldering is an art to itself. Do you have some desoldering braid? I used to use the "soldapullit" suction pumps and similar things, but the braid always gave me better results. It comes in different widths so you can pick one that fits the work you're doing.

I hope these notes are helpful. Holler back with any questions, and happy soldering!

If you want me to make it easy for you, just buy this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AWUFVY8/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_dHlFub055QPJ9

If that's too much, there are maybe some other options, but that is an iron he will likely never need to replace. You can look for other products from Hakko or Weller. Adjustable temperature and availability of multiple tips are both importent features.

The irons available at RadioShack are mostly crappy, so I wouldn't recommend them.

Buy this and don't look back.

Weller makes pretty decent stuff for the most part.

Get a decent iron/station with temperature control, something like this isn't too expensive and not bad overall, go for the bigger name brands if you have the cash like Weller or Hakko. You can get a great station, some flux, some solder, solder sucker and preferably a brass ball instead of a wet sponge to clean off the tip of your iron for less than $150. You can get a soldering kit with a protype board and components and solder that together to practice or if you want a more practical experience with actual components - then go to your nearest thrift store and buy the cheapest shittiest chinese electronic gizmo you can find, or stuff like digital alarm clocks and typically there's a PBC board inside with tons of little parts inside that have pretty loose soldering tolerances. Or even check your garage/attic/basement for some old gizmo you haven't seen nor touched in decades. You can desolder the capacitors, resistors, LEDs, switches, wires and etc. Then after you remove it, solder them back in place.

That's how I learned, but you can also look on youtube to help you learn the right techniques.

A couple of things come to mind:

A) Cool.

B) Instead of drilling through your stencils, I recommend using a finishing nail or an awl and banging pilot divots. This centers and guides the drill bit, and keeps you from killing your stencil, just in case.

3) Try heat shrink tubing. It's not terribly expensive, it's fun to use, and it makes you look clever.

D) In the event that you ever want people to think that you are very clever, get a decent soldering iron. If you have a lot of extra money to throw around, get a fancy Weller station. If not, I recommend the adorable Hakko FX-888. Now that the analog version has been discontinued, it's hard to find on sale, but... they're fantastic. If you want to feel fancy, you could get something like this. Look at all those bits! I don't know either!

I know. That was the first thing I thought. I bought two kits for my x220 and x230, I screwed up royally the first attempt and wound up needing to use the second set of items.

Before you start, the equipment you will need:

• a precision screwdriver kit. This is what I use
  
• Exacto knife
  
• Dremel/pliers/sandpaper to make room for the LCD.
  
• canned air to clean up the plastic and metal shavings from dremel/pliers/sandpaper
  
• as /u/Bredius88 already mentioned, flux. I used liquid flux. If you use liquid flux you will also need rubbing alcohol and qtips to clean up.
  
• desolder pump
  
• magnifying lens of some sort. I used this which was good enough and could also keep my glasses on.
  
• kapton tape. (1/4" width or less)
  
• If it has been a decade since you last soldered or have shaky hands, or both in my case, I strongly suggest buying very thin solder and, if possible, a quality soldering iron like a Hakko FX888D. These were suggested by the EEVblog soldering tutorial made the second time around far easier.
  
  
  A few words of "wisdom"
  
  
• Take your time and do not rush. It is incredibly easy to miss things in the installation guide.
  
• DO NOT FORCE ANYTHING. If the LCD screen does not lay flush with the screw holes or the bezel is not clipping, you need to remove more material from the case/bezel
  
• Do not be stingy with the flux
  
• Do not over heat your soldering iron
  
• The sense wire looks like it is copper, but that is just the film on it. Gently scrape it with the exacto knife to reveal the wire in side. It will not solder with this film on it
  
• For each step, tape the piece in place before soldering then gently remove the tape. This was the only way I could solder the sense wire because it is so thin and light
  
• The eDP cable is very fragile. Do not keep plugging/unplugging it. If you do need ot unplug it (like after testing), only unplug the side from the board and keep pressure on the board when doing so as not to wreak your solder joints
  
• When everything has been soldered in place, test it before putting everything back together
  
  Also, on the V5, I used the old installation guide and the big difference is that the power is connected to the far left under the fuse marked "P". In the picture your finger is kind of covering it.
  
  EDIT: Anyone trying to justify spending ~$125US on a good soldering iron and solder just remember that replacing the motherboard will cost you about the same and will not be as useful a decade from now.

Yeah if you're soldering anything significant its worth your time and money. Wellers are popular where I work as a small desk station
Weller WES51

Don't bother with a $20 iron imo

You can get okay ones for $50-100. Are you looking for a soldering station or just a soldering pencil/gun?
I would recommend a wall unit, as opposed to a butane unit, because butane ones are mainly for people soldering in the field. They are nice and portable, but you have more wall outlets than butane canisters in your place, so it's easier

..





Weller and Hakko are great brands, their tips are a bit pricey too, but trust me, they last a lot longer than the cheap irons and their cheap tips.
You can't go wrong with any of these:
Weller
Hakko




Feel free to ask me other questions.

So damn irritating. The old model had a simple dial. Same form factor. Now they don’t make them with a dial and you basically need to dig up an instruction manual to figure these things out.

OP, is there any advantage to the new one besides the fact that it led me to find the TS100 ?

I’d recommend you get a soldering station instead; something similar to this: Soldering station

Hakko 888D Soldering Iron. With this thing, soldering is actually fun. I look around just for things to solder with this baby.

EDIT: for reasons why it's great:

• temperature controlled: always heat your solder to just the right temp. Makes for stronger joints and you don't end up burning up all your flux. It also means when metal sucks out the heat, the controller gives it a boost so it stays hot.
  
  
• heats up in about 15 seconds.
  
  
• digital readout of current temp
  
  
• wire is very flexible. It isn't a nuisance when trying to make fine adjustments.
  
  
• pencil is very thin and easy to grip, but it doesn't get hot because the heating element is at the tip.

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-FX-888D/dp/B00ANZRT4M/

Grab a good hakko or weller soldering station and you should be set for years! They make pretty damn good clones of these as well for much cheaper if you want to save a few bucks.

Surprised nobody mentioned the cold joints, but when you redo the soldering, you can fix that as well. Basically, use your iron to heat the pad and wire together and then touch the solder to the joint. The metal will melt the solder, and it will flow right in and make a "hot" joint, which will be much more mechanically sound. It also has the benefit of guaranteeing that the flux melts; if you're not using rosin core solder, get a flux pen. The flux will etch the oxide layer off the metals, and also help the solder flow into the joint. No-clean flux is nice, but you can always clean it off with some rubbing alcohol to be safe.

If your iron has an adjustable temp, shoot for 300° C at minimum for leaded solder, I prefer 320° personally. Lead-free solder will need a higher temperature, but it's a moot point since you shouldn't ever bother with that stuff. If your iron isn't temperature controlled, make it a priority to replace it. The TS-100 is popular for good reason, but you can find a perfectly good adjustable iron for less than $30. I think. My last cheap iron was like 15 years ago. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, you might want to tape the motor wires to the arms so they can't find their way into the props.

This Weller has served me well. Although it takes some getting used to. Just check out some vids on proper operation.

Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_5kYdBbXBK3117

In my experience, radio shack soldering iron tips go bad in a single use (of soldering a PCB's worth of components). No matter how much you try to tin the damn things, they oxidize.

I don't know anything about hakko, but I love my Weller.

If you plan on using it for anything more than the ErgoDox, make sure you get one that'll last. One of the most important things is that the tip is cheap to replace. I got a Radio Shack one for $25 when I first started with electronics and I seriously regret it. Turns out that when the tip died after a couple of months, it would have been cheaper to just get a new iron rather than replacing the tip.

I replaced the Radio Shack iron with this Weller model. The tips are about $5, so replacement and getting alternative tips is quite affordable. Ebay is a good source.

I found a few threads in /r/AskElectronics and /r/Electronics. This iron is one that they recommended, and one I've seen before myself (see this thread). The OP in this thread had a much higher budget, and there were a bunch of Hakkos recommended. Weller and Hakko are generally quite good brands.



As an additional piece of information, since we'll have to solder surface mount components (the resistor, I think), you may find this video guide to be useful. Our components should be much larger, but still helpful to see the techniques. Here's a comic about more general soldering.

The Hakko FX-888D. It's pushing your budget a little bit(you're going to want to get new tips at some point), but I've used them in personal, educational, and professional environments. Really a solid iron for what you pay.

Hakko 936

Weller WES51

How to solder

I got an Eachine 250 racer about a month ago. It has been a lot of fun, but there are a lot of details. My next racer will probably be a smaller/lighter 180 frame.

For FPV goggles I have three ideas. One, is get the status quo Fatshark goggles at whatever level you can afford. Two, get the HeadPlay HD goggles I got. Three, get the Avegant Glyph, which has the really nice feature of letting you pop them up and down without a band. I do really like my HeadPlay HDs, but they are big and bulky. I haven't perfected how to adjust the straps to get them to stay on my head well.

Arms, managed to break one without breaking a prop.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016Y5U1JO/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Capacitors, they pop off very easily. I lost a capacitor at the same time I broke an arm. Or a hot glue gun, I Highly recommend putting hot glue over the caps next to each arm to help avoid the loss in the first place. You want a low temperature hot glue gun to not melt any plastic or traces. I consider the capacitor issue a design defect, but you can work around it with hot glue. The original revision seems to have lacked the capacitors, from pictures I have seen online.

Capacitors for Eachine 250 racer:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00W8YYMZA/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Youtube video exampling how to solder them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLYVZUpL0K0

Get a Taranis X9D Plus. It is a great transmitter. Also get a X4R-SB receiver, and use SBUS. The D4R won't let you control the lights too, because it can't do PPM and PWM at the same time. You can control them with the X4R-SB, SBUS+PWM. SBUS has great latency, 5-10ms. I was recently talking to a sponsored racer who told me that PPM, which is supposed to be 27ms with the D4R, is really more like 100ms. It averages the four last frames together. This link includes a case and X8R, which I think will work as well as the X4R, but you should do the research. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B014IYSXL6/ref=mp_s_a_1_5

To do SBUS+PWM, requires a special bind procedure. You want channels 1-8 as SBUS, and 9+ as PWM. The most relevant part is "jump S1&S3: SBUS, 9, 10, 11 or jump S2&S3: SBUS, 9, 10, 11 (No telemetry)" Here is a link that talks about it.

http://www.frsky-rc.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6793

Small tie wraps like the ones already on the arms to hold the ESCs. You break an arm, and you will need to replace the tie wrap.

Soldering iron, solder, etc, because you have to desolder the ESC from the motor to replace an arm, and then resolder it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BRC2XU/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Qtips and rubbing alcohol for cleaning. Mix the alcohol 50/50 with water. The flying field was muddy after lots of rain.

Carrying case of some kind. You don't want it banged around in transport, and same with the transmitter. It is best to get the X9D with the case, because people price gouge on the case stand alone.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01ABQS7YI/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Batteries, you can burn through them very fast. But watch out for their height. I bought some of the new "Graphene" 4S batteries, and they are really too tall to fit. Some people remove the back LEDs to make battery installation easier.

Battery charging/carrying bags to help with uncontrolled fires started by batteries. I have two, one for charging, and one for carrying.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005HTH78W/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A battery charger if you want to use 4S batteries. The included charger is 2S/3S only. I have a Hi-tech X1 which will only charge one battery at a time. You can also get the X4 which will do four at once.

Battery charger for 4S batteries:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005LH3392/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

XT60 banana plug cable for charging with the above charger:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00XBSBYCG/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A V shaped antenna mount to get the receiver antennas up in the air. When over head the carbon fiber body blocks the signal well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00WV04P62/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A voltage monitor so you know to land when your battery voltage is low. The video signal includes the battery voltage as part of the OSD, but I prefer LoS while learning to fly. It lets me keep an eye on where I am in relation to trees. On the other hand I have yet to find a good place to mount a voltage monitor. With the length of the balance cable on batteries you are likely going to need a balance cable extension for 3S and another for 4S.

Voltage monitor:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00EXPPF80/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

3S balance cable extension:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00XP4IO88/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

4S balance cable extension:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00JBP1RGG/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Double sided tape to mount things on the top of the body, like the antenna mount and receiver.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009NP1JQC/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Small x-acto knife to help remove the double sided tape.

Electrical tape to tape down wires for lights and receiver.

Size 2.0 hex wrench for the frame screws. It will be needed to replace arms.

Scale that can measure grams. You want to knowing and control weight.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B010HKEDPK/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sunglasses to avoid problems seeing on sunny days. Lets say you are flying LoS, and look into the direction of the sun. You can't see the quad well enough to control it, because of glare from the sun.

ESC flashing adapters to change/upgrade the firmware. I am not sure these are the right ones for the ESCs on the Eachine. I think they are, but I haven't tried it yet.

Atmel socket flashing tool:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00V2W467I/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Atmel USB programmer:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0051SRZWC/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

USB cable to use with transmitters and simulators. It is best to learn the basics in a sim, instead of replacing lots of parts.

USB cable for simulators:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DFDTU9G/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Old post of mine on learning in a simulator:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Multicopter/comments/3zr8o0/cheap_fpv_acro_simulator_with_real_transmitters/

Be sure to set a fail-safe, which is very easy with the Taranis. I had a fly away with my first Eachine, because of a defective Spektrum DX6 and lack of fail-safe. After that I switched to the Taranis, which doesn't cost much more and has way more capacity.

Preface: for some ungodly reason Mass Drop expects people to create an account before showing what the page has.

What is on the page is the description of the keyboard along with everything in the kit.

Here is an image of the web page to fix this so that you can see what keyboard I am talking about: https://minus.com/lE02abi6ORu87.png

It is stupid I know, but that is how they are for some reason.

You don't have to use Facebook to log into it though thankfully.

Alright, so this kit is finally back as an option on Mass Drop after over a month or two of absence, and it is on it's third or fourth Mass Drop group buy, all of which have been successful with no complaints from buyers amazingly.

Ordering it as a group buy is the only way to get this keyboard and it isn't offered anywhere else on the planet.

Everyone who has tried the keyboard is in love with their ErgoDox and how comfortable using the brilliant design is.

The ErgoDox keyboard is an open source hardware, open source software design, which as people who use GPLv3 software I hope you can appreciate how huge that is in light of how unapproachable hardware design has been in the past, plus with the group buy concept instead of the total cost being over 1500 USD (I priced all of this thinking to make my own being very unhappy with the lack of any intelligence present among keyboard manufacturers) it is less than 300 dollars, even after purchasing keycaps, which is huge.

What is brilliant about this keyboard, and I mean absolute genius in a domain defined by the lack there of is that it uses open source hardware with the specifications fully available, open source software for the firmware, the micro controller is very easily modified and installed thanks to their work on the configuration software, it uses all high quality parts including the very popular Cherry MX key switches (the mechanical part of a mechanical keyboard) for excellent tactile feedback and soothing ambient noise through the clickity clackety of the key switches, provides everything you need in the kit, has excellent instructions for assembling them, and allows you to decide on your own term caps, for which there is another group buy for to bring the cost of those way down.

You will absolutely love having thumb keys, which I use for all of my modifier keys and it saves my hands from career ending emacs pinky thankfully. Thumb accessible keys is an absolute boon for the information worker that has long days and nights.

I have liked them ever since experiencing them on a Kinesis Contour Advantage keyboard, and I cannot recommend that design enough.

But wait, there's more: in addition to all of that the keyboard also brilliantly went with not only a mirrored, symmetric layout for the keys and frame, and it also had the insight and genius to go with a split-keyboard layout so that the keyboard can not only accommodate a variety of human sizes, but doing so also ensures that the user can conform to proper ergonomic keyboard uses that entails having the arms and hands orthogonal to the key layout.

And even then, this design has another stroke of genius: removal of the typical function keys and escape key.

I know, you are thinking this is insane I need those.

And yes dear reader, I thought so too, but here is why this is actually a good thing, by not having that row there not only does it save space, it also ensures that you do not have the courage to try and chord the function keys without leaving the home row and anger the tendon gods in the process.

Thanks to the multiple layouts available (more not that below) you don't actually lose access to these, they just move to wherever you have decided to locate them.

This design is the most comfortable and ergonomic keyboard design I have ever seen and it puts the rest f the industry to shame for their hubris that has ruined many a career and been generally bereft of excellence as it makes no sense to design a keyboard this way now that we are not using bloody type writers from middle ages.

I am going to order at least two myself, one to use then a backup in case I can't get it in the future, which is what has happened to another keyboard design I liked and made it impossible to get or very expensive. Also, so I can take one to work and leave another at home.

Anyways, for those of you who do not have electronics experience and are worried about soldering things together or flashing the firmware on the micro-controller, do not be alarmed.

It is quite easy if you have moderately steady hands, plus you will learn a cool skill and hopefully take up the joy of hobby electronics.

You will be able to make your own ham radios and mess around with the great arduino micro-controllers and do all kinds of awesome tricks with sensors in your residence or wherever.

I recommend getting a fine point soldering iron and desoldering pump sucker for picking up solder off the pcb if you need to redo a trace. A soldering iron like this will work fine for this project.

A beautiful person took the time to make a how to assembly video showing the entire process too, which is superb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1irVrAl3Ts

This image has the assembly instructions that cover the soldering and other hook ups: https://i1.minus.com/ibeVgc381INcEF.jpg

Here is the configuration page you use to set up the layout and the site generates the hex file you need to upload to the firmware for you, which is the tricky part normally: https://www.massdrop.com/ext

Here's an image mirror of that in case the previous link does not work: https://i.minus.com/ivk3kHgNCgsTl.png

Here is an example modified qwerty layout. https://minus.com/l5Tnw5yL3TuMb.png

There are multiple layers because on this keyboard you can have multiple layouts that you jump up and down through via the L+ and L- keys, which is absolutely brilliant design.

L+ moves up in the layout stack, and L- moves down in the layout stack.

Also, you can configure keys to move up or down through two layers at a time for ever faster switching between layouts.

Having a way to progress through multiple layers of layouts is something I had not thought of in my prototype design and would have sorely missed having such a wonderful feature if I had not seen the ErgoDox keyboard before I had a go at having my own custom layout manufactured.

I really cannot hype this design enough, from quality to its concept to its execution, every aspect is flawless and free as in freedom on top of that.

I hope you all consider grabbing this beautiful product.

I realize it is considerably pricy compared to other keyboards, although within a normal price for ergonomic keyboards, but this is absolutely an investment in your own health and career regardless of your age that will pay for itself.

It is a pittance to pay for compared to the agony that will succeed if you happen to come down with crippling repetitive stress injury (RSI) or carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

As someone who has had that, and also as someone who did not take the situation seriously, it is completely devastating and takes months to heal even with great precaution and doing everything possible outside of surgery (which at most will have 80% return of functionality in your hands and ensure that you will be maimed for life in the process).

It is much, much better to go with the ounce of prevention instead of the pound (and months to years) of cure along with hundreds of dollars in the process that entails an slew of treatments.

Even one lost paycheck due to injury will cover the cost of this investment in yourself.

If you choose not to go with this product, at least take the time to invest into researching how to avoid injury and what you can do to give yourself the best chance of staying in the game rather than being sidelined by injury and wasting your own time and brilliance.

Xah has reviews of other keyboards (none of the ErgoDox that I know of though) that are ergonomic options as well. You can find those reviews here: Xah's reviews.

a fuzz face is one of the simplest circuits out there. Its just a darlington pair of transistors with an emiter feedback adjustable bias on Q1.

Its literally just 11 parts.

A fuzz face is also one of those pedals where you can make an identical pedal to those 800$+ nkt275 sunface for less than 50$, with even some of the more "mystic-magic-mojo-bullshit" transistors its still going to be dead cheap to build.

Also, heres a little copy paste i made for people looking to start soldering and what tools you should pick up, and what you dont need.

Yes that will work absolutely fine, but as someone who does a lot of soldering there are a few other things I would say.

if you don't plan on doing much soldering in the future and it's more of a one time thing, there's really no reason to get anything bore expensive than this. I spend easily 60 hours of solid soldering on the earlier version of this (same thing just without the leds) and I only ever replaced it because the tips were getting worn out (although you can replace the tips for cheap) and because I thought I deserved a more solid iron considering how much soldering I do.


if you do plan on doing lots of soldering in the future then I would recommend getting something other than a weller, they're honestly just one of those things that for years have been the industry standard but honestly have gone down hill. I've used a dozen different wellers, some old some new, some cheap some costing 300$ but none of them are really good. I, along with almost everyone in electronic repair industry like Luis Rossmann recommend a brang called hakko. I use atd absolutely love the hakko fx888d. It's really honestly just magic. It heats up to 700+ in under 30 seconds, with a live temperature readout (my old weller would take close to 15 minutes), atd the tips are really just magic, they just don't get corroded at all like every other brand I've used.



It's also worth mentioning for anyone new to soldering that the type of solder used makes a world of difference. What your going to want in rosin core, leaded solder (preferably 63/37 but 60/40 will work too). You want rosin core because it makes it a ton easier to not have to worry about flux, atd unless your doing really tiny electronic you won't need flux beyond the rosin core. You want leaded solder for a few reasons. First off, it melts at a way lower temperature (leaded solder melts at about 360f ish where lead free is closer to 460-480f, but saying that that's not at all the temps you wound use to actually solder at, it ranges from 400 - 700f depending on the application ). Leaded also has a way better surface tension, and melts more evenly, all this really just adds up to making it 100 times easier to work with, ESPECIALLY if you need to desolder anything.

I bought this one about a year and a half ago and don't think I'll ever need another one. Going from cheap soldering irons to this one was unbelievable.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ANZRT4M/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1459442355&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=hakko+soldering+station&dpPl=1&dpID=41sQ1GwOT8L&ref=plSrch

If youre thinking of buying that, dont waste your money, its a POS. I would recommend this station, good quality brand, relatively cheap and has some heat settings, doesnt give temperature, but its better than no control at all. Also the tips are pretty easily found.

There are only handful of soldering irons that are the tried and true. Never buy from Radio Shack.

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC

That bad boy will last you your whole lifetime and I've had a NASA engineer swear by it as it is what he uses at home.

This is what we have around the house/lab. It works well, and offers variable heat control, which is handy. It comes with tips that are pre-tinned, which makes it much easier to keep them tinned.

I'm sure you've thought of it, but just in case, make sure your solder is lead-free. Also, the lower temp stuff works better for PCB work. If you do get the Weller iron I linked to, 50% heat should be more than enough for PCBs.

This one is probably the cheapest one I'd recommend

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/

I've gone through about a half a dozen of the $5-$15 radio shack irons before I finally decided to spend the money on a nice one. I had no idea what I was missing!

There are a few types. The cheapest one is just a hot pencil. You plug it in and it gets hot. It's not adjustable at all - it just gets up to whatever level of power it draws, regardless of the work it's doing. Typically they cycle between not-hot-enough and way-too-hot for whatever the job is. :-)

The second-cheapest kind is the same thing, but with a little selector switch, so you can switch between low and high. I think one of mine was 5W/15W. Same as before - it's a power level, not a temperature.

Third type is the same thing, but with more adjustments. You can vary the heat more accurately, but it's still only by power level, not actual temperature.

The good kind is the kind that measures its own temperature and tries to maintain it. You can turn the dial to the temperature you want, and no matter what the work is, it will heat up as needed to maintain that temperature.

I have the WESD51 (Digital display, adjustable temperature). It was expensive, but I got a good deal on it (only $10 or so more than the analog version). I was really sold on the temperature controls, and it makes a huge difference.

You'll have to carefully read specs to see if "Adjustable" means adjustable POWER or adjustable TEMPERATURE. Some irons will even say that they are adjustable temperature, but really they are just a hot-cold knob that adjusts power.

I shouldn't recommend a specific iron, since the only ones I've used are the terrible $5 ones and the WESD51, but I've heard good things about the WCL100. It seems to have decent reviews. If you can't justify the $80+ for a temperature-controlled iron like the WES51 or WESD51, look into this one, since it's only $40.

EDIT: I take that back! I should have listened to myself and NOT recommended it. As soon as I read the reviews I discovered that you can get a constant-temperature iron for around the same price! Something like This 850F or this 750F. In short - do your research! Temperature controlled is key!

ANOTHER EDIT: The work I'm doing is generally through-hole components and similar small electronics. I leave the temperature dial at around 700F most of the time. So if $80 for a true adjustable-temperature soldering station is too much to swallow, save money by getting a constant-temperature iron at the temperature you want, instead of getting a shitty adjustable-wattage iron.

It's better to have one that has a controllable temperature setting. But then you have to know when to use what temperature. And they are expensive, but usually comes with a stand and sponge. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000AS28UC/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1495567186&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Solder+iron&dpPl=1&dpID=41B9YPknwfL&ref=plSrch

If you get a cheap one you will be fine while learning how to solder. The tips are really bad quality and doesn't heat evenly all the way around and you should have some sandpaper close to give it a good scrubbing between uses. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0006NGZK0/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1495567186&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Solder+iron&dpPl=1&dpID=41Tf73KQXQL&ref=plSrch

Sorry, on mobile and I don't know how to edit the links without the editor help...

This or that

Both are excellent entry-level products with proven track-record and replacement parts are common and cheap. They will have a hard time melting pure tin solder however, but you must be masochistic to use that crap IMO. Just stick to eutectic solder.

My ideas:

• 2 meter transceiver - Baofeng A great and cheap introduction into amateur radio. For those already a ham, I don't need to say anything more about the Baofeng.
  
  
• Baofeng 3800mAh Battery Double the capacity of the original battery. Makes it more unwieldy though.
  
  
• Weller Analog Soldering Station Imagine using an actually good soldering iron!
  
  
• Weller Industrial Soldering Gun If you like making antennas.
  
  
• APRSTM GPS position Encoder Broadcast your GPS coordinates through radio.
  
  
• Radio Astronomy Kit Listen to radio emissions from the Sun and Jupiter.
  
  
• Oscilloscope Kit See the a visual of RF? I haven't played with oscilloscopes.
  
  
• 20M CW Transceiver Kit Get 2 and practice morse code with a friend.
  
  
• Arduino Uno Starter Kit Arduino does more with electronics and Raspberry Pi more with Python programming.

I have this one and it's served me well for the last few years. There's also an analog version. The digital ones only read in Celsius, if that bothers you. They definitely aren't as nice as a Hakko or a Weller, but it has never let me down.

As far as the fumes go, it isn't the lead that's the problem, it's the flux inside the solder. Lead doesn't vaporize until ~1700C, which your iron is never going to reach. I mention this so you know that lead free solder doesn't solve the problem.

You should either solder in a well ventilated area, or use a fume extractor. Commercial fume extractors are expensive, and you can make your own with fan and a carbon filter (you can get them for normal air filters and cut to size).

Practice is everything. I could barely solder a cable but decided I wanted to start building up a few preamps from kits.

A solid, variable temp iron like this Hakko, some mounted alligator clamps and a magnifier are all solid investments.

But most importantly, practice. Go find some old battery operated toys or keyboards and practice desoldering and resoldering on a pcb is a great way to learn to steady your hand. If you want to learn some basics of circuit design, maybe tackle a GroupDIY project like a G-SSL comp or similar (plus you'll have a bomb-ass compressor).

Some videos on soldering:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIT4ra6Mo0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Sb21qbpEQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYz5nIHH0iY

In addition to the videos from /u/analog-dan https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt3W-LdbWcGFSddiOtl1bWQ/videos, you can also watch the videos from /u/advicevice https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChbLnX8JcsN9bH4BNgJZ6wA/videos

Epoxy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002BBV46/

Solder I'd recommend: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068IJX6/

Additional paste flux: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00425FUW2/

Do you have a soldering station/iron? If so which one, if not would recommend the following: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWUFVY8/

Need anything else just ask

No worries man,

​

--keyboard parts--

Plate, PCB and case

Switches

Keycaps

​

--tools--

Soldering Iron

Solder

​

--build guides--

How to build a 60%

How to use QMK firmware

How to flash your keyboard

​

If you are still needing more help or guidance, shoot me a PM.

I gotta disagree with this one... Don't bother screwing around, just buy a Hakko 888D.

I would buy the $20 Weller at Home Depot. Works well, I've soldered maybe 6 or 7 deans connectors and a few traxxas connectors with no issue. Or pony up and buy the Hakko.

Has he applied for any jobs yet? I was given one of those leather pads with paper inside and a holder for resumes (something like this) except it was from my undergrad university with their emblem. Definitely gives you some confidence for interviews and recruiting sessions. Also you can get him some nice resume paper to go with it. That lasted me for years.

I also enjoyed having one or two of these demotivational posters in my room. Depends on his humor and if he has barren walls like I did.

If you know more details about which raspberry pi he has, you could get some shield extensions. These are boards that expand its capabilities. There are also newer boards with better specs. Also with two boards you can of course make them talk to each other ;)

Depends on his area of interest and your budget, but you could get him some kind of [introductory FPGA kit] (http://store.digilentinc.com/fpga-programmable-logic/) or DE0-Nano.

Tools... so many tools he might be interested in. USB logic analyzers are so cheap these days and go well with hobby boards. Again not sure your budget, so you can go all sorts of ranges here (Open Workbench Logic Sniffer or scanaplus or Saleae Logic 8 or a china clone of Saleae Logic 8). Saleae or the knockoff I think are the better options for the software compatibility. He may be in need of a soldering iron or a multimeter.

Something else unique, you could get him a "gift card" (they don't really sell them) or an IOU to a PCB printing service. Ask him to design his own board and you'll pay $X of the service. You'll want to make sure he knows the price structure on the website because they charge per square inch and it depends on his design how many layers he may need. He makes the schematic and they will print some circuit boards for him. They won't mount the parts, just do the schematic and he would have to hand solder the components.

If he likes old videogames you could get him some old school USB controllers and tell him to install lakka on his rasberry pi, or just get him a new Raspberry Pi3 to dedicate it as an old-school console emulator. It is quite impressive how many consoles they have emulated.

And back to more tools... more micro screwdriver bits than you would actually need. You can get him a starter pack of resistors, capacitors, and other assorted electronics sparkfun. There are also so many buttons, switches, LED screen displays, etc. that he probably wouldn't want to buy on his own. Maybe you could get a container with an assortment of circuit components (resistors, capacitors, transistors, and other sensors). Careful! This can add up real quick. All types of sensors exist... ultrasonic rangefinder, stress, photocell, temperature, etc. etc. endless!.

100% the
Hakko FX888D-23BY

It's what was suggested to me when I asked the same question here, and I honestly love it.

Cable

• If you're stateside, Anixter is our main supplier since they have branches all across the country. However we use several local vendors as well, NedCo in Las Vegas, Pacific Radio in Los Angeles, etc.
  
  
  
• EWI looks fine, I haven't ever worked with it personally, but looking at their site it looks fine.
  
  
  
• My company personally uses Belden whenever possible for installations and for inside racks. For touring and studio a mixture of Mogami and Canare for microphone, instrument cable etc. For speaker cable I personally prefer CCI/Coleman cables. I've seen those jackets take extreme beatings in all environments and all sorts of machinery run over them.
  
  For your question about 3.5mm to TS, you really just need any audio rated cable and what it's purpose is. For these I personally find it easier to purchase a stereo 3.5mm and solder on the connector I need; RCA, TS, XLR, etc.
  
  
  
• When looking you should shop around multiple vendors and get pricing for various cables at each location. See how their pricing and shipping differ.
  
  
  
• Most 22-26awg signal cable will use foil due to it's small size. Outside of that should be a twisted dump wire. Solid dump wires I've found are not the best for audio as they break easily if a cable is over extended/bent too far. For microphone, as close to 100% coverage over your other pairs is ideal. Any reputable cable manufacturer will provide this information.
  
  
  
• Microphone cable is the same cable as instrument cable. The only difference is there is an extra wire. A balanced XLR will have a dump wire/shield, a hot, and a neutral. An instrument cable only has the dump wire/shield and the neutral generally. The only real thing to look for is the cable's resistance. Digital RCA should be around 75ohms, while Analog RCA is around 20-40. Same for DMX and Audio, DMX looks the same, but is around 110ohms, whereas audio cables will be around that 20-40ohms. This is done to protect the digital transmission of their square waves more, whereas audio doesn't need to and is a sine wave.
  
  Solder
  
  
• Each solder will have a different melting point, another key thing is to look at the melting point of the wires insulation/jacket. Most Lead based solders will have a melting range of 350-450°F. Generally the silver solder will melt around 1,145°F, this is known as easy silver solder, as it is only around 56% pure, hard flow silver solder is closer to 1,375°F. What you'll typically find/use is 70/30 or 60/40 which should be around 350-375°F range. Why some people prefer Silver Solder is for clarity, it has less imperfections that disrupt the flow of the electrons. However your usual 70/30 or 60/40 is just fine as well, the majority of cables you'll work with have been made with this type of solder. One key thing to look for is that the solder you have contains a Flux Resin Core. This helps the solder flow easier and bond to other metals easier.
  
  
  
• Watch videos on youtube, make sure you have a decent Iron [I personally prefer Hakko] the Digital FX888D is a great inexpensive soldering station for beginners. The next thing to do is to practice. Practice, practice, practice. Cut off a few feet of wire and go at it, practice tinning and terminating over and over again. Another thing is to practice undoing a connection. To do this you'll want to put your tip on the joint, and then add solder with a flux resin core. Once solder melts, its melting point goes up in temperature, the flux and resin help to lower that back down to make it flow faster/easier. Then, if you don't have a solder sucker, just pull the wire out of the connection point and while the solder is still flowing tap it out onto a safe surface. This will remove the excess solder but will still make it tinned, ready for your next wire. Key point clean your tip! If your iron didn't come with a gold foil cleaner, get one, they're around $5-25 and worth every penny, here's a $5 one on Amazon. This will clean all the impurities off of your iron and make soldering easier and cleaner. If you're in a pinch and don't have one, a wet paper towel/cloth works. You want it to be wet enough that if you squeeze it with some good force water will come out of it steadily, but not so much water that it pools out when you press your iron against it.
  
  
• A station heats up very quickly, so if you have a shop, those are ideal. Having it well lit and ventilated is key, the fumes can be nasty. Additionally have the right tip on your iron for the job is key. For example, a tip meant to do 26awg signal probably isn't the best suited for then doing 10awg lines.
  
  
  
• Google, sometimes after a long day my mind blanks when making adapters for whatever I'm doing, and I just do a quick google image search. Otherwise, if you want it in book form, along with basically everything you'd need to know about the basics of tech, The Backstage Handbook.
  
  
  
• You should have the following,
  Stereo RCA to XLR Male
  
  Stereo RCA to RCA
  
  Male XLR to RCA
  
  Female XLR to RCA
  
  EP6 to NL4 and NL8, going both ways, ie One side Male Neutrik to Female EP6, and then vice-versa.
  
  1 Male to 2 Female XLR
  
  Then just a slew of various connectors to make anything that may arise.
  
  
  
• Amazon, Anixter, any electronics specialty store will have shrink tube. Be sure to check out how much it'll shrink when heated up, so shrink more than others. How to make them super clean is all up to how meticulous you are. Make sure you have a nice clean strip of the wire, and that your distance for stripping back the otuer jacket, and each wire's inner jackets is proportional to the connectors strain relief. You'll also want to make sure you sex your wire, ie, male XLR should go, Ground, Hot, Neutral when stripped Left to Right. Female XLR should start with the Neutral, then go Hot, then Ground. This will make for a cleaner look when it may be opened up, and less of a hassle when aligning the wires for soldering. For the actual soldering part you'll want to tin both your wire, and the solder point. Solder will flow to where it's hottest. By tinning these you are prepping the points to connect. You'll use less solder, and it will take less time. Once both sides are tinned, put the tip of your iron at a contact point of both the wire and the connector. Then wait a good 2-3 seconds and apply some solder. you won't need much. If you did it right the solder will melt almost instantly and then hold the iron there for another 1-3 seconds and both the solder on the wire and connector will now pool and flatten down naturally from gravity with the solder you just added. Pull your wand away and let it cool for a second or two before you let go of the wire. Shrink tube should be necessary in most XLR, TRS, RCA, NL4, connectors, but if you feel so inclined, then by all means do it. However, for this I recommend using a clear shrink tube. This will make it easy to check if something at the solder point is bad when troubleshooting a cable. For other cables such as an EP6 connector, I will always, ALWAYS recommend use of shrink tubing.
  
  
  
• Labeling depends on the context. For instals in say an audio rack, our typical scheme is U101-A, U101-B, U102-A, the U### = Rack unit number, the letter A thru B, C, D etx refers to the amp channel. For these I typically use 3/8 or 1/2 White or Yellow shrink tube labes with our Rhino Labeler. We do not however shrink them, this is done for service purposes. Depending on your angle when servicing you may not be able to read the label once shrunk, but if left unshrunk you can turn it so it can be read from wherever you are. Note, you should label both ends of the cable the EXACT same. For touring and rental you should put your name/company's info on a label of some sort and then place a piece of clear shrink tube over that. You want to make sure about 1/2-1" of the clear shrink tube carriers over the edges of your label. This will protect your label longer than if they're almost exactly the same length. It's also not a bad habit to run a piece of colored tape, label, whatever under the clear shrink tube on both ends to distinguish cable length. Every company has a different method, but the one I use is the rainbow.
  
  Red - 5ft
  
  Orange - 10ft
  
  Yellow - 15ft
  
  Green - 25ft
  
  Blue - 50ft
  
  Purple - 100ft
  
  White - 200+, one band =200, two bands = 300.
  
  Hopefully this helps you in some way, let me know if you have any other questions or follow-up to any of these responses! edits Grammar, phrasing, some links to specific items, etc.

Around $100 would be a good start. I bought this one. But there is it's non-digital brother. It holds temp very well, (dial it right in with the digital display) even when soldering large battery connectors. Changes temps very quickly. It does everything I use it for. This hobby, fixing TVs, stereos and other electronics. Not quite a production station but it would hold up well in small runs.

Do get an assortment of tips. There are many types, pin point, various width flat heads, etc. What you need will depend on what you are soldering.

Than just take care of the tips. Always clean and tin them when done.

There are many brands out there. Weller has been around for a long time. This station just works for me.

I have had this one for about 10 years. It has been awesome. There is an analog one that is under $100 that is just as nice.

Keep in mind that some of the people in this sub are professionals and they are only going to suggest pro gear. And while I agree with them that a really great iron is a great idea, you can get away with something cheaper than $100 and still get great results.

The iron you posted is probably crap considering how cheap it is. That same iron direct from China is like $5, so that will tell you something. If I can suggest something in between a Hakko and the toy, I've used this iron regularly for years: https://smile.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC

You do not need, and probably do not want a top tier soldering iron for working on a guitar. The big gains on expensive soldering irons are digitally controlled temperature, faster heat up, more tip options, and a lot of extra cost.

The orange Weller is $40, and does everything you could want for working on a guitar.

There are plenty of youtubes that give good instruction, it's very simple to get started. Most common mistake people new to it make is thinking about it like the solder tip is used to paint the solder on the components, when it is just used to heat up the components so the solder will flow into/onto them once they get up to heat. Solder will flow to areas above its melting temp, so you heat the components with the tip, and dab the solder wire at the junction of the components, the solder will flow to these hot areas, then you just want enough heat in the area so when it cools, it doesn't cool too unevenly which can lead to cold solder joints, but you don't want enough heat that you damage the components. For most applications I usually touch the tip to the area for 1-3 seconds, dab the solder on with the tip still on the area, remove the solder and then let the iron sit for another second (with a 40 watt iron set at about 85%). Other times you will require more time as the component will act like a heat sink and take longer to bring up to the temp where solder will melt and adhere, like the back of potentiometers for grounds or amp chassis for grounds. For removing solder, use some Chemtronics solder wick, which is thinly braided wire which you can heat on the component and the solder will run up into the wick through capillary action.

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=asc_df_B000AS28UC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198103947043&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10004731703281341748&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002402&hvtargid=pla-448477212877&psc=1
This is probably the most widely used soldering station, it's relatively inexpensive and fine for most applications, I've built multiple tube amps, done a lot of tube amp maintenance, and built around 50 or so guitar pedals with it.

I run this instead of a Dremel brand tool. I have had a couple Dremels die on me over the years, so I tried this one and it has lasted 4 years so far! I also got a lot of my bits from harbor freight. I use the cuttoff wheels (ALWAYS WEAR FACE PROTECTION WITH THESE), Sanding Drums, and grinding stones the most. Use the cutoff for cutting out large swaths of material, sanding drums for tighter areas, and grinding stones to debur and smooth it all out. Most work that needs a dremel can be done with hand tools for better control. Coping saw, files, and flush cutters can go a long way. A lot of the "pros" don't use Dremels because they can jump out of control and hit a part of the blaster you planned on leaving stock and leaving a huge gash.

As for soldering Irons, I've heard wonderful things about this model, but cheaper models will work fine. TBH, I'd grab something in the $10 range and see if he sticks with the hobby. Maybe for christmas you can get him a nicer one if he's still going at it. I use a super duper old school Weller soldering station, so really anything will work. The issue you'll get with the cheaper soldering irons is the tips will tend to not last long and the heating element might crap out after a few months. Don't go cheaper than $10 here as some of them are meant for wood engraving, not soldering and wont get hot enough to melt solder. Any size solder is fine. I personally use lead/tin solder and just avoid breathing fumes as well as wash my hands when I'm done modding. Lead solder is MUCH easier to work with and requires less heat. Look for "Rosin Core solder" as it's easier to work with as it has flux in the center of the solder.

Good flush cutters, hobby knife, wire strippers, heatshrink, wire, loctite, etc are all valuable modding supplies. We sell some on our shop (shameless plug). I would recommend for plastic to plastic bonds he use Devcon Plastic Welder (make sure it contains Methyl Methacrylate as this acts as a solvent weld to bond the plastics together chemically instead of a weak adhesive grip like putty). Putty should be used as a filler material. I use two different putties. Free form Air for large amounts of gap fill, it is 6 times less dense than normal putty so it wont make the blaster weight 8 pounds when done. It is VERY easy to sand, but sometimes requires a thin layer of bondo over top of it to leave a perfect finish. I also use Apoxie Sculpt which is a direct replacement for normal putty for gap filling purposes. It's MUCH easier to sand than JB Weld putty, and leaves a nice smooth finish when sanded down.

Speaking of sandpaper, get various grades of sandpaper from 100 down to 600 grit (I go as far as 1000 if I want a gloss sheen on something).

Other than all of that, the tools I have on my bench that I would hate to mod without now are: Helping hands (for soldering), various different sizes of needle nose pliers, numerous sizes of small to medium screwdrivers, silicone lubricant, hot glue (for securing wires inside the shell), Electric Screwdriver, and various tweezers.

For basic soldering, a $6 Walmart iron works just as well as a $25 one from Amazon. You'll only notice a difference when you start moving up drastically in budget. You'll get finer controls and a more sophisticated workstation.

Whichever iron you end up with, soldering accessories make your life so much easier.

• fine soldering tips (make sure these are compatible with your iron first)
  
• tip cleaner
  
• stand (this one has a tip cleaner too)
  
• soldering wick - You'll need this if you're biverting.
  
• work mat - So you don't accidentally torch your table
  
  Again, most of this is optional, but really reduces effort / mistakes along the way. You should be able to get most of this stuff bundled together on Amazon.
  
  -----------------------------------------------------
  
  Off-topic, but if you're going to bivert, using solder wick and the pick (from this dental kit) makes the installation quite a bit simpler.

I have this Weller WES51 and its been just great for me. not sure what could be better on a more expensive setup. Maybe more accurate temps or faster warm up? This seems completely capable for what im doing with it though.

I just use a lighter for all my heat shrinking. Is a heat gun much better than a simple lighter?

Get yourself a Weller WE-51 http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU

and some Kester 63/37 solder http://www.amazon.com/Kester-Rosin-Core-Solder-Dispense-Pak/dp/B00AVLM4SO/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1454222158&sr=1-3&keywords=kester+63+37

That's all you need

If you want a station, there really are two which are the standard:

1. Weller WES51
   http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU
   
   
2. Hakko FX 888
   https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11704
   
   If you want just an Iron I would get a Weller Wp25, 30, or 35 depending on how hot you desire.
   http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WP25-Professional-25Watts-Soldering/dp/B000B63BTU
   
   
   
   The radioshack Pro Line actually looks quite nice at $30(on sale for $20 this week)
   http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=15772146
   
   Very good deal and nice quality, downside being they only sell one type of tip and it doesnt come in different wattages.
   

That's waaaaay overkill in my opinion. Don't spend that much on something you're gonna use once a year or something. I treated myself because I solder several times a month and got this guy.

And if you plan to only do kits where you only have to solder switches, you can literally do that with a $5 RadioShack iron (my friend did that for his MiniVan). Switches are pretty much the single easiest thing to solder. They're huge and very heat-resistant. If you want to do, for example, surface-mount diodes, you might want something heat-controllable, but any junk will do for switches.

BUT GET GOOD SOLDER. In particular, most stores sell 60/40 (60% lead, 40% tin) solder. 60/40 solder is awful. 63/37 solder is way better because 63/37 solder melts at a lower temperature and its melting point is one point instead of a range of temperatures where it's partially solid. Kester 44 63/37 is some of the best.

Probably depends on the quality of the wood burner. In most cases they are basically just soldering irons with different tips. You can get variable temperature soldering irons for $12. http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-Variable-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM

As stated, 99% chance it's blown caps (capacitors). It's a very common problem with today's cheaply made TVs and computers.



The good news is that they are actually pretty easy to diagnose and replace. There are tons of video tutorials that will walk you through it. It only takes about 20 minutes maybe to do the whole thing for about $35 - $40 bucks. Then if it ever happens again with another TV, it's only about $15 each time after. So, instead of throwing out that TV, you can repair it for $40; so not bad!



First, you want to diagnose if this is the problem. Lay your TV down on a flat surface and take off the back, usually just need a screwdriver. Look at the capacitors (which look like very short AA batteries) and if they are blown, the tops will be leaking, bulging, and/or oozing. There are TONS of Google images to compare against.

• Google images for bad/blown capacitors
  
  
  
  If it is the caps, all you need are 2 things:
  
  
• A replacement capacitor kit, which you can find on-line for your tv make and model. They run about $15 bucks give or take for the whole set. They will sell you a kit that contains all the capacitors needed for your specific make and model. They come in various sizes and powers, so you want to buy the correct ones for your TV.
  
  
• A soldering iron. You can get a small decent one from Amazon for about $20 bucks. A good investment because you will use it again and again on various TVs, etc.
  
  
  
  
  The videos will walk you through how to do it, including use the soldering iron. It's pretty easy. For what it's worth, I am a woman, with no electronic background and have now replaced and fixed 3 TVs that I've had this happen to.
  
  
• This website is a great resource for their information boards, tutorials, help, etc: http://www.badcaps.net/
  
  
• This is the soldering station I ordered from Amazon for $23 Soldering Station
  
  
• This is the company from Amazon that I've ordered all my caps from. It came recommended. They show good videos and pictures. Just search by your make and model. They are not limited to just LCD tvs. LCD Alternatives
  
  
  I hope this helps!

just get this https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467263305&sr=8-1&keywords=weller

I'd really recommend getting a variable temp iron. Finding that sweet spot around 670 degrees will save you a lot of grief. Not sure what weller sells in 220v models but this guy is a good deal
http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404475386&sr=8-1&keywords=weller+wes51

I have the Aoyue 937+. It's $54 at Amazon and has good reviews. I've done a lot of soldering right from the get go with it and it has served well so far.

I solder for a living and am shocked at the price of this thing. I might get one to try out on some shit boards because, if this can match anything near the performance of my FM-203 or my FX-951 I'll be shocked and thrilled.

Extreme overkill probably, but if you really want to spoil him...Best investment I have made tool-wise.

If he is just getting started I doubt he will need the hot-air rework side of things, but after a while soldering I wanted one for a long time before I actually got around to picking one up...

Mainly posting this here because I am a big Aoyue fan and everything here is Hakko and Weller.

For a soldering station I would consider new unless you find a great deal on something... For example, I use this at work, it's never given me a problem and it's used quite often (we're a semi conductor manufacturer and I share the lab with another)--granted we use a set of Wellers for most of the soldering, but the Aoyue gets high use for the heat gun and occasionally the soldering iron. I liked it so much that I bought one for home, yeah it's a bit high, but if you're doing SMD or other soldering stuff you will appreciate some of the features and included items.


I'm not sure about power supplies, but one good thing there is that age is usually not a big issue, and if you're just needing standard supplies you can probably get away with a decent 12V supply and then build a few regulators for lower voltages.


I've heard that Rigol oscilloscopes are a great value, and that that the lower rate units can be firmware hacked to higher rates. Personally the trouble I have is that after using $5000 Tektronics scopes at work I can hardly even stand to step down to a $2000 Tektronics, so I can't imagine what using a $350 Rigol would feel like... but if you have nothing, this isn't bad.



I'd also check out ham radio flea markets. BTW I have to say that if you are into electronics and what to make a life/career there is no better place to be than into amateur radio. the ARRL handbook alone is an amazing reference. As a personal responsible for documentation at my work I'm blown away by the quality of the writing for those handbooks. Even older copies are great and they're usually cheap. I have a 2003 copy at work and reference it regularly for either the information I need or a great starting place for researching a topic.

I've heard a lot of people in /r/arduino and similar speak highly of moderately-priced soldering stations like this Weller one. While I love my JBC, on price alone I can't entirely recommend it.

What I've always found is best are skinny (and preferably interchangeable) tips with a decently powerful element behind them, giving a good mix of precision and power. You should definitely buy a "station" style soldering iron rather than the cheaper kind where the mains cable goes straight into the iron, the lighter-weight cable between the base and iron makes the whole process so much easier.

My advice for learning would be to start with an everything-included kit that produces some kind of usable item at the end. This was the first Google result for "through hole soldering 101 kit", which appears to be some kind of "Simon" game. Coincidentally, one of the first things I remember making with my own soldering iron. You can move onto surface-mount, assuming you don't get the bug and decide to go straight to reflow soldering once you've figured out which is the hot end of the iron, buying a reasonable iron rather than a bargain-basement one so you get a sufficiently precise tool will enable your first purchase to carry on working for you longer.

My only other piece of advice would be to avoid lead-free solder like the plague until you've figured out the ins and outs of the process. It's almost universally terrible stuff to hand solder with at first and takes a lot of getting used to. Just stick with the easy to use leaded solder and avoid breathing too much of it until you've got the process down.

I am a fan of the Weller WESD51


The Hakko FX888D is also very popular.


Both companies have parts that are widely available.

I love this one! $33 on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?keywords=weller+soldering+iron&qid=1558639033&s=gateway&sprefix=weller+&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1

This is what I use.

It isn't the cheapest adjustable station out there, but it seems to be good quality. I've had a handful of cheap irons over the years, and I wish I had just started with something like this.

Edit: Fixed my link.

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2U29W6X9CSGL6&keywords=hakko+solder+station&qid=1572930700&s=hi&sprefix=hakk%2Ctools%2C184&sr=1-4

Doesn't have a heat gun. Just buy a small heat gun separate if you want one.

Budget one.

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sxin_1_ac_d_pm?ac_md=2-0-VW5kZXIgJDUw-ac_d_pm&keywords=weller+soldering+station&pd_rd_i=B000AS28UC&pd_rd_r=a5df43e8-f3fc-4263-8c37-78f5519f61c5&pd_rd_w=ysOeV&pd_rd_wg=RNBnz&pf_rd_p=24d053a8-30a1-4822-a2ff-4d1ab2b984fc&pf_rd_r=6J41PMAHBDY99A205A6S&psc=1&qid=1572930826&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

​

You listed a lot of garbage chinese garbage. They may last years. They may die directly out of warranty.

As for all the other items, you should buy whatever you feel you need to be safe. A fire extinguisher is a must for any residence but soldering probably isn't going to be the reason a fire is started.

​

I have a $30 30W Weller that I've been using for YEARS. I've left it on for hours accidentally. I've only replaced the tip once in the years I've owned it.

Do I need the 100$ one or is this okay?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I31B0K4Y6LGOBX&colid=1XX9QLCPVDYRV&psc=1&pldnSite=1

This Weller is what you want. Don't mess around with a junky one. Get the real deal first time around.

Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_byt8AbEWCG7MM

I bought this one about a year and half ago and it's been great to me. Just make sure you get a fine point tip for it.

I have a Hakko FX888D and it's great. Might be overkill depending on your uses though.

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M

EDIT: Whatever you get, make sure it's temperature controlled though.
EDIT2: Lead free solder is garbage. Get some proper lead rosin core solder.

This is highly recommended: Kester 44 Rosin Core Solder 63/37 .020 1 lb. Spool https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00068IJWC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Tn0vybNY3QZ01

And if you plan more than one project this soldering iron is great: Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station FX-888D FX-888 (blue & yellow) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Bo0vyb4YNQS1G

Is Preonic worth the investment?

I have a Planck rather than a Preonic but OLKB designs sturdy and reliable boards that are also very interesting.

I honestly think the Planck is like twitter. Having a very low word (key) count makes people more creative in how they express themselves. The Preonic is more like tumbler where more things can be done more easily.

Moving keys to other layers is fine due to the extra thumbable keys on the bottom row. The Preonic doesn't require as many layers because it has so many more keys, so the extra thumb keys aren't really necessary.

That said, it's a nice compromise.

Is it a good build for a beginner?

It's the same difficulty as any other keyboard build that has PCB components soldered on. All you have to do is add switches and through-hole solder them. It's definitely a fine way to learn to solder as long as you follow a few rules.

Most keyboard kits come this way with the exception of those like the Lets Split which you have to solder diodes and a promicro onto also.

The only thing More difficult is getting a PCB printed and buying diodes, resisters, and chips from DigiKey and then using a heat gun or oven to cook all the little things on.

What is a good soldering station?

Cheap ones will work fine. People around here seem to like the Hakko 888d which is what I use. The cheaper ones like this will also work fine. The extra $80 doesn't change much about how you work. Turn on the iron, heat stuff, sponge occasionally, don't touch it to your skin, then put it away safely.

Soldering rules for beginners

1. Don't hold the heat on any part for more than 5 seconds. If it starts looking like a mess, go solder other parts and let things cool off before coming back to fix it. Don't freak out about the speed, just be deliberate and have things ready before you start applying heat
   
2. Use leaded solder because it's much easier to melt and manipulate
   
3. Use rosin core, no clean solder so you don't have to futz around with flux or flux cleaner
   
4. Put the iron down when you're not using it. It is shaped like a pencil and we humans like to tuck those between fingers while manipulating things. Do not do this.
   
   There are a lot of little things to do to maximize soldering experience. You'll figure these out over time. I thing this short list is enough to keep your board intact and blood in your body.

Gonna need something else after you use those though...

I would consider the Hakko FX-888 a good entry-level soldering station. It's great for home usage. The cheapie soldering irons rarely have good temperature control -- so one solder joint will be just fine, the next will be way too hot, and the third will be a cold-solder joint.

If you can find a stable iron -- and that's a huge if, in my experience -- you'll do just fine, regardless of price.

This is something worth spending a little bit on to get something decent. You can play the soldering iron lottery, and you might get lucky, but it might also cost you a lot of time, frustration, and ruined projects.

I'm assuming you're new to soldering things -- consider taking a look at this guy's series on soldering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Sb21qbpEQ
Part 1 covers equipment, part 2 covers technique, and part 3 covers surface-mount work. Those should be sufficient for you to get off the ground and running on home projects. :)

Hakko Fx-888d best damn soldering iron I've ever owned.

Honestly, I get most of my stuff off Amazon, but that's probably because I have Prime. I've also found allelectronics.com to be pretty decent for sourcing larger quantities of heat shrink tubing, wiring, and other stuff.

If you want a no brainer, will definitely work well for you answer, just get yourself a genuine 888D

Just under $100:
http://amazon.com/dp/B00AWUFVY8

Personally I bought a half dozen $30 937D clones and they're working well for me.

Here's my teardown on the clones I bought (FWIW they're up to $40 on ebay now)

http://www.dragonflydiy.com/2014/11/30-ebay-937d-soldering-iron-teardown.html

I bought them because I need a bunch for teaching classes and couldn't afford a half dozen 888s. For just one for my own use, I'd just get an 888D.

If you have special needs like a lot of heat capacity then the JBC CD-2BB, but it's close to $500, yikes.

Build Log 5: Viterbi

Highlights

• Viterbi split ortholinear 70 key keyboard from keeb.io
  
• Kailh Pro Purple Switches from NovelKeys
  
• DSA Honeywell Keycaps from PrimeKB
  
• Socketed Pro Micro controllers
  
• First personalized QMK keymap!
  
  

  Parts List
  

• 1x Viterbi PCB Kit
  
  • 2x Viterbi PCBs (Rev 1.0)
    
  • 2x Push buttons for reset
    
  • 2x 4.7kΩ resistors
    
  • 2x TRRS jacks
    
  • 78 1N4148 diodes
    
• 70x Kailh Pro Purple Switches (Tactile 50g)
  
• 1x Black PCB Viterbi Plate
  
  • 2x PCB swtich plates
    
  • 2x PCB bottom plates
    
  • 16x M2 6mm screws
    
  • 8x M2 11mm standoffs
    
  • 8x adhesive bumper pads
    
• 1x Silver Sheathed TRRS Cable
  
• 1x DSA Honeywell Keycaps
  
• 1x Red Rubber O-Rings
  
• 2x Pro Micro (ATmega32U4)
  
• 4x Mill-Max 12 Position Ultra Low Profile Socket
  
  

  Resources
  

• Nyquist Build Log
  
• An Overly Verbose Guide to Building a Let's Split Keyboard
  
• Socketing a Pro Micro
  
• A Guide to Flashing a Let's Split for Beginners (Windows)
  
• Build Log 1: Nyquist
  
  

  Tools
  

• Hakko FX888D-23BY & Flush Cutters
  
• Hakko T18D16P Tip for general purpose soldering
  
  • The tip that comes with the FX888D is either this tip or one that is extremely similar.
    
• Kester Rosin Core Solder (63/37 .020)
  
• XOOL ESD Tweezers Tools Kit
  
  • ESD-15 for most work, especially inserting the wires during controller socketing
    
  • ESD-34A for desocketing the Pro Micro controllers after they've been socketed (as a pry bar under the controller and then as a wedge between the underside of the controller and the top of sockets)
    
• Engineer SS-02 Solder Sucker
  
• NTE Electronics SW02-10 Solder Wick
  
  

  Notes
  

• The Viterbi build process is pretty much the same as the Nyquist, with the addition of 10 keys. The other difference is the placement of the two resistors, which now are only installed on the master side (the side with the USB cable, the left hand side).
  
• When flashing, I wasn't able to find eeprom files specifically for the Viterbi. I instead used the eeprom files from the Nyquist and everything seems to be working so far.
  
• Some of the keys are a bit crooked... I'm not sure if this is the switches themselves, or me somehow soldering the switches crooked.
  

I'd say so. It would take a bit of reading and practice, but you could do the version look mum has in his tutorial pretty easily with larger components..

The biggest challenge/cost sink I would say will be getting a decent soldering iron and learning to use it.. But with the stripboard he's using, it should be pretty painless.

Good Soldering iron
https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=sr_1_28?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1541069778&sr=1-28&keywords=weller+soldering+iron

cheap (but good starter) iron
https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Programmable-Station-ESD-Switchable-Configurable/dp/B000I30QBW/ref=sr_1_7?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1541069874&sr=1-7&keywords=aoyue+soldering+iron&dpID=41lx2CM8bML&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Lead-free Solder
https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Free-Solder-Wire-0-5-2mm/dp/B071GKC3L5/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1541069977&sr=1-2&keywords=solder%2B2mm&th=1

stripboard
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Strip-Board-Stripboard-PCB-Choice-of-110x93mm-or-94x53mm/222345513198?epid=1055105041&hash=item33c4d348ee:m:m-UAITK6Q2h19Ao6VjMWGoQ:rk:28:pf:0

I may end up putting together some kits if I can figure out how to streamline some of this while keeping it affordable..

For general electronics use, it's hard to beat the Hakko FX888.

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M

Essentially, yes - they're probably too cheap.

If you want good cables, you've got to pay up.

Best Solderless:
https://reverb.com/item/1423315-evidence-audio-sis-pedal-board-kit-10-plugs-10-feet-black-monorail-authorized-dealer

Or learn how to solder.

Buy this best soldering iron: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_oS34ybN5TT4V3

With this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UIC78W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_dT34yb2BTQYXY

And this: http://www.redco.com/Mogami-W2319.html

Money well spent. Patch cables will cost you about $4-$5 to make and make excellent Christmas presents for friends and family.

First.. what soldering iron are you using? Looks like it's not getting hot enough and the solder isn't getting up to temperature.

If you plan on soldering more maybe invest in something like this.. I've been using one for years and it's a wonderful soldering station. The cheapo walmart irons are usually not good at all.. even now being much better at soldering I still can't use one of those.

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-FX-888D/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492479856&sr=8-1&keywords=hakko+fx-888

This is also a good starter setup.

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492479939&sr=8-1&keywords=weller+soldering+iron

get yourself a quality soldering station because temperature control is actually extremely useful. There are cheaper alternatives to the hakko f888 but everywhere i've been this particular station eventually finds its way into every electronics room.

Got a soldering iron for Christmas and dove right in. This is my third 60% build, and by far my favorite.

Parts

• Clear acrylic case and Gat greens from Sentraq
  
• PCB from TechKeys
  
• Black aluminum plate and Cherry stabs from Originative
  
• DSA keycaps (PBT) from PMK
  
• LEDs from switchTop
  
• E-Projects 200 Ohm Resistors from Amazon
  
  

  Tools
  

• Solder sucker
  
• Heat Resistant Soldering Mat
  
• Hakko FX888D Soldering Station
  
• Kester 44 Rosin Core Solder 63/37 .031"
  
• Klein Tools Lightweight Flush Cutter
  
  I'm still tweaking my QMK keymap, but will contribute it to the repo once I get it to a good spot.
  

IMO weller has gone the way of many. you're paying an extra $30 for the name.

i use this for everything, including SMT

Neither of those irons is temperature controlled. The best you're going to get out of either of those is guessing the temperature based on the voltage settings.

If you're willing to spend that much on a board I would highly recommend getting a better station such as the Hakko FX-888D.

> Weller WD1

Seriously? If you're going to be dropping $400+ on a soldering station, then you buy some quality HW. JBC > Weller in precision soldering equipment.

OP is looking for something like a TS-100, or a FX-888

OP can buy cheaper if they're not planning to get into the hobby, but I'd suggest investing in a station with adjustable heat as a minimum.

http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Variable-Soldering-Station-Removable/dp/B00MCVCHJM/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1452476844&sr=1-1&keywords=aoyue+soldering+station

Best $30 I ever spent.

I'm in the process of building my first FPV drone with my 11 year old son. Tools I owned or have purchased for this are:

A set of small screw drivers. I found a set in the bargain bin at NAPA Auto that had straight, philips, a few hex, a few sockets.

A decent electronics soldering station. Not the gun. I have a digital Weller that is easy to control, but the analog is just as good for these purposes.

A third hand. There are many different kinds. I got a cheap $5 one at Harbor Freight. Not great, but does the job.

Solder, de-soldering wick, flux (maybe)

Depending on where you're doing your work, might want an air-filter or fan.

A magnifying lamp is helpful but not necessary.

An assortment of board stand-offs/spacers is handy.

A good small pair of wire snips.

Wire stripper

A digital multimeter is not a bad idea.

Those are all the major tools you might need. Plus all the drone parts. batteries/charger. Radio/receiver. Camera/receiver(goggles or screen).

In short, it's a lot of stuff. The drone parts end up being the least expensive part, honestly.

Above links are just examples, not necessarily endorsements.

You mentioned you're on a budget, which I totally understand. Building is not the cheapest route, but it's been a lot of fun so far. People who've done it for a while tend to forget the cost of tools. Once you've built one, subsequent drones are relatively cheap. You can re-use batteries, the charger, most decent radios, even the receiver.

If you're not in a hurry, Bangood is a good source for cheap(er) parts. You're on your own for support, usually, but there's lots of help out there.

I hate to say it, but RadShack makes my favorite budget desktop soldering iron. I have one of these and it works wonderfully. I've been through about 40 tips over the last 3 years with it, not counting one-use modified tips.

At the school lab, we were using this (in quantity at lab desk) or this (instructor's, who would loan it if we knew how to solder). I am going to miss the school lab. Transferring to the next higher level at a different university, where a friend attends, and their lab sucks.

If I bought a new one, I'd get the Weller WD1002. Until I upgrade to that, I'll keep my radshack 64-053.

If you buy a $13 soldering iron, you're buying a $13 soldering iron. Some will work better, some will work worse. Really doesn't matter where you bought it. I never had one last more than a few months.

If yours started out working ok then didn't, make sure your tip is clean. A highly oxidised tip left on overnight isn't going to work well, no matter the iron... if your tip is black, replace it. If it only came with a fine point tip, consider a different shape tip. Fine point tips (generally) only work well with higher power soldering irons.

If you want contactless-soldering, then you're not looking for an iron. You're looking for either a hot air reflow station or an iRDA station. Irons are meant to touch the solder to melt it. Hot air works with solder paste, meant for very low temp soldering (SMD safe). iRDA uses infrared light to melt solder, generally used for specialized surface soldering.
***
It sounds like you may be a little new to soldering, so I also highly recommend this comic to you... Soldering is Easy - PDF. I highly recommend it to those who have been around the block a few times as well.

I'm still pretty new to this myself, but like you I have some electronics experience in the past. I just got this Weller 40w iron station with a desolder braid/sucker and a solder tip cleaner. Oh and a more precise tip for the solder iron

I'm really happy with it all so far, and couln't imagine needing more for a while. A heat gun would be nice for de-soldering and reflowing premade boards (like modding Boss pedals), but that can also be done with a regular solder iron as far as I know. You can get the above for about $60 total, so it's a nice way to get your feet wet without a huge investment. Then you gotta add on components/enclosures/pots/switches etc. Maybe get a helping hands and/or circuit holder if you need

Oh and get a good multimeter. I went a step up from the $20 ones and got this one which I'm also really happy with.

It depends what you are working on, but if you are working on through-hole and SMT in the under $40 price range I'd go with a Weller WLC100. It was my first iron and I used it for a long time before I finally upgraded (I still use it sometimes).

The stock tip was a little big for my taste so I bought a replacement (ST7) tip. The ST7 is a smaller conical tip. You can also find these on Amazon, but pay attention to the shipping if you order it off Amazon Marketplace, some 3rd party tool vendors will gouge you!

For the Fume extraction you should buy a fume extractor... heh. Pretty simple. I built my first fume extractor from an old PC power supply, an old exhaust fan, an articulating lamp base, some activated charcoal pads, and a length of dryer hose.

You can certainly go that route and build your own. It's nice if you already have the parts on hand, but eventually it became too unwieldy so I bought a Weller Fume Extractor. You can buy something similar for about half the price on Marlin P. Jones, but I was never able to catch them in stock.

Either way, look around, have fun, and good luck!

I am using this currently but this is coming in the mail tomorrow ;) along with some more lube and solder.

Edit: I have built all of my boards with the Weller without any issues. I also have a desoldering iron which is 10x better than the pump. If you ever plan on desoldering pick yourself up the desoldering iron for the extra 10 bucks. The solder pumps will break and you will end up spending that much on them anyways so its definitely worth it.

I started out with this one.

ANBES Soldering Iron Kit Electronics, 60W Adjustable Temperature Welding Tool, 5pcs Soldering Tips, Desoldering Pump, Soldering Iron Stand, Tweezers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XZ31W3M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_BFgFDbZKQ2TAX

The ferrule to tighten down the tips I accidentally screwed sideways and stripped the threads. So I can't use it anymore.

I upgraded to this and like it a lot. The only thing that stinks is you would have to buy a separate solder sucker.

Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FHgFDbX2G3J1V

I have this one now and I really like it a lot. I also use 60/40 solder. I hear people rant and rave about 63/37. Either way.

Weller has a $40 station that works pretty well

Not sure about that one. Personally, I'd recommend this one. It has a station, where the one you linked is in a case. I don't really ever see a soldering iron being put into a case.

Get this one. 40 watts with adjustable level control. $40. A well known and reliable brand. I've had mine for years and it's been great. I would also suggest getting a few different sized tips for different projects. I almost always use the really thin pointy tip for greater control, but the wide blade tip that comes with this can be useful for things that require a lot of heat (desoldering chassis mounted cap cans for example).

Nice! It is rewarding knowing that you can repair and modify your guitar's wiring as you please, just gotta break the seal and do it that first time. As with anything, practice makes perfect. My solder jobs looked pretty terrible and messy the first several times I tried it, but the more I do it the cleaner and more professional they look. Youtube instruction videos are super helpful as well, and having a decent iron that's at least 40 watts makes things much easier (doesn't have to be too expensive, I use one of these and am very happy with it).

Also, Seth Lovers are a great call. I have them in my Les Paul and they're the definition of the classic PAF sound, lots of snap and clarity but also totally lush and warm and punchy. Perfect for pretty much anything short of metal imo.

Typically the better iron brands are Weller and Hakko, with their hobbyist-level stations being the WES51 and the 888D

SRA-Solder has items on Amazon, they sell Aoyue products in the US.

this would blow your whole budget, but would set you up so you could solder almost anything.

You're not going to get a good soldering iron for $10. The good Hakko ones are electronically controlled so they're always at the correct temperature.

I initially scoffed at spending that much money on one for how often I solder, but the quality of work I can do is so much better now. They're worth every penny.

Oh wow, MX black switches are usually not very tight fitting with caps either. MX clear switches are the ones that are notorious for this! Sorry this happened to you OP. This isn't the greateast video showing how to de-solder switches but should give you a decent ideal of what you'll need to do. The only tools you'll really need are a sodapullt, some solder wick, & a decent temp controlled soldering station. Well, TBH you could get away with a cheaper soldering iron if all you plan on ever using it for is replacing these few switches. Although I will say cheap soldering irons with no temp. control are much easier to damage the PCB or pads with.

-----

1A) Art of Electronics book (3rd edition)

• https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521809266 (download example chapter)
  
  
• Not cheap, but one of the most useful EE reference books.
  
  1B) you can download old versions of many text books (this suggestion is not meant as a gift)
  
  
• see https://www.reddit.com/r/ECE/comments/cbmbou/best_ee_fundamentals_textbook/etgo4z4/
  
  -----
  
  

2. Digital Soldering Station
   
   

• By digital, I mean temperature is shown on LED or LCD display, and has some method to change the desired tip temperature.
  
  
• https://www.howardelectronics.com/soldering/soldering-stations/by-manufacturer/xytronic/lf-399d/xytronic-lf-399d-mini-type-80-watt-soldering-station/
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M
  
  -----
  
  

3. Digital Caliper
   
   Comparison Review:
   
   

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqZx_FNbSs
  
  
• Don't buy a piece of crap from c h i n a
  
  iGaging EZCal IP54 6" Inch/Metric/Fraction (#100-333-8):
  
  
• http://www.igaging.com/page14.html
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AQEZ2W ($26.95)
  
  

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2lza0RZII8
  
  

USD 150 is a very good budget, you need to get some reliable and proper tool.

Soldering iron: https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1523249667&sr=8-3&keywords=hakko+888

Solder: https://www.amazon.com/Kester-24-6337-0027-Solder-Alloy-Diameter/dp/B0149K4JTY/ref=sr_1_4?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1523249737&sr=1-4&keywords=kester+63%2F37

Cleaning wire: https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-599-029-Replacement-Insert-Cleaner/dp/B00Q88Q1ZG/ref=sr_1_2?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1523249854&sr=1-2&keywords=hakko+brass+wire

Helping hand (Optional ) https://www.amazon.com/SE-MZ101B-Helping-Magnifying-Glass/dp/B000RB38X8/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1523249902&sr=1-1&keywords=soldering+helping+hands

I gotta agree. I picked up an Ayoue and, at my current level, am completely happy with it. Definitely find something temperature controlled in your budget.

To be clear, I can't justify dropping $100 on a hobby right now. So, it wasn't a choice between the Ayoue and a Hakko. It was between a RadioShack 2nd-degree burn stick and the Ayoue. I think I made the right choice.

Just say no to big bulky solder guns. Those are for commercial wiring jobs in buildings, not for delicate things like guitar wiring. For the same money (or less) you can pick up a nice Hakko FX888D on Amazon, or for less you can get this decent little xtronic, or one of those neat little knockoff Hakko T12 units

A pair if needle tip tweezers and a hi-powered magnifying glass (mounted a cheap $5 camera +10 macro filter) onto a $10 Flexible Helping Hand)

Looks good to me! I've been using this guy for a while now with no issues.

Solder

Iron

At 725F

Op-amps: the TL072 is one of the most widely used, it's cheap, and it works fine in most situations. It has two small drawbacks for some applications: it needs a dual supply, at least -/+5V, and it's not a "rail to rail" op-amp, so it needs some supply headroom above and below the signals you plan to put through it. Some other op-amps can do rail-to-rail with a single +3V supply, for instance, which makes them potentially easier to use with a modern low voltage MCU (some Arduinos/Teensys/etc.). But if you've got the power supply set up properly, the TL072 will be great.

Audio Out: You'll need to match voltage levels and have some sort of output driver.

If you're going to a line out (like to a mixer or stereo receiver) you want to aim for a max of about +/- 1V and you can use any old op-amp to buffer and level-shift the signal on the way out. Here's a handy worksheet for designing the level shifter.

I haven't done a headphone driver; I know different headphones have vastly different specs, and my research here has been really confusing! I do believe typical op-amps won't provide enough output current to reliably drive headphones, though -- traditionally something like an LM386 is used.

Assorted parts: If you're experimenting, just buy a big kit package of resistors, one of ceramic caps, one of electrolytic caps -- like 200-to-1000 piece kits, 10 to 20 each of 20-40 different values.

Transistors, get a handful of 2n3904 and 2n3906, those are general purpose BJTs in NPN and PNP configuration. Also some 2n5457 N-channel JFETs. 1N4148 diodes are fine for all the low-voltage signal stuff.

Check out Sparkfun or Adafruit for breadboardable switches, buttons, and other goodies. Adafruit tends to be a tiny bit more user friendly and Sparkfun a little more towards the I'm-gonna-build-a-flying-killer-robot-in-my-garage crowd. Both of them offer breadboard and jumper wire kits. I love these precut-and-color-coded-for-length wires for keeping breadboards super-tidy; others prefer the freeform jumper wires.

You're gonna want a soldering iron soon. A low-end temperature-controlled soldering station is IMO worth the money over a dumb iron; I've got an X-Tronic 3020 but other people swear by Hakko. Pick up a set of finer chisel tips than the iron comes with. A big silicone soldering mat, QuadHands, desoldering wick will come in handy too if you've got the budget for them.

Shouts to the Ben heck show and Felix for showing me these it's amazing. ive used the normal kind but these are far better

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B010C504NK/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1473117368&sr=8-9&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=soldering+helping+hands

I have this. It was on sale on newegg for like $20 at one point, so I was like 'yes plz' and snagged one. Really good iron IMO, I've had it for 2 years and it's done...

• 3 board builds (all 60%)
  
• 6 desolders (5 fullsize, 1 60%)
  
• A work project (soldered 10 joints on 150 PCBs)
  
  It's a fuckin' tank tbh. The spool thing it comes with is trash though, I threw it out immediately.

If you are a total noob, I suggest you just get any 60 W soldering iron. Really. This one suits you and cost less than $10. Because getting a FX-888D now is like killing mosquitoes with cannons.

You also may need a stand where to rest the iron when not using it. It comes with a sponge so you can clean the iron tip from time to time (just don't forget to wet it before use).

Finally, you will need some solder. Stay away from lead-free solder, this stuff isn't for amateurs. Get a good-old 63/37 solder with rosin flux core, this one have a 0.3 mm diameter, small enough to even solder SMD components (but don't start with them, they need more practice to be hand-soldered).

Soldering isn't a difficult skill but it requires practice. So you better start small and take easy steps. In no time you will be soldering SMD components. :)

PS: you also want to get some desoldering wick and a hand vacuum pump/solder sucker, those are more useful than you might think.

DISCLAIMER: all these items are just suggestions, buy whatever you think is more useful for you. Just wanted to give you a start point.

The most important thing about having successful Deans connectors setup is the soldering iron. The discount 10W-30W 'idiot wand' soldering iron is just not going to cut it in this case. You will suffer, you will hate soldering, your joints will look bad, and they will not be strong.

Invest in a good soldering iron with at least 50W like this one. I use the digital readout version which is fancier but that's it.

It pays itself off almost right away if you plan to do any sort of random electrical work.

Female plugs always are on the battery, so that they can't short out by accident easily.

Yes, it's definitely worth paying for the Weller WESD51 or its analog version.

Any decent iron will get the job done, but the Weller station is dependable and well designed. It gets hot fast and keep temperature even when faced with larger solder joints like those on your XT60 connectors, and you can get small tips like the Weller ETO for tight spaces like pin headers on your FC.

I've used the Hakko soldering station as well, and though it works just fine, I was a bit annoyed that it takes several button presses to change the temperature (you have to cycle through each decimal place), but the Weller simply has a knob. To me, this was a huge design failure that interrupts my work when I need higher or lower temps.

Hey dude, I had never soldered before I soldered together my infinity 60% from massdrop. I just bought this soldering iron and bought this learn to solder thing and all I did was just solder in all the pieces, unsolder a few of them to get the hang of that in case I messed up on my board, and that was it. I built my keyboard and it's amazing.

Yeah, it'll require soldering. You can get away with something relatively cheap, but if you want good results I wouldn't really recommend anything <$40. I've heard good things about this soldering station but I have no idea what the 1-5 adjustments actually correspond to for temperature.

If you'd rather, I'm offering free assembly services right now, but it really doesn't look like a hard board to work with. I'd say it's a good beginner project.

How much are you going to be making electronics a hobby? If you're just going to be soldering some boards occasionally you could save a bit on the iron and get this Weller. Also a cleaner. If you go with the 888 that will have a wire cleaner built in. I'm getting old so I personally would recommend at least a magnifying glass. I have this helping hand The clips didn't do much for me but the glass did. There are times where the switch pin just gets lost and the glass helped a lot. I also picked up this kit when I started, primarily for the sucker, but I thought the other tools may come in handy. So far they haven't, other than the solder. The first time I tried to use the sucker I could not get it to work correctly, I just wasn't getting enough of a seal around the hot solder, thinking I'd melt the tip, so I ended up buying a different pump that I still have never used, because I eventually DID learn to use the cheaper sucker. I also can't make solder wick work properly, apparently. If this is your first time soldering/desoldering I recommend getting a cheap practice kit that you don't care if you ruin. I can recommend this one as it has you intentionally foul up joins so you can learn to fix them. You won't need strippers. Flush cutters would be helpful if you need to trim the pcb mount legs off your switches (like Zealios, which you will if you have a GH60 Satan pcb) or trimming LEDs. Work mat would be helpful to keep your work area clean but not necessary. You will need a small screwdriver but I can't remember what size. Tweezers or one of these grabber thingies are always helpful when the screw flips sideways when you are trying to seat it. I used this solder on 3 builds so far and have had no issues with joins failing.

Everyone here is recommending you buy a soldering station - which is 3 times the cost of the full kit you linked which is absurd. The Hakko 888 is fantastic, but not what should be recommended in this scenario.

​

Honestly what you linked is likely crap and will probably frustrate you away from the hobby. If you get something with easy-to-buy interchangeable tips, it will help you a lot. Something like: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ may be a bit better of a deal and will be fine for learning. Also grab yourself some well-reviewed solder (rosin-core is fine), a cheap solder wick, cheap solder sucker, and a flux pen (flux will only be necessary if you are re-working - something you may do a lot when you start).

​

If you are looking for a cheap multimeter as well, anything will likely be good enough. Buy whatever has a feature set you think you need. Just note, that I wouldn't recommend measuring anything like mains AC with a cheap meter. Stick to low voltage ( < 50V) DC and you'l be fine. One of my favorite meters is the VC921 pocket DMM. It can be had for ~$10 and is accurate enough for me with a good feature set. Just note that it doesn't do current measurements. If you think you may get into electronics long term I recommend investing a nice meter. Fluke is the go-to brand-name, but there are many who will work just as well. Fluke 101 is ~$40 and will do everything besides current readings. If you want current, I recommend stepping up to the Fluke 107.

​

Also not a fan of all of the tools in that kit you linked. A lot seem un-necessary or extra cheap. These are expensive, but Adafruit and Sparkfun are great and reliable sources for hobbyists and have similar kits:

​

https://www.adafruit.com/product/136

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14681

Good quality as in: Will work for Nerf stuff for a while, or solid build quality where you won't have to replace it often?

If you want to go for something that's no-worries and will probably last for the foreseeable future, the Hakko FX888 is SOLID.

Anything else I'd consider "nice" would have to have a soldering iron holder and temperature control that I trust. Very nice features, because if you leave the iron sitting for a while and don't tin the tip, the heat will start to oxidize/damage the finish of the tip and become unusable. This can also happen on any iron if you leave it running hot for a while, but something that's temperature-controlled rather than with an arbitrary power knob will keep your iron tip intact much longer.

Mid-tier would be something with variable power control but not temp control. You might be able to get away with lowering the power while you work instead of turning it off.

The "Amazon Special" that UNW1 linked is a fantastic soldering iron for the price, plenty of power whereas other cheap irons won't heat up quickly enough. I'd recommend it for most people starting out, since it's great for learning the basics + soldering iron care. There is practically no temperature control on the thing though. I turned it way down to minimum (Claimed 200-250C, which is nowhere near hot enough to melt solder) and it still threatened to overheat.

I've heard of irons that are even better than the Hakko/similar models in terms of where the heating element's located, other features... but I don't have much expertise in the field and haven't seen a need for those. As far as I'm concerned, $100 is as high as you need to go for now, and $50 can probably get you set up with a solid iron.

If you can up your price range a bit I've got this iron and rather like it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_4D.wCbHNZGMGS

But if you're willing to spend $100 the difference in performance is incredible.

I got this one as my first and only solder station and it's worked out great for making cables and such. It's not temperature controlled (but does have a temperature knob) but as I understand it you don't really need that unless you're doing more complex stuff.

I also got a narrower tip on eBay for about 5 bucks, but really only needed that for the Hifiman SMC connectors, I got by with everything else fine with the stock tip
http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC

At home, I've been using my Weller WLC100 for 10 years now. I can solder down to 0.65mm pitch pretty reliably. You just gotta find that sweet spot with the temperature knob. For me its like 3.25. If you want to solder that fine of a pitch, you'll need a magnifier of some sort though. It'll make it way easier

$40, tips extra

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC

I mainly use this tip

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-ST7-0-03-X0-79-Conical/dp/B000B607OC

I'm excited to see what others recommend. I'm a mech e and only solder about once a week max, usually as a hobbyist on a budget, so at home I have the Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_cuz3BbDZDT93R which i consider a great value for a reliable entry level unit, and freed up money to spend on other related equipment that is more important to me, like high quality helping hands, decent solder sucker, solder tips, that wire sponge tip cleaner doodad, a rubber mat, nice fan, and even good wire and proto boards. I don't use the heat gun on a regular basis, but the unit at work is a 852D 2 in 1 combo unit and I don't like how much desk space it takes up, so I prefer a separate mid tier or even chepo heat gun, since I rarely use it. Grain of salt, I only use it for melting adhesive or shrinking wrap or random stuff, so I defer to others for good heat gun advice more in line with your use case.
edit: updated the part number for the 2 in 1

I'm happy with this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/

In between cheap and expensive. I did need to buy a thinner (sharper?) tip for soldering small electronic stuff.

That stand type, which I've used, is pretty useless. I would personally recommend the classic 40W Weller station

Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_o2QwzbGGCK046

Also had to get a fine tip from HHL

I have several that I use. My standard is a Weller WLC 100 that I have been using for the last 10 years. I have built and repaired several amps with this iron.

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1536350850&sr=1-4&keywords=weller+soldering+iron

There are nicer soldering irons out there but I bare minimum would be Weller WLC100

I just had a similar misshap! How weird. I got lucky since the model name and number were written on the soldering iron itself so I could get a new one cheaply. You need a new "Soldering Iron" not a new "Soldering Station" I believe. You can plug a really simple iron into a very nice station and have all the benefits of the station temp controller and so on, I think. I've got a WLC100 and the replacement soldering iron is called the SPG40

There's tons of tutorials online if you really want to learn how to solder. Bear in mind that (like a lot of things) good soldering is the result of decent tools but mostly a bit of practice. It's not a difficult skill to learn, though.

Some tips off the top of my head:

Buy a decent iron if this is something you want to spend more than a few hours on. Something that can get hot enough so it doesn't wimp out soldering heavy ground connections, terminal strips etc. Don't crank up the heat too much if you're just soldering small components, but don't be a pussy with the heat dial if shit isn't melting fast enough for your liking.

This is possibly my favorite tool I've ever owned. It's more expensive than those small, flimsy solder suckers but it's much more effective and will last forever. Don't dick around with desoldering braid/wicks if you don't have to. IME they aren't very effective, are hard to use, and heat up the board/components too much. For certain applications (maybe surface mount) it can be handy but with through-hole components a spring loaded solder sucker like the Soldapullt is king.

Use rosin core solder, and don't use lead free solder if you're in the US. Lead free solder is a bit more difficult to use.

...that's it for now. Have fun.

I'm going through the same journey right now. Here are a few of the things I picked up. The first 3 are the actual soldering equipment/materials you will need. The fourth is a good electronic screwdriver set and tweezers (not required but useful).

https://smile.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1520432768&sr=8-4&keywords=Weller

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B072WN1DMG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0777LMVTT/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B019ZSK57K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I’m using this one.

if you still need to get an iron, i suggest one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC you can buy them at Altex on I35. but like the other person said, if you just need to solder one thing, SXSW Create (where the maker booth is) is free, and full of soldering irons. Opens at 11 tomorrow morning.

hakko fx-888D is my current iron. Costs a pretty penny but if you're going to be doing a lot of work it's great. It's digital, so it regulates temperature instead of power, and you can cycle between custom temperature presets or set it to whatever temperature you feel like. the nibs are a bit expensive compared to the shitty iron I had before it, but they also last a lot longer; also I got a combo deal on amazon for like 10 nibs for 15 bucks when I bought the iron

only downside is it looks like a fisher price toy

The Hakko FX888D is going to be what the majority of people that comment here will point you to, with good reasons. Price may be a bit high but this thing will see you through all your hobbies that require soldering, honestly there is nothing bad I can say about the unit besides the fact that it’s ugly AF 😂

Weller WE1010 is what I’m currently using (Gave Hakko away to my brother) As far as I can tell there is no noticeable difference between the two, with the same heat up time, performance, etc. one thing is that this doesn’t come with a brass tip cleaner like the Hakko so you’d have to get one yourself.

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-FX-888D/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1482371069&sr=1-4&keywords=Hakko

I have something similar to this guy from Hakko. You can find it a little cheaper if you shop around, and there's one with an analog temp dial versus digital that's a bit cheaper as well.

That's a proper soldering station, and it's not cheap. But you get what you pay for, like with any tool. I can say I've put a ton of use into it over several years, and it gets the job done easily. Backs of pots? Not even a hiccup.

That $40 Weller is probably decent too, but that's probably about the bare minimum you should be looking at.

I also have no idea why Hakko makes their gear look like children's toys in the US, but don't let the styling fool you...they're serious pieces of equipment. And IIRC one of the cheaper options if you're comparing similar models to Weller and such.

Edit: As for what we use in our production shop, I think we have something like these from Metcal. That's obviously overkill. But having used our stations at work and that Hakko at home, I can say the latter is just fine and you'd hardly notice the difference for the jobs you're doing.

I have this digital Hakko station which I've been very happy with and is very popular among the DIY community
https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-FX-888D/dp/B00ANZRT4M/

I’ve never tried a TS100, so maybe it’s great, but just beware that buying cheap might just translate to buying twice (this translates to a lot of things in life).

I originally bought a handheld soldering iron made by Weller, a name brand, and could never get the hang of soldering. I thought it was just a skill I couldn’t pick up for years until I tried a Hakko (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANZRT4M) soldering station, and it was so dang easy!

In trying to save money, I only caused myself frustration, and I had to buy twice instead of once. A good soldering station is more than just a hobbyist item, it’s a genuinely useful tool to have. You can fix headphones, power cables, and do all kinds of things that will save you money.

So, sorry to contradict you OP, but from experience, I recommend investing in the right tool the first time.

Edit: plus the Hakko isn’t terribly expensive itself, at $100

I took the plunge and bought this one . Love it and it's worked for all of my RC, 3D printing, guitar, and automotive hobbies. Well worth the investment.

I tried the cheap kits. I went through frustration with irons that I thought were my fault. I ended up with this Hakko FX888D and never looked back. The temp control works great. It comes up to temp quick. The tips are very nice. I do recommend you also get some tip tinner.

Edit: Please make sure you turn off and unplug your power supply before cutting any wires.

Parts / tool list below, this what i used but there are substitutes out there.

Note: Main thing that is slightly challenging is soldering the XT60s, basic idea is to “tin” (soldering term) the wires and the XT60s first, then heat the connector with your iron as you put the wire in to get a good fusion. Decent video on soldering them:solder XT60s


My soldering Iron:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ANZRT4M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Soldering Flux:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008ZIV85A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Solder (60-40)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071G1J3W6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

New XT-60’s and Shroud:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074PN6N4K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Helping Hands (not required, but def helpful)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RB38X8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Bought this a while ago, but any heat shrink will do:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MFA3OFA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Wire - If you’re new to soldering and need practice, or you’re going to split your cables for Rasberry Pi, or other components, etc:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ABOPMEI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use a Hakko FX888-D
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ANZRT4M/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1449911132&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=hakko+fx-888d&dpPl=1&dpID=41sCMxh%2BAYL&ref=plSrch
Mainly I use it for electronics, but it's a nice mid level iron.

Well, if you can use the lab and it has a scope in it then you just scored big time.

As far as $100. I would get:

(amazon links for convenience, use any supplier you wish)

• DMM (digital multimeter) - must have diode check, DC volts, AC volts, Ohms, and continuity. Extech EX330 ($50) or Equus 3320 ($20)
  
  
• clip leads for the meter such as these - these are important because you will need to take values while the amp is on, and you don't want to be poking around a live amp
  
  
• variable power/temp soldering iron - cheap one good one better one
  
  
• 60/40 leaded solder - I like this kind
  
  
• desolder braid
  
  
• rosin flux
  
  
• contact cleaner
  
  
• (de-oxit d-5)[http://www.amazon.com/Hosa-D5S6-Deoxit-Contact-Cleaner/dp/B00006LVEU/]
  
  
• flush cutters
  
  
• solder sucker
  
  
• shrink tube of various diameters
  
  
• 92%+ isopropyl alcohol
  
  
• windex
  
  
• q-tips
  
  
• paper towels
  
  
• needle nose pliers
  
  
• nice set of phillips head screwdrivers
  
  
• standard screwdriver
  
  
• miner's headlamp
  
  
• digital camera for taking many many pictures before and during disassembly
  
  
• printer for printing service manuals
  
  
• heat gunor hair dryer
  
  
• canned air
  
  
  EDIT: Light bulb socket, 100W + 60W real light bulbs (not the hippy engery saving kind), electrical outlet - these are for making a dim bulb tester.
  
  All I can think of right now.

That set up will do all right.

Helping hands are good, solder looks fine (although if you do a lot of soldering you'll burn through that quickly), and the wick is fine.

One other thing you should get is some flux (probably paste or liquid, maybe someone can recommend a specific flux?). Flux makes soldering a million times easier if the parts are dirty.

Soldering iron wise, that's an alright iron. The tip it comes with is fine for large/medium components. However, consider how much soldering you plan to do. Is it a lot, possibly on small things?

Both the Weller WES51 and the Hakko FX888D are both popular, quality soldering irons. Basically, the handles are smaller (easier to control and maneuver), and the temperature is regulated (more consistent/stable). Additionally, the range of available tips with the WLC100 is not as large.

In conclusion, that's a perfectly fine setup (with the flux), but think about how much you anticipate soldering in the future and considering a higher quality soldering iron. Hope that helps.

I'm pretty new to soldering, but I picked up a Hakko FX-888d and love it. It's got 300+ great Amazon reviews and only costs $100. Any complaints I saw were about it being complicated to set the temp, but this was not my experience at all.

http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-Digital-FX888D-Soldering-Station/dp/B00AWUFVY8

Edit: Yeah, the color makes it look like a toy... But I assure you it is not.

A calculator: TI36X Pro, Casio fx-115ES PLUS, or HP 35s (these are the 3 best calculators allowed on the FE and PE)

If you get a graphing calculator, either get the TI-84 Plus C (which can be used any time graphing calculators are allowed), or get an HP Prime or TI Nspire CS CAS (which are WAY more powerful and useful).

Pencils: Pentel Graphgear 1000, Pentel Kerry, Rotring Rapid Pro (include an eraser such as the Sakura Foam Eraser). The rapid pro pen is also pretty popular.

If he's doing a software/computer engineering degree, get him a copy of K&R2.

If he's doing electrical/electronics engineering, he'll benefit from a nice soldering station, a multimeter, or a used oscilloscope (such as a Rigol DS1052e).

I can't give much advise for mechanical and civil. Sorry.

Oh yea, the paper is useful... especially with some pressboard report covers. They make nice notebooks (albeit expensive), and pair really really well with looseleaf textbooks.

\ The HP is more expensive, but it looks like a tool that professional engineers use when they're not in front of a computer. I ended up getting an HP prime, so I never could justify a 35s

Lots of great options. This is great if you change the temp a lot or forget to turn it off. This is great if you never change the temp (like me). This is great if you're on a tight budget.

My Aoyue lasted about 5 months, it was covered under warranty but all they did was send me a replacement board that I need another iron to install. Spend the extra cash and get a Hakko: http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-Digital-FX888D-CHP170-bundle/dp/B00AWUFVY8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420504863&sr=8-1&keywords=hakko

You certainly can use that soldering gun but it won't be fun or easy because it is so large (that's what I started with and used for a few years). I'd suggest picking up a Hakko FX-888D or Hakko FX-951 if you have a desire to continue with electronics.

Definitely add more solder because it has flux in it which will clean the oxides and allow the solder to flow out. You will also need to use a bit of solder wick/desoldering braid to clean up the pad before fixing it. You'll want to get some Kester leaded solder to work with.

Watch these Pace soldering tutorials before you begin to understand the basics. Heat the pad and wire then touch the solder wire to the joint. If you add it to the tip of the gun/iron the flux will burn away and it will start to oxidize. Doing it that way certainly has it's place but it isn't for this type of work as you'll need to add extra flux to protect the joint.

I used cheap soldering irons for years. Over a decade. I always felt like an idiot, because I'd watch tutorials online and it looked so much easier, and I just couldn't seem to get the process down right.

So this year, I decided to drop some money on a proper iron - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWUFVY8/ - and WHY OH WHY DID I NOT DO THIS A DECADE AGO. It makes ALL the difference in the world.

I cannot emphasize this enough: Spare yourself frustration, save up extra money and buy a Weller or a Hakko. It may seem like a lot of money compared to a $20 Radio Shack style soldering iron, but you're basically buying it for life.

This is my go to list for what you need for soldering:


hakko soldering iron w/ diagonal cutters $91

hakko diagonal cutters $4.37

solder $7

solder sucker $6

solder flux $8 check digikey

solder wick $7 check digikey

wire strippers $10

helping hands $7 check harbor freight

check for lower price

One of the hakko clone stations paired with some genuine hakko tips is probably a good compromise on price/value. Maybe someone else that's from the UK could suggest something different that's also affordable there.

you may need a 3rd hand

https://www.amazon.com/QuadHands-Helping-Hands-Third-Soldering/dp/B00GIKVP5K/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1511884159&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=soldering+holder&psc=1

I have found this one to be much, much better.

• Get an arduino starter kit and start building projects.
  
• This is a good one for a good price.(it's twice that or more on amazon)
  
• and this is a good price for a batch of sensors(no arduino included)
  
• if you want to move stuff a batch of servos is fun
  
• a soldering iron is good
  
• this one is good for the price. I don't like the ones that adjust at the handle. I prefer a base station.
  
• need solder as well
  
• and a solder sucker
  
• flush cut wirecutters are good to have
  
• a good pair of wire strippers is a life saver
  
• Good idea to have a multimeter around for verifying resistance values and voltages
  
• this is a decent one for the price
  
• Need some breadboard for prototyping. I'd suggest at least 3
  
• and some protoboards to finalize your circuit(until you start getting pcb's made)
  
• some solid conductor wire
  
• I like these storage cases for keeping my mess semi-under control.
  
  That's about all I can think of for now.
  

This soldering station is more than enough for someone who is just starting out: https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Variable-Soldering-Station-Removable/dp/B00MCVCHJM/ref=sr_1_15?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1550612729&sr=1-15

For solder, get yourself a roll of 60/40 or 63/37 leaded rosin core solder. I personally prefer 23 gauge 63-37.

This is what I have. It is awesome. It was my favorite one to use at work due to the size of the grip. I liked it so much I bought one for home.

As far as the sponge goes, get one with the hole in it like this one. You will be glad you did if you ever had to use the other type.

As far as tips go, throw away the one that comes with the station. It is a conical shape and they SUCK for soldering. Go with a chisel tip instead. I think this is the tip I use. Might want to look up a different buyer, however, as I think I usually pay about $4 for my tips. You will want a small one like that for most of your work (I have no problem soldering a small SMT IC with that chip) and a massive one for the really big, rare things.

I use a Weller WES51 Analog Soldering Station for pretty much everything I do, including surface mount rework. I use different tips depending on what I'm doing, small for SMD, medium for everything else. a good vise and plenty of light will help a lot. SparkFun and Adafruit tutorials are good. LadyAda of Adafruit has a soldering tutorial.

EDIT: I see others have already posted some of the links I gave. Just consider mine a second endorsement.

Do you plan on doing plenty of soldering in the future or is this a one off job? A decent soldering iron makes a night and day difference when it comes to working on electronics. I've used the cheap $10 ones you can buy from hardware stores and they've always ended up being difficult to work with.

I'd recommend a weller WES51. They're a tad bit pricy, but you can get interchangeable tips and it's temperature controlled. I've had mine for 2 years now and it's absolutely fantastic.

You'll probably want to use some thin rosin core lead solder. You should be able to buy this at your local hardware store.

If you plan on doing any sort of reworking, copper wick is super useful for removing solder. A cheap solder sucker is also nice to have for removing larger blobs of solder.

Weller WES51 Amazon link

This is the one I use (and really really like).
https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU

To be honest, it would be overkill for just hobby use (I am heavy into drones and other electronics that require a lot of soldering on a very wide range of wires and parts).

This is a great little kit that will get you started;
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C9P7HDQ?psc=1

tl;dr I would not spend much more than about 20-30 bucks for your first one, if you use it a ton and get into electronics, you can always upgrade and keep the first one as a travel iron.

I recently purchased a Weller WES51 analog soldering station on amazon for $97, well worth the price! I use it primarily for soldering wires to small PCBs so it should work for your uses!

For SMD and I was looking at the following: http://www.amazon.ca/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU

Just looking to see if /r/AskElectronics had other suggestions for an iron, and other materials.

I second this, and would like to add that you should get a halfway-decent soldering iron with adjustable heat. Using a cheap soldering iron from harbor freight or the like will just burn your hands and your heart.

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU

I have this, and I adore it. There are higher and lower quality ones available. Just look around and check reviews and Have fun!

I have an older Weller that I got used, this model: https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU/ref=sr_1_5?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1520878668&sr=1-5&keywords=weller+soldering+iron
It's a little pricey for what it is buying new, but it's really quality. I've soldered many thousands of components large and small with it. Looks like Weller has some newer models that are about the same price and probably more feature-full/powerful.

I can recommend getting a brass sponge instead of the ones you wet, it's cleaner and less hassle. I also use a solder-sucker and solder-wick-braid regularly. I also use a pair of "helping hands" with a magnifying glass, a DIY fume-extractor (PC fan with some activated charcoal filter behind it), and a small vise for holding circuit boards and such. That's just about the entirety of the things I use for general electronics mucking-with.

I have the Weller WES51 and I like it a lot. I've had it for years, with no problems. Has a nice thin pencil and comes with the stand and everything. Plus an auto-shutoff mode, which is nice peace of mind.

My recommendations, and what I have used for a long time. Really don't go super cheep on your iron, you will regret it:

Weller WES51

Long Conical Tip Really necessary if you are going to be building things with small components.

Kester 44 Rosin Core Solder 63/37 .020 the link is to a full pound which you might not want to spend the money on right away. The price seems to have doubled in the last 3 months at amazon for some reason. But plenty of places sell Kester Solder

I got this https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000I30QBW. $60 for a digital soldering station is a pretty good deal I think. Works great for me. The only times I've taken off a pad was when I set the temperature too high because I'm an idiot.

Look at Aoyue: http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000I30QBW/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1320861453&sr=1-1

They're knock offs of hakko but they work great, and they're cheap. This is what Sparkfun uses when they setup 50 irons for makerfaire and let the general public beat on them all weekend -- and they come out unscathed. Probably more use in 2 days than most people do in a year.

If you can build a Synthrotek Atari Punk Console, you can build a Shruthi-1.

The Shruthi-1 isn't hard, but you solder on both sides of both PCBs and there are a lot of parts. If you are a patient and methodical person, you shouldn't have any trouble. If you get frustrated easily, start with something simpler.

The right tools are key. Make sure you've got a PCB holder big enough to hold the Shruthi-1 boards. The Panavise 324 is a great investment if you plan on doing more DIY and repair work. A good soldering iron is key too. I started with an Aoyue 937+, but have since upgraded to a Hakko 888. Tweezers make picking individual components out of a pile much easier, and are cheap. Get a good set of small needle-nose pliers for bending resistors. Get a good set of diagonal cutters for clipping wires after soldering.

Update: The x0xb0x is a lot more work to put together, but about the same difficulty as the Shruthi.

Honestly, I'd get a cheap solid chinese one off amazon, with a proper stand. The SEEED has a bit of an issue staying up to temp.

I've had one of these for a few years, and it's been pretty decent. Half the price, more options, and a much better stand.

A portable iron has more problems than it solves, usually. A nice station is almost always better.

The Weller station should work just fine for you. I have the Aoyue 936 and really love it. It also comes with a spare heating element should the pre-installed one go bad. It also has temperature control rather than wattage control, which I like.

Wick or something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Digital-Desoldering-Station-Built/dp/B00ABJ4AEC

Here's a different style one for $145, prime eligible (free 2 day shipping if you're a Prime member.) Seems to have a decent review rating (with a few caveats).

> less than $100

Highly recommend the Hakko FX-888 Soldering station. It uses a ceramic heating element for fast recovery and instant heat-up times.

I've tried to use my cheap Radio Shack iron to rewire, results where not good. Cold welds and it took forever.

Meh. For the asking price it's not a terrible deal, but the kit is low quality. I wouldn't bother with it. Get one of these instead. That offers a greater range of temperatures, and uses a digital controller.

It may also be worth it to buy some of the tools you might need for personal use. Things have gotten a lot cheaper in the past 10 years with everything becoming integrated, so very basic and slow speed oscilloscopes etc can be bought. Here are some cool things you might be able to afford:

Oscilloscope/Logic Analyzer/Waveform Generator:
http://store.digilentinc.com/analog-discovery-100msps-usb-oscilloscope-logic-analyzer/

Much Much Nicer (and way more expensive) version of the above:
http://www.ni.com/virtualbench/

Basic soldering iron (I use this a lot even to do surface mount):
https://amzn.com/B000AS28UC

Cheap place to make circuit boards:
https://oshpark.com

Lots of parts and parts kits:
http://store.digilentinc.com/analog-parts-kit-by-analog-devices-companion-parts-kit-for-the-analog-discovery/

http://www.digikey.com

https://www.sparkfun.com

Being able to design and build your own project, completely self directed is a great feeling. There are a ton of resources out there to help. It will definitely be a lot of trial and error because no one will be helping or looking over your shoulder, but I think that makes it more fun!

Here is the one I use.

If you find it a bit pricy, here is a great compromise.

Don't skimp on a soldering iron. If you don't have enough power, you'll overheat the components while you're waiting for the solder to flow.

Get a Weller solder station.

1st, heat the component and feed the solder into it.

2nd, If you have a cheap low wattage solding iron, objects with alot of metal will be hard to solder as it wicks the heat away too fast and doesnt get hot enough.

3rd, strip the wire a bit shorter, too much exposure especially without heat shrink allows for shorts

4th for removing solder as per above, sometimes you can just heat up the solder and tap the object against the table and the hot blob will fall off, i recommend though to either have solder wick or a solder sucker.

5th, for solder, use 60/40 lead - tin flux core solder, thinner the easier it is to work with.


soldering can be done cheap and easy but nothing beats having the proper tools.

Practice, practice, practice.

Although i will say when i was younger i also had joints look like that too.


If you continue to do this alot, here are the tools i recommend

Solder Wick

Solder

Iron and Solder Sucker


although if you really do alot of solder, get a good temp controller one like this

Weller Soldering station

Both Weller
and Aoyue make a good entry level soldering iron with adjustable heat.

It's not too hard to learn soldering. I recommend having a good iron. I had a cheap Radio Shack iron when I was in High School and part of College. I could not solder to save my life. The tips always oxidized quickly, it was never very hot, it sucked.

Eventually I was gifted a nice Weller iron (slightly cheaper) and it makes soldering a breeze. Grab one of those irons, some thin solder, a few electronics kits and just go to town. Watch YouTube videos if you want some pointers, good ones are filmed with a microscope (or stereoscope) so you can really see what is happening.

Last, if you can really afford it, go with this pencil. I use those at work and they rock. They've got a short grip so it allows much finer control. I can do SMD all day with that and not break a sweat. It's a bit tougher with the iron I have at home but it's manageable.

How would you say that compares to the Weller WES51?

I have this one.

Yeah! I actually like the look of that one better.

Link for the curious: http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU

I think you meant this:

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU/

It is what I use.

These types of things are generally considered hobbyist level and in all honestly, you are best doing this yourself with a good Weller Soldering Iron, a 56 SMD Desk Magnafier and some helping hands.

If that is out of the question though, I'd recommend checking out Fab Lab. It is a non-profit community space that has all the equipment available to anyone who dabbles in everything from Raspberry Pi to all things electronics. You may be able to consign someone or do it yourself there.Their address is 847 14th Street, San Diego 92101

Hope this helps and good luck!

Not a bad idea - you're much less likely to electrocute yourself!

I can't stress enough the importance of good solder joints! Don't glob solder onto the iron and then apply to the piece of work. It's important to thoroughly heat the work until IT melts the solder and the solder is allowed to naturally flow into the nooks and crannies of the work.

Also, you are embarking on a way of life. This is a serious commitment of time and money. Do yourself a favor and buy a GOOD soldering station - not a cheap soldering pen!!!

25W is a bit iffy, but I would focus on getting flux first as that's the greater contribution to your problem. For the sake of comparison, my personal soldering station is 60W, but it's also mostly overkill for rewiring toys.

  <br />

Had some free time so I wrote this:

If anyone wants to do Soldering,

• I highly suggest watching a few Youtube videos on techniques on how to hold it the right way.
  
  
• Buy a GOOD IRON (Weller or Hakko) NOT a cheap one!
  
  
• Buy a station to rest the Iron on if it does not already come with it (A sponge is recommended)
  
  
• Safety glasses and roll your sleeves up, just in case!
  
  
• Buy a smoke absorber with a carbon filter, OR! build your own with a old phone charger as a power source, a switch, a cheap car filter and a old computer case fan... your making electronic gizmos anyways... WHY?: Because breathing Tin and Lead is fucking cancerous, and blowing it away without a filter is how you get pets, kids, or bacon to inhale cancer too.
  
  
• Have a clear space to work with no combustible materials, avoid burning down your place.
  
  
• ESD grounding wristband, I know it's lame. But It will save you a static shock, which could potentially result in a dead component on a board.. Also you should have one of these if you build your own PC. A $2.00 part can save you HUNDREDS
  
  
• Remember to use the right size tip for the job, and to clean your Iron's tip after using it to prolong it's life.
  
  
• If you cant afford these basics, either don't go out this weekend, and save up for them. Or find someone who does have these things that you can borrow.
  
   
  
  Soldering is extremely fun, rewarding, can motivate you about electronics, save you money, and convinces your friends to think you are some kind of "fire stick-wand wielding wizard of electronic black magic" (+7 to charisma!).
  
  But remember to solder safely!

I believe it is a Weller Soldering Iron. Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1418257406&sr=8-3&keywords=weller+soldering+iron 90-100$ area

Total amateur here. I use a Weller WES51

https://www.amazon.ca/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU

i went from using a cheap piece of crap bought locally to this unit. i've never used a non-cheap soldering iron before and i find this thing to be awesome. heats up super fast and it's way smaller than any other iron i've ever used. the silicone cord is worth the price of admission alone, imo. i frequently solder in a canadian unheated garage. not fighting with a stiff cable is heaven. parts are easy to come by online for whenever i break it or wear it out.

i recap a few game systems every now and then, i dont have many hours on it.

> You need a $120+ soldering iron

That's not necessarily true. This Weller is normally over $120, but it can be found for cheaper (like on Amazon.)

EEVblog, the author of the video linked above, even recommends (on a budget) this Hakko ripoff that even takes Hakko tips. Super cheap and is temperature controlled. You can find it cheaper than its Amazon listing too.

no problem man.

Any basic knife will do

flashlight: https://www.amazon.com/Tactical-Flashlight-EdisonBright-Lithium-Batteries/dp/B00DR9GWX0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1503516912&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=fenix+flashlight&psc=1

Screwdrivers:https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Precision-Screwdriver-Computer-CTK100P/dp/B0001NYK16/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1503517004&sr=1-1&keywords=micro+screwdriver+set

Tweezers:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XXXQHS8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Solder Iron:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BRC2XU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Solder Sucker:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GIPKOW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Solder Station:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LXL6AHM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Solder Iron Tip Cleaner:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PQ32EPA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Spring Punch:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0037UUO60/ref=twister_B01IRD4F34?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Wire cutters:https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-TR-20-M-D-Flush-cut-Construction-Dissipative/dp/B00FZPM2AQ/ref=sr_1_15?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1503517519&sr=1-15&keywords=soft+wire+cutter

60/40 rosin core should be good.

Alpha Fry AT-31604 60-40 Rosin Core Solder (4 Ounces) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00030AP48/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_BhXXzbASH0FHM

Use solder wick and a wide tip to clean the old solder off

NTE Electronics SW02-10 No-Clean Solder Wick, #4 Blue, .098" Width, 10' Length https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0195UVWJ8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_9eXXzb1S3RHKS

Use lots flux. Coat the area before you use the wick and again before you solder. It helps bond the solder to the metal.

MG Chemicals No Clean Flux Paste, 10 ml Syringe https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00425FUW2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_mgXXzbTRM5G78

A good iron helps so very much. This is what I have

Weller WES51 Analog Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BRC2XU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_RiXXzb76H6WDS

However this should do for occasional use

Vastar 60W 110V Welding Soldering Iron with Adjustable Temperature Dial, 5pcs Interchangeable Different Soldering Iron Tips and Solder Tube for Soldering Repaired Usage, Blue https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071RCB7KB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_slXXzbQRJVVZ2

When you are done clean with 90% or above isopropyl alcohol and let dry before you use.

Watch some videos on how to use the wick. Its a great tool to have and works so much better than the crappy suckers.

I just recently bought a Weller WES51 solder station and it seems like a very nice unit, the few times I've used it so far.

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU/

This is the soldering iron I used and the tip was the "pointy one".

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000ARU9PO?cache=b13a50eab5e12b5fe0e7396d2b86eed1#ref=pd_aw_sbs_hi_6


http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BRC2XU?cache=b13a50eab5e12b5fe0e7396d2b86eed1#ref=pd_aw_sbs_hi_2


These are both good the analog one is s bit cheaper bit I think is a solid kit, keeps consistent temp very well and heats up extremely quick... 500degrees in about 20 seconds from dead cold

Weller Digital: Best Iron I've Ever Used (money is no object, used these in my last job that required a lot of PCB soldering)

Weller Analog: Also Great (I used these in grad school... work great, reliable and consistent irons)

Hakko Digital: Come Recommended (These irons offer some of the functionality of the higher end Wellers but in a much more affordable package. Have not personally used, but come highly recommended as budget option).

Do not buy a cheap soldering iron to start out with, you will just end up having to replace it. Buy either a Hakko or Weller soldering station, and you'll be fine.

I highly recommend splurging a bit on your soldering station, saves a lot of heartache in the long run

Weller is pretty solid. This is what I have and I'd consider it to be a good entry-level model:

Weller WES51 Analog Soldering Station

Also, yeah you're going to want variable and analog

Have fun and be careful!

I'm hesitant to go against the grain on this one but I've had good luck with this. They also make an analog version.

This. for $50, you can't beat these aoyue stations.

If you want an upgraded soldering station for not much more, the Aoyue 937+ is a really great temperature controlled station. I think the temp control is worth the extra $22 on something that will last a lot of projects, though others may disagree.

I would seriously think about getting a soldering iron so you can work on your projects whenever you want, not just when the local workshop is open. I have this Ayoue 937+, and a collection of tips, and it has served me well. Throw away the little sponge and get one of those brass brillo-pad type cleaners.

I have an Aoyue that works quite well for $64 - http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000I30QBW

I have a bigger station with a hot air rework wand, but I have been really pleased with my Aoyue station. [Here's one that's under $75] (https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000I30QBW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i2b7BbHC5YDWM)

Edit: formatting & oops wrong link

I use the aoyue 937+. There's a couple of revisions now, ranging from $55-85

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Aoyue%20937%2B

The Aoyue 937+ is great. Enough power for anything in a multicopter, not expensive, and accepts Hakko tips. Just get some chisel tips, small and large, and you're golden.

http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000I30QBW/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1450081103&sr=1-1&keywords=aoyue+937

I think it might be cheaper at Fry's too.

I use this iron with no issue

Aoyue 937+ Digital Soldering Station - ESD Safe includes Spare Element UPDATED VERSION!! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000I30QBW/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_yCfywb6RY1DA5

http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000I30QBW/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1346783756&sr=8-15&keywords=Soldering+Iron+kit

I have this kit... Doesn't melt my solder on the board.

Hey, I'm looking into picking up my own soldering kit and desolder pump.
I need it to have a fine tip as I will be working with really small pcbs outside of keebs and I need a desoldering pump as I will be modifying some old gamecube controllers.

I've been reccomended https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-AO936-AOYUE-Soldering-Station/dp/B000VINMRO and https://www.amazon.com/10pcs-Solder-Soldering-Iron-Tip-for-Hakko-Station-900M-933-907-936/dp/B00GZGLQW4/ as a kit + tips, is this good and what desoldering pump should I pick up?

TL;DR: What soldering kit with fine tip + desolder pump for small jobs?

I have a $40 AOYUE 40ish watt adjustable soldering station (it's a clone of the hakko old 936) I got from Amazon, then added a real hakko 1/16" chisel tip. These have been reviewed by a bunch of people including EEVBlog and Big Clive on YouTube. They are solid and inexpensive. They are Chinese, so if you ebay or aliexpress etc around you'll find identical ones under other brands. There's also now several slight variations, like digital control etc with very similar looks and naming (937 are the digital for example). All the variations have the same soldering iron. They take genuine hakko tips, and since chisel tips are better than thin pointy "pen" type tips for our usage, I went ahead and just got a real tip. Had this for like 3 years and it's never let me down.

Plus you can find them as low as $19+shipping from some places.

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-AO936-AOYUE-Soldering-Station/dp/B000VINMRO

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004OR9BV4/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1495002165&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=hakko+chisel+tip&dpPl=1&dpID=41bjcAF3UYL&ref=plSrch

Trust me when I say: variable temperature makes a big difference. I have a knockoff of the Hakko 936. The closest thing on amazon.ca is this Aoyue, which I've heard good things about. You don't need hot air as a beginner (or even for most surface mount work), so don't go to the top of the line. You can get cheap rosin core solder to get started. FYI, every set of helping hands like these I have ever owned have been absolute garbage. The vise suggested by /u/rykki will be dramatically more useful, even though it will cost more. (But it might also have applications outside of soldering.)

I have been using this solder and I bought this Aoyue soldering station both because they were cheap and I just started myself

I'm learning soldering myself and have this kit. It has served me well and is adjustable, which my more experienced colleagues assure me that was a good decision. 3 months and no issues (:

There is no local place that I have found that sells the top quality stuff. I do macbook logicboard Repair’s. Phones and random crap as well. Microsoldering etc. Amazon is where I typically grab parts. Or if you wanna help out an awesome guy that has countless YouTube videos on repairing MacBooks http://store.rossmanngroup.com to buy like me the quick hot air station. Here’s a wire I use very very thin great for jumping bad vias

Remington Industries 44SNSP.125 Magnet Wire, Enameled Copper Wire Wound, 44 AWG, 2 oz, 9975' Length, 0.0022" Diameter, Natural https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076CB54ZR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_NpvDDbAFK1ZHD

Great solder station. And then buy the micro pencil

Hakko Soldering Station, FX-951-66 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012B8NW8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_OfvDDb1QAAF78

This just came up recently

https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/4cn9na/just_ordered_a_planck_what_soldering_guns_does/

Also, I will repeat my reply in that post

I have the stahl tools linked below. It's super cheap but the temps seem pretty inconsistent, and if I had it to do over again I would probably get a little more high-end iron just for consistent temperatures.
http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-SSVT-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM

I use something very similar to this, except it's 30 watts:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HSXVR3A?ref_=ams_ad_dp_asin_2

That's probably the cheapest thing you'll find. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're going to solder once or twice a year. Believe me-it's a pain to do anything with an iron this cheap, and I'm getting a new one to replace it. I'm tired of buying extra-cheap stuff.

I've used this before, and it's actually not too bad in my opinion: https://www.amazon.com/Weller-SP40NUS-Medium-Soldering-Black/dp/B00B3SG6UQ/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1481862872&sr=8-7&keywords=soldering+iron&refinements=p_89%3AWeller

For $40, these two stations look pretty enticing:

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1481862523&sr=8-5&keywords=soldering+iron

https://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-SSVT-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1481862673&sr=8-11&keywords=soldering+iron

Disclaimer- I have never repaired a synth before.

For (bigger) diagonal cutters/pliers, I think the most BIFL are NWS with their "Titan finish". Knipex is a fairly close second, but I like the finish on NWS better. Both can handle hard and medium hard wire (including nails and screws) without a problem, unlike most Klein, Snap-On, etc. The biggest issue is finding NWS in the US. The NWS Fantastico Plus are the best diagonal cutters I've ever laid my hands on.

For precision cutters/pliers, Xuron. They're semi-flush (Xuron call them flush, but I'd still call them semi-flush) micro sheer cutters are great but thankfully don't seem to nick up easily like (Xcelite, Snap-On, etc.) flush cutters do. I like the ones with that are ESD safe, with extra long handles, and the lead retainer best if you're going to be populating a lot of circuit boards. Otherwise, their cheaper models are just as nice.

Wiha precision screwdrivers. I've given this set as a gift before. Wera for the bigger stuff if you need it. Wiha or Wera bits (only larger sizes, I've never found precision bits I've particularly liked).

Klein to fill in gaps.

Bondhus hex keys.

Find a nice used Fluke multimeter on eBay. 89IV go for under $200 and have pretty much identical features to the 189 (believe the 189 mostly just has a bigger inductance/capacitance range). Most universities will have someone tasked with calibration/maintaining the measurement equipment. Make friends and he'll probably calibrate it for you/teach you how/just let you jump in and try. Mine was falling out of the box after UPS drop kicked it to my door, but the calibration was still super boring as nothing needed adjustment.

Hakko or Weller soldering station. Easy to find tips, especially for Weller. WESD51 dropped to $99 on Amazon a couple times in the last year, great time to scoop one up for little more than the analog version. The Stahl Tools one Amazon sells is also good for dirt cheap, but not really BIFL; good luck on finding tips. Metcal is too rich for my blood, but if you ever happen across one that is cheap.

Kester "44" solder, accept no substitute. 63/37 or 60/40, but since the spool will last you half a lifetime, I'd probably go with the 63/37.

I have a love/hate relationship with wire strippers. Something like this usually gets the job done, but sometimes you'll get wire with a strange jacket size and they'll fail. For the automatic kind, this style works ok (especially if you adjust it to what you're stripping), but I usually like this style better; again, as long as the jacket isn't too small and you wire is in the right range. Sadly, I probably most often grab for cheapies like this. The adjustment screw is great if you have to do a lot of a certain size, but I tend to free hand them. It takes quite a bit of practice, but once you get the hang of it, it's the fastest. Thermal wire strippers are just too pricey for the home user, especially if you want to do PVC, teflon, etc. jacketed wire.

I also have a love/hate relationship with crimpers. I have some crimpers I got for Anderson Powerpole connectors from West Mountain Radio (largely because I couldn't believe how cheap they are-- connector-specific crimpers are usually many times the price they charge) and they were great for the Powerpoles. I even bought some of the other die sets, but I've been less happy with those. I often end up using a similar pair to these or the die on a pair of Klein lineman's pliers for the larger crimps.

The motor driver modules have screw-terminals, so you really just have to solder the wires to the motors :-)


Soldering-> There's something for every budget;

• A simple one like this can work http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-SSVT-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1452896364&sr=8-9&keywords=SOLDERING+STATION
  
  
• Hakko FX888D-23BY for something a bit better that can last years
  
  
  
  There are also $1-$2 soldering irons, but the cheap ones don't work overly well and the tip does not last long.
  
  When soldering, there are a few important things (always tin the tip, clean the tip, heat the wire and apply solder, don't smear solder from the tip on it). Many electronic books have soldering sections. On Youtube you'll find different tutorials, I can't recommend a English one from the top of my head.
  
  

PACE makes great soldering workstations and Weller is probably the most popular consumer brand. I personally use a cheap soldering iron I got off of Amazon for around $15. I think it works fine and allows me to control the temp. There are much better options out there for more intensive work. I only use mine a couple of times a year and that's usually for hobby electronics work. It's more than adequate for that level of use.

This is the one I have -
http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-SSVT-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1452181798&sr=8-8&keywords=Soldering+station

If you're planning on doing a lot of de-soldering, you'll either need a de-soldering station OR solder wick. I use copper solder wick and it works great. Do not buy one of those cheap de-solder irons with the red bulb on it or the pen device that sucks out the melted solder. I've used both of those and they're pretty crappy. Solder wick is the way to go. Buy some and you won't regret it.

For replacing surface mount devices, you'll need an SMD rework station and I don't have any suggestions on those.

As far as PC repair kits go, most of those pre-made kits are pretty over priced for what comes in them.

Go to Harbor Freight and buy:

I've used a few of their precision screwdriver sets. This is the one I prefer

http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/screwdrivers/33-piece-precision-screwdriver-set-93916.html

Get one of those 4-in-one screwdrivers. The bit socket will also remove case screws.

Get seperate T-15 and T20 screwdrivers. you'll need these for larger items like legacy Compaq case screws and printers.

Wrist strap - there is some debate about this and it depends on the region you live in as to how much static electricity actually builds up on your body. I never wear one and I've never killed any devices. I have heard that there are places where you would be stupid not to wear one.

Grab a telescoping magnetic screw retriever thing. Don't worry, the amount of magnetism in those things will not harm a PC.

Flashlight

Needle nose pliers

Small and Large Side cutters

Cable ties

CAT5 & 6 Cable testers

This should get your started and most of these items are a couple of bucks or less at HF. I know they make crappy tools, but for computer repair they do fine. You're not repairing a diesel tractor-trailer.

I'm sure I've left something out or someone will have some better ideas. Comments and constructive criticism is welcome.

$20 on amazon. I have used mine for a year with 0 problems.

I bought this guy about 4 years ago. Haven't had a single problem with it. Just make sure you keep the tips tinned and clean (do that with any iron) and you'll be good to go. They also have different tips that you can swap out.

Tons of choices out there for soldering irons. I used this one for several years before upgrading to something better: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029N70WM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. It looks like that one may be have been replaced by a newer version. The main reason I upgraded was to have a soldering iron that heated up in a under 30 seconds.

Soldering stations have the added perk of being able to fix minor issues with broken electronics that also help to offset the cost down the line. Its well worth it in my opinion.

I have one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029N70WM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and it's awesome for the price.

I like the list of 5 at the beginning. But that's some fancy equipment there. I had to go cheaper.

My soldering iron is this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029N70WM $20 and I'm on the first tip and do SMT all the time and use it almost daily.

And my oscilloscope is this one: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dso-nano-v2-p-681.html which cost me $90, and I can take it anywhere.

Even my multimeter was <$10 (DT-830B), and it works FANTASTIC. I had to purchase new leads because the originals eventually wore out, and the leads alone were as much as the multimeter.

Their rework station was a pretty good choice, though.

I guess it depends on your needs, but for me doing development of a large PCB with over 300 components almost entirely SMT with I2C and UART and PWM and 80 pin microcontroller, those tools were sufficient.

One more question... do you personally use wicks or a pump for desoldering? If you prefer a pump, can you recommend one?

Might go with this newer version because it comes with more tips.

Heres my baby .. ZERO COMPLAINTS

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006FA481G/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have an aouye 968A+, it has very precise controls for both the heat gun and pencil. great value. amazon and sra soldering have complete kits including parts, it's better to buy from them than on ebay.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006FA481G

Not the one I have...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006FA481G/

If you are looking for a cheaper desoldering iron I put this thing through hell and its still chugging - also you can buy parts from sra-solder.com

This is what I use. I used to use a solder sucker but those can be troublesome at times

I've cheaped out before. They never last. They make shit solder joints. There are a lot of things in life you can and should half-ass. Soldering is not one of them.

I have a Hakko FX888D and love it. Got it a year or so ago and haven't looked back.

I agree with the answers already given by others:

• Get a temperature controlled one like the Hakko.
  
  
• For problematic surfaces, use a Flux Pen. They're magic. Solder will stick to wherever you apply this liquid.
  
  
• Do not use lead free solder, they're a little harder to work with.

I'm not sure how that would work?

Talking about one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1518907976&sr=8-4&keywords=hakko+soldering

You look like you are using a proper soldering iron. But I don't know for sure.

Nicer irons used for electronics have proper temperature sensors and can dump a lot of energy into the tip to maintain the desired temperature as much as possible.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M

Cheaper soldering irons you can typically pick up in a hardware store depend more on a sort of 'slow equalization' were the amount of energy used is a pretty much constant. The 'temperature control' really is just mostly a resistor that limits the energy going into the tip.

The big 300w irons work a lot better because they have large thermal mass. They can maintain their temperature better then the cheap hardware store ones because of this.

The problem with using a cheap iron is that it takes much longer to get the surface of whatever you are soldering too up to the proper temperature. This gives a lot of time for the heat to soak into whatever you are soldering and by the time you get the lead hot enough you have dumped a massive amount of heat into your work piece.

If you have a nice iron then it maintains it's temperature better and gets the surface hotter faster. This means that it takes a lot less time to get the surface to the proper temperature and less heat is needed overall.

You probably would of had a easier time getting proper looking 'tinning' of the battery with more surface prep. Solder works through capillary action as it 'follows the heat'. The solder wants to get 'sucked' into joints that are hot. So using rough sand paper (80 grit) to scrape up the surface probably would of helped. I would of sanded the bottom and then used acetone or alchohol to clean everything.

Another thing that would of likely helped is brushing on soldering paste onto the surface. The resin/paste is a acid that helps prep the surface when it heats up. The solder isn't going to want to join to surfaces with oxidation, oils, or other things. The resin cleans the surface to help. The resin core is there to do that as well, but it's usually useful to brush more onto the work piece.

Also you don't want to hold it for a pre-determined amount of time. You can tell if you are doing good job by the surface tension on the blob of solder and seeing it flow.... which you were having a difficult time doing on the bottom... which is perfectly understandable and expected.

All in all I think the video is a good demonstration of the problems with using solder. I think you gave a fair shake.

I personally use the Weller WESD51 and love it.

On the cheaper side, I'm told the Hakko FX888D is excellent, and at less than a hundred bucks, you can't go wrong.

Just a fair warning, the random cheapo soldering irons that just plug the wand directly into the wall are shit. It will be hell trying to solder large components like keyboard switches.

If you expect to do soldering in the future aside from this project, I would buy something with a discrete power station or even a low end Hakko model. If you get a soldering iron that costs less than $50, you are probably going to have a bad time.

Now, if this is the only thing you think you will need soldered for a long time, you could walk into the Makerspace and pay one of the student employees to do it for you. A bunch of the same components soldered over and over should only be what, 1-2 hours work? (I'm assuming you didn't design your own control board that needs a bunch of tiny components soldered on.)

If I had nothing and wanted to purchase decent quality stuff but still being affordable, I'd do the following.

Multimeter $45

Soldering Station $38

Solder $25

Desoldering Pump $6

If this is the only time you ever plan on soldering, then you can get away with the cheap stuff. You could probably source some of it locally for cheaper. None of this is great quality, but it will do the job for a 1 time project. While I wouldn't enjoy it, I could build an Ergodox with the following setup.

Desoldering Pump $6

Multimeter $13

Solder $9

Soldering Iron $8

Iron Holder $6

The capacitor was nothing fancy, just a 2200uF capacitor. Apparently that one capacitor tends to be a bit of an issue in that model of player for whatever reason...

I'm pretty sure that the iron I have is this one along with a holder that looks just like this one, though I'd have to go double-check the iron to be sure that's the one I have. Seems to work pretty well, and you can replace the stock tip with this little pointy one to work on small stuff better.

I recently bought one of these for myself and I couldn't be happier as a DIY hobbyist:

Hakko Dial type temperature limiting soldering iron FX600

I only use it for hobby stuff such as Quadcopters, 3D printers and electronics kits but it's way better than the 8watt USB powered I was using before.

Pair it with this and this and you should be good for a while and roughly within budget.

Things like and use:

Multimeter
http://www.amazon.com/Fluke-115-Compact-True-RMS-Multimeter/dp/B000OCFFMW

Rejuvenator B&K 467
https://youtu.be/Vw7nmuGdDs0

Desoldering System
www.circuitspecialists.com/Compact_Desoldering_System.html

Piano Dolly
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008O38RRI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1462964894&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=piano+dolly&dpPl=1&dpID=41KxMtcoCtL&ref=plSrch

Soldering Iron
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000ARU9PO/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1462964939&sr=8-3&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=weller+soldering+iron&dpPl=1&dpID=41QcOpgh0eL&ref=plSrch

Not at all. While it's not impossible to use a cheap soldering iron and get a good job done, it will save you a TON of hassel by getting a good one. RadioShack irons are more trouble than 2x what they're worth. My soldering jobs have been a pleasure to do since I upgraded, and I solder often so that's important to me. I use the Weller WESD51, and it's an absolute joy to use. If your on a bit more of a budget, my friend is a professional luthier and he's never complained about the WLC100, which is also from Weller.


Do it. It's worth it.

I bought a Weller for an RC car project. It has variable digital temperature control. I haven't done any keyboard soldering but I'm pretty sure it is up to the task.

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ARU9PO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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The Hako is also highly recommended.

This is what I use and it's very high quality.
my soldering iron

I saw this on Amazon for $40.
Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_4n1Iyb8CPKJY1

I use this iron for everything I do. It has basic thermal control and the iron has a good selection of tips that you can buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_divAyb3066AWC. I would definitely get fine point tips. Here is a vacuum that I use as well for desoldering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U1SFNYE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_LkvAybGPPWMF1.

Whatever iron you have now will probably be fine, but definitely will want precision tips if you can find them.

Soldering is actually not that big a deal. A little practice and you’re good to go. THeres lots of YouTube tutorials. and you can find wiring diagrams all over the Internet.

Get an iron with variable setting like this one it’s a bit more than the $15 for just a plain iron, but it’s worth it and you can use it forever.
Looks like you’re painting it. You can try all sorts of different techniques; I’d maybe go solid color the first time. guitar reranch sells rattle cans of nitrocellulose based paints and clear coats (that’s what expensive guitars use as opposed to poly)
He uses chips from old guitars and cars(fender used leftover paint from car companies for many of the original classic colors) to match proper color and hue, and they come with two different spray nozzles. Again, a little pricier than cans from the hardware store, but nitro finishes are so nice:)
One of the best parts is researching everything! Lots of time on the google machine:)
Enjoy

I was going to list my Weller WLC100 station on kijiji sometime soon. It's a pretty solid station, and mine's in good condition overall. I believe that this is the tip I have on it: Weller 185-ST7. $40 and it's yours.

It really depends on whether you want a nice soldering iron or just something that will allow you to try it for a few hours. There is a huge price difference. Of course there is also a huge difference in quality. You could get a very nice iron like this for around $250. Or you could get something much less expensive, like this for around $40.

The first one I listed is very similar to one of the best irons I've ever used. The second one is still head and shoulders above the piece of crap I used for the first several years I was soldering. It was like this, at around $5, and as long as I kept the tip sharpened with a file it worked pretty well.

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC

Is it worth the upgrade if I already have this soldering iron?

I don't know much about butane soldering irons or what he plans on soldering.

But i do a lot of electronics soldering, and the most important thing for me when buying a soldering iron/station, was that it was adjustable, meaning i could better control the temperature and not fry the components i was soldering. I ended up buying this solder station and it has worked great for me

WLC100 is a great cheap soldering station.

If you don't already have one, get a soldering station. A Hakko 888 or Weller WES51 is an affordable option and will massively improve any soldering job. This is one of the good examples of how the quality of the tool has a direct effect on the quality of the work, even if you're an amateur.

If you can't see laying out that cash, just try at least to buy this one. I'm sure there are other options also.

EDIT: In case it's not perfectly clear, and for the peanut gallery:

A soldering iron is a perfect example of what a good tool can do, and what a bad tool will stop you from doing. In the hands of a wizard, a shitty iron can still create passable solder joints. But a good soldering iron will allow a rank amateur to make good, quality joints. And an amateur with a bad soldering iron? Nothing but junk will ever result.

A good iron and good light will save many jobs. If you're going to put money anywhere, let it be in tools and lighting.

Clippers

Iron

Tip for iron

Yep, I've been building stuff for a while, although this is the most intense set of builds I've done. Get yourself a good soldering iron and a couple of spare tips (Weller makes some good ones-- don't go for super-cheap unless you want to replace it a bunch of times). This thing here is about the lowest-end I'd suggest (I use one): https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC

Get some little noise toys, like an Atari Punk Console or even something silly like an LED Christmas tree kit and put it together. There are some really good soldering instructions here:

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guide-excellent-soldering/tools

They list more info on tools, too.

Some kits are more complex than others, too-- the Befaco kits are pretty complicated, and anything with an oscillator will probably require some calibration. Synthrotek make pretty good little kits and have good info on building them.

You can do it, though. It's not difficult. 8) Just take your time and check each step as you go and you'll be fine.

Don’t forget, you need one with a tip the size of a pen. Any bigger and you will burn your pcb. This is a decent one that I use

Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Weller ST7 ST Series Conical Solder Tip Hobbyist for WP25, WP30 and WP35 Irons, 0.31" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002BSP4K?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

OMorc Desoldering Wick, Solder Sucker & Solder Braid (2.5mm Width, 1.5m Length) – Desoldering Vacuum Pump Solder Removal Tool https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I14V4X8?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Sometimes for the smaller welds, like on LEDs, try adding solder before sucking.

Thanks! Soldering isn't too hard (I also was afraid of soldering). It's intimidating at first, but after a couple hours of doing it, you'll get more comfortable with it. Getting a cheap mech to practice soldering/desoldering on would probably help you get acquainted with the whole process. This is the soldering iron I used, and this is what I used to desolder. I also used this to clean the tip of the soldering iron in order to make it perform more consistently.

Depends on the projects. If you're doing anything that requires precision soldering or you need it to last more than a month or two I probably wouldn't get anything super cheap like what you posted, especially if you don't need the extra stuff like the multi-meter and screwdriver. That iron probably costs under a dollar or two to make which is kind of scary considering you're relying on it to control its heat output.

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I'd recommend getting a soldering station from a well known brand like this one for any substantial amount of soldering. If you're looking at getting into hobbyist electronics in general or want to invest in a good iron go for something like this.

Here's the soldering iron I use:

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC

It has a relatively small tip, its temperature is controllable if crudely, and it's suitable for most (but not all) small electronic work. There are more specialized irons and tools, as well as a lot of very specialized methods and tools to remove solder from boards and parts.

BTW I'm not endorsing the above device -- it's just the iron I own and I think it's acceptable. I'm sure there are many other similar products.

Does anyone have any soldering iron recommendations?

I was going to get this Vastar one, but it doesn't really seem to be readily available in Australia. I'm probably gonna go with this Weller now.

It's probably not gonna get a whole lot of use, mainly just for the Whitefox :\^)

What’s your definition of cheap?

This amazon one worked ok for me after I purchased smaller tips for about $15

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_We97Bb6V1Y6YC

Ok, so there are a lot of things I'd probably change :)

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Motors - SabotageRC Booty 2306-2300kV, they're cheaper and significantly higher quality than the DYS you're looking at (they are made by DYS, as well, but with much higher quality components and build quality)

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ESC - beware Racerstar. Some things they OEM and you get a good product for a good price, but others you get significant drops in quality. I would pay a few cents more apiece and get Spedix ES-20 Lite ESCs.

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VTX - the one you selected is decent, but your soldering skills need to be up to par, the wires come undone from the VTX extremely easily and are incredibly difficult to reattach. I would recommend a few dollars more to get an AKK VTX with either larger pads or a connector.

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VTX antennas - There are better ones out there. Lumenier Axii is one of the best and most durable (and significantly lighter), pagoda antennas being slightly better in some regards but more fragile.

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Radio - The Turnigy Evolution is about the same price now and is a better choice than the FS-i6. Still uses the Flysky AFHDS2A protocol, so it will work with the receiver you selected (and there are now others that are good, as well). If the phonebook style radio appeals to you, then the i6 is the only cheap choice, but keep in mind it is a CHEAP radio, not an inexpensive one.

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Wire - I would suggest ordering some 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 gauge wire from Hobbyking (as much as they suck, they're the only place that sells lengths of wire inexpensively). Getting 1m of each wire in both black and red should only be 10-15 bucks IIRC.

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Power supply for charger - get a supply that is at least 19v and 200 watts, like this: https://www.amazon.com/MEAN-WELL-LRS-200-24-211-2W-Switchable/dp/B00YMA7I7C/ it is a few dollars more, but you can also run your charger at its full output, which will come in handy for charging your batteries in a timely fashion.

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Soldering iron - get a quality one, you're going to need it. https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/

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You should also get some no-clean flux: https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-milliliters-Pneumatic-Dispensing/dp/B00425FUW2/

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Decent solder: https://www.amazon.com/MAIYUM-63-37-solder-electrical-soldering/dp/B076QF1Y85/

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And a tip cleaner: https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-599B-02-Wire-type-soldering-cleaner/dp/B00FZPGDLA/

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That should get you well on your way - still on a budget, but you'll hate yourself WAY less when you go to build it and have decent equipment. :)

TL;DR - I didn’t mean to write an essay, so I’ll start with this: Get a multimeter and a decent soldering iron. If you have time, want free components, and wish to practice desoldering, find some scrap electronics and start collecting (please recycle the remnants). Check SparkFun, eBay, or Google for bulk supplies of components as it might be cheaper that way, and you get only what you need. Otherwise, buy a kit. A decent kid’s one should do fine (recycle the book if it comes with one and it’s too basic for you).

It seems like your book is from the early 2000s and is biased towards analog circuits. I hate to break it to you that those days are over now that almost everything has moved towards surface-mounting on printed circuit boards (PCBs), and you'll find it's cheaper (time- and money-wise) to replace entire units than actually troubleshooting individual almost-microscopic components.

With that being said, I still found it useful to learn how to troubleshoot analog circuits to solidify my understanding of electronic circuitry in general and for my DIY projects, such as: fixing faulty wires/cables, making my own phone chargers, powering a bathroom scale with an old cell phone to make it rechargeable, replacing faulty components on / adding computer fans to power inverters, and most recently, re-soldering a problematic switch on the circuit board for a stove hood (would've been $50 for replacement board).

I only use a free multimeter (from Harbor Freights with any purchase) and would at the very minimal recommend that, but you should note that measuring a circuit does in fact change the circuit and if input impedance of the meter is not high enough (cheap meters like this one) compared to the impedance of the circuit being measured, you can get useless readings.

I would also recommend getting a decent soldering iron. I've had bad experiences with melting tips on the cheap ones, but have been going strong with my current station (an older version of this) with an off switch and varying levels of temperature (on my model, it heats to a certain point and waits until it drops to a certain point before re-heating it back to the level set like a conventional oven, but none of my projects require anything fancier than that).

I don't own an oscilloscope since my projects do not deal much with wavelengths, signals or latching. I would go to the nearby community college where I have taken classes before and ask to use one of their high-quality ones if I really needed it. I have never personally tested the handheld ones for under $100, but I have worked with someone who designs custom electronics for clients and swears by one. On the other hand, I've heard some negative reviews that the bandwidth/resolution of the the cheap scopes are impractical for many of today's circuits. You can make a "poor man's scope" by using a sound card and a modified 3.5mm audio cable if you really needed a basic one!

I haven't touched a function generator since I had to troubleshoot an old AM/FM transceiver in an electronics troubleshooting course.

I also recently got into the hobby and I use this Weller WLC100 it's got a small chisel tip but it's pretty good

Hey! Glad to help. This Is the exact soldering iron I use. Extremely effective, I keep it at a 3 at all times, seems to be a legit temperature for everything Gameboy related.

The Solder I use works really well, rarely sticks to the soldering tip (like many other ones I've tried) and seems to be the most consistent. It's also supported by HHL - so you know it's solid!

Hope that helps.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC?aaxitk=aMBzpV.a5XKiL4qSkHQdSA&pd_rd_i=B000AS28UC&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=54dc821a-0937-4e6f-9da9-f8dd5443145d&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_i=soldering+iron&hsa_cr_id=9331284030201&sb-ci-n=productDescription&sb-ci-v=Weller%20WLC100%2040-Watt%20Soldering%20Station

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If you are soldering PCBs you might want a pencil shaped tip. You can probably pick up a tip online or at your local store hardware store for about $8

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Edit:

Just go slow and be careful not to accidentally de-solder things like I did and youll be fine. Learn from my mistakes lol.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/9g3awb/is_this_repairable_i_made_some_mistakes/?utm_content=full_comments&utm_medium=message&utm_source=reddit&utm_name=frontpage

If the 888d is outside your budget WLC100.

I know the hakko is nicer but I've used this thing for everything from power tool battery repair to cell phone charging ports. Either way you'll need desoldering tools as well, a variety of tips would be a good idea too.

Don't forget some 63/37, lead free solder is shit.

So here's all the parts you need.

Maxipad - http://www.switchtop.com/product/gamepad-macropad-pcbs

Diodes - http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Fairchild-Semiconductor/1N4148/ (I'd just buy a roll of 100, they're $0.019 each at that point)

Switches - http://www.switchtop.com/product/gateron-switches

Teensy (your controller) - http://www.mouser.com/search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=0virtualkey0virtualkey199

Plates you'll have to find somewhere, but there are some on here that can make them for you. I have the DXF I used here that you can share with someone who can make the plates for you, it'll end up coming out looking like this if you use those (material and color are your choice, those are clear acrylic).

You'll also I guess need an iron, but that can be seen as an investment into multiple boards, rather than just this one. Best bang for your buck is going to be this one.

Soldering through-hole diodes is easy, and the Teensy comes with header pins that you use to solder it.

Important note: Solder the switches and diodes before the Teensy, as you can see that the area covers some of the switch headers. :)

I can help you along the way with any issues, so let me know if you need any help.

Looks like this Weller

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420073182&sr=8-1&keywords=adjustable+soldering+iron

I use this: Weller

And I've achieved this: https://imgur.com/a/uZe1yH9

These are just what are on my desk right now.

I have this one, and I'm pretty happy with it. Seems to fit your criteria:

Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_7BkRAbE8QG8FF

meter

test lead kit for meter is helpful too

40 watt soldering iron

keep in mind these are basic versions.

I have a Weller WLC100 and a pair of helping hands. Works perfectly fine.

Hello, and thanks for the info!

I want to make something that moves and can keep a kitten busy. Either something that rolls around the floor or a fishing pole/crane contraption that responds to a bite.
I do not have a multimeter. I have a weller WLC100 40 watt. https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC
As far as components go, I have only junk electronics.

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-Soldering-Hobbyist-Yourselfer/dp/B000AS28UC

I have one of these it's a good iron. used it until my company was throwing out some old HAKKO's and got one for free! ^_^

Solder's closer to $10 a roll, but I get it at the rat shack. I first started out with a $15 dollar soldering iron and it just had bad temp control. The cheapest I'd recommend is this one by Weller. It's the same wattage as the one without the stand that normally goes for 20, but this was just much easier to work with, and that's something I'd recommend for a beginner.

You're right that a cheaper soldering iron would be okay for this project, but it's not something I would use consistently, so it doesn't seem like a good value.

A good quality soldering iron will ensure that you can get the solder hot enough to make good joints. A soldering iron that does 40 watts is recommended. I started out with a Weller WLC-100, ($40) but am now using an 898D ($70-100) soldering / rework station which uses the Hakko tips (much cheaper than weller tips). The Weller worked pretty well, but the 898D can get hotter and has a digital temperature control. I use a small needle tip, but some people prefer a bit larger tip because you can get better heat transfer.

Use 60/40 rosin core solder, which works great for electronics and RC, and flows very well. You may also want to get some solder paste (flux) which will also help flow the solder and go where you want it to. Usually a solder diameter around .03 inch is good. I use this solder from Radioshack.

soldering iron $40

solder (I think this might be a little too thick, but I can't find any 0.022" solder)

I recommend this if you can squeeze it into your budget because it makes cleaning the soldering iron tip sooo much easier

desoldering pump

if you want ergo clears, you'll need some springs too.

You don't need anything fancy. Would suggest getting a soldering station, as it makes things easier.

Weller and Hakko are both well-known brands. Maybe something like this, which seems to get decent reviews? Might want to get a couple of different tips.

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=zg_bs_13837391_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=2WV2ET0JKFMBWP9E255F

I'd put this one in the not horrible but leaving something to be desired but very good for the deal category

I use this Weller Soldering Station. Weller's are pretty tried and true but are not top of the line. But for synth DIY, I find this station more than capable and a good deal too.

This toolkit would have everything you would ever need...including triwing and Gamebit screw driver bits.


Thisa popular soldering iron. I use it myself and it hasn’t let me down. Just get some wire, flux, and solder and you’re set.

Edit: fixed the link lol

honorable mention Weller WLC1000 that usually gets overlooked. Great starter iron that is cheap and you can replace the heads (I usually use ST7 tips because they're really fine).

It’s excellent advice, I’d just tell you to skip the single wattage iron and go right for this Weller station.

If you’re patient you can get it for $25 to $30 on sale.

I went from a RadioShack pen to a Weller pen, to a parts express soldering station and finally to this Weller station and wished I had skipped everything before it.

I use it to solder everything from electrolytic caps and batteries in consoles to super tiny ceramic capacitors like C11 on the SNES jr for the anti-ghosting fix.

A quality iron is worth it right from the start.

You don't need to spend a lot, but you do need something better than a $7.99 special. I use this http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ with a fine point tip that I picked up locally. It takes practice to solder to those tiny pins, but it can be done. Get a decent iron, some flux, a brass ball cleaner, and some leaded solder. Watch youtube videos, and practice on old electronics.

The electrons don't care where on the trace that you do it, but the closer you are to components, and the skinnier the trace, the more likely you are to screw something up with too much heat.

I have done the mod you are trying to my 9x, and it really improves the radio. I've since bought a 9xR, and use the 9x as a trainer.

I want this one. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC

I won't say it's simply because it's orange.

Ok it's simply because it's orange. (Also the one I have and like is a Weller. Old Weller I call it. Saved me from a bear attack, that one.)

Here's a good mid tier one like mine:

Below $50? Get a Weller

Closer to $100? Hakko FX888D is hard to beat. This model is the one I use - Never had any issues with it. I don't know if it's changed over the years, main downside to this model was it needs an admin card inserted to change the temperature. Kinda annoying if you can't find the card.

Comes with a nice tip + sponge though and the holder is pretty solid too. It's mostly just a QOL difference though, I doubt you'd notice a significant difference in performance unless you're quite experienced.

I've had this one for a while now. It has served me well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000AS28UC/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1449980918&sr=8-2&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=weller+soldering+station&dpPl=1&dpID=41B9YPknwfL&ref=plSrch

Helping Hands Third Hand Soldering Tool
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B010C504NK/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I personally think you should've gone for one of these. A much better experience and a better price, I use it for everything and is super convenient because of how small it is.

Hey, best tip i can give you to get better is to find junk printers, motherboards, ect... and just practice de-soldering and re-soldering caps, resistors, anything that just has two pins. Also I would also suggest lowering the temp on the Iron (if you can) I use about 320 C for most of my stuff, and I would also recommend getting a good soldering iron it helps a lot. The soldering Iron I would recommend the TS100 with the D24-Tip, then look online for how to set it up.
If you like you can contact me by discord, and I can help you with what ever you need, (my discord Demi 소금#9026)

One last thing is that Twisting and pre-tinning the wires is almost a must when soldering anything.

Soldering Tip(D24-Tip) : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XYR3VTJ/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_7?smid=A2FGAWCX62OR7U&psc=1

Soldering Iron: https://www.amazon.com/NovelLife-Mini-TS100-Soldering-Digital/dp/B07D35B75T/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=1PGZOPAOX1MUO&keywords=ts100+soldering+iron&qid=1557599888&s=gateway&sprefix=ts100%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1

XTronic 3020 with adjustable temp.

Here's the soldering iron that I use: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DGZFSNE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't know my way around soldering irons, so can't really speak to its quality vs. any other iron. But, its lowest temperature is 200, which has worked really well for me during mini cleanup.

Soldering Iron - either

• the TS100, which will serve you well in the field as well.
  
• an X-Tronic 3020, which is the closest thing I've found to a Weller without the cost, and it fits Hakko tips.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DGZFSNE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This has been awesome!!!
The reviews are extremely favorable and I have to agree. I never have burnt solder, it is fast and precise. Anyone that has used mine gets one for themselves.

No, that's overkill for what I do.

I since won a hackaday contest and got an amazing Weller soldering tweezers and iron. It's not fancy like what you posted (although if I did a lot of repair, I'd absolutely want that preheat and hot air) but it's so well designed it's never disappointed me. With only the one soldering iron, it'd be around $250 I think.

I did more teaching on cheaper, $50 soldering stations like this and I almost never can tell the difference. I recommend anybody getting into soldering pay around $50, doing a bit of research to make sure you don't get the worst $50 iron possible. Unless you really dive deep into the smallest, or most tricky components, anything adjustable that's significantly over 50 Watts (certainly not 25!!!) feels about the same as any other.

X-Tronic Model #3020-XTS Digital Display Soldering Iron Station - 10 Minute Sleep Function, Auto Cool Down, C/F Switch, Ergonomic Soldering Iron, Solder Holder, Brass Tip Cleaner with Cleaning Flux https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DGZFSNE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_O6hHAbF8GP2MB

Shockingly, mine is a cheapo unit as well. It works pretty well, but nothing to write home about

> I've also found an old laptop AC power adapter with a DC output of 19V at 3.0 amp.

What you have there is an excellent match for a TS100 soldering pencil.

20V is a negligible shock hazard. But at 3A it's enough power to heat up and sometimes even explode components that are connected wrong. So use eye protection and beware of possible hot components and you should be fine.

This is a good point regarding the pointy tip. I have several different tips that my soldering iron came with. Not using the pointiest but still is coming to a point. Here's what I have, works pretty well. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N4571Q6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/UY-CHAN-Programmable-Pocket-size-Acceleration/dp/B01MDTO6X7

I would probably get this one if i had 50 dollars to spend on a soldering iron https://www.amazon.com/X-Tronic-3020-XTS-Digital-Display-Soldering/dp/B01DGZFSNE/ref=lp_13837391_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1487732308&sr=1-2

I bought this Aoyue a couple weeks ago and its been pretty great. It uses the same style tips as the Hakko and came with a decently fine tipped one. I bought a thicker ended tip last week that is nice to use on heavier gauge wire but for motors and ESCs liked the fine tip better.

I've never done anything with RCs before and this was really my first experience soldering anything that mattered.

That is not an electronics soldering iron. Depending on your budget, i'd recommend either this aoyue at $30 or this aoyue at $90 if you want a nice high quality station. The nicer one has the advantage of exact tempature measurements and also comes with a ton of extra sized tips.

As for the frame, its really not common to break arms as a beginner. Its REALLY hard to break an arm and you have to be going really fast and hit something really hard. The reason you may have read about arms breaking is because most beginners start with some cheap frame built with bad/thin carbon. The QAV250 wont break easily (although i've heard of the skinny part in the top frame breaking, but that can just be glued/taped back together).

It's a little out of my price range. I doubt this will be my last soldering project, but it certainly won't be something I do every week. What do you think about Sywon 60W ESD Soldering Iron Station Kit with ON-OFF Switch Temperature Adjustable, Soldering Stand Holder, 5 Extra Tips and 104 Inch Power Cord https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N4571Q6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_yi5MybQ1S7WEZ

I've been happy with my $50 X-Tronic 3020-XTS. I had a $8 RadioShack soldering iron before and this one is like 100x better. The heat up time is like 10 seconds.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DGZFSNE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_S4BpzbHS13342

BONUS TABLE

All of the above is assuming you have everything required for building your quad if not below is a table with everything i think is necessary for building a quad. All these links will be from amazon

Part Type | Part Name | Quantity | Total Cost | Reason | Link
---------|---------|----------|----------|---------|----------|
Soldering Station | Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station | 1 | $100 | When it comes to working with quads and electronics you really don't want to skimp on the thing that's putting it together. A good soldering station can change your entire experience when it comes to building quads. For this reason we go with a Hakko once bought you will not need anything else later on. | http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-FX-888D/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1458237822&sr=8-7&keywords=soldering+station
Hot Glue Gun | CCbetter® Mini Hot Glue Gun | 1 | $15 | You will use this more than you think, everything from securing your camera, antennas, etc to adding extra insulation to your components to ensure nothing falls off or gets ripped off. | http://www.amazon.com/CCbetter%C2%AE-Temperature-Melting-Flexible-Projects/dp/B01178RVI2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1458237957&sr=8-3&keywords=hot+glue+gun
Velcro | VELCRO Brand - Sticky Back | 1 | $11 | Sometimes you need things to only stick for a bit then take it off. Velcro is pretty much self explanatory keep your vtx in place among other things | http://www.amazon.com/VELCRO-Brand-Sticky-Back-Black/dp/B00006RSWT/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458238198&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=stick+yvelcro
Zip Ties | Heavy Duty Black Cable Ties | 1 | $11 | The corner stone of fpv IMO. These are keeping more quads flying than anything else. | http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Black-Cable-Ties-120lbs/dp/B003Y61A10/ref=pd_sim_60_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=41r7oTe3IpL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=1G5GJ28Z3M8JBJDW67RV
Solder | Miniatronics Corp 1064004 Rosin Core Solder 60/40 4oz | 1 | $12 | You are always going to need solder and this as the flux mixed in meaning it will be a very easy to use solder. | http://www.amazon.com/Miniatronics-Corp-1064004-Rosin-Solder/dp/B0006O933K/ref=sr_1_7?s=hi&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1458238393&sr=1-7&keywords=solder&refinements=p_85:2470955011
Velcro Straps | Reusable Dubbex Black Velcro Cable Ties | 1 | $13 | Can be used for pretty much anything like batterystrap, hold wires down etc. | http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AW0BDNK?psc=1
Voltmeter | Blackcell DC 3.2-30V LED 0.56inch Panel Meter Digital Voltmeter | 1 | $7 | Eventually something is going to go wrong and you are going to have to ensure that your voltages are correct. You are going to need this to verify volt outputs and to figure out what they are when there is no documentation for what you are looking at | http://www.amazon.com/Blackcell-3-2-30V-0-56inch-Voltmeter-Two-wire/dp/B00ZZIXT8W/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1458238663&sr=1-6&keywords=voltmeter&refinements=p_85:2470955011
Desolder Tool | LyonsBlue Desoldering Vacuum Pump | 1 | $9 | Very useful for cleaning up to much solder or removing solder from contact pads to redo. Simply heat up the solder and suck it out. | http://www.amazon.com/LyonsBlue-Desoldering-Vacuum-Solder-Removal/dp/B003FHYL7I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458238959&sr=8-2&keywords=desolder
TOTAL | FOR | ALL | $178 | |

Cheap soldering irons suck, no matter the brand.
Save up and get this:
Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station FX-888D FX-888 (blue & yellow) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apu_86QSBb47A3XH3

Also : Don't just buy the cheapest one you can find and go for something more middle of the road with the price options you find. If you're the DIY type and are going to continue doing these kinds of projects for yourself (and budget isn't a huge concern right now) see if you can justify moving up to something around the $100 mark like this.

The really cheap soldering irons you'll find will often just not get hot enough to quickly melt some solders so you spend more time putting a hot tip on your components and increasing the amount of heat that gets transferred INTO those components and risk damaging/melting them when a hotter/better iron would liquify the solder almost instantly.

$100 is a lot but there are also plenty of good options around the $30-40 range. Just don't buy the $6 irons unless you really like making life difficult for yourself.

Watch some video tutorials on proper soldering techniques as they're pretty universal.

If you're interested in getting into soldering, get a few cheap kits like battery powered light up gadgets and the like. They're usually around like $10, so it's not that big a deal if you break them while you're learning to solder. Next, a hands free solder station and a proper soldering iron make all the difference. The hands free option is the cheapest of the cheap and the iron is just a personal preference. Being able to control the heat of your iron and keep your board accessible is super useful. I ruined a couple of PS2s being cock-sure with an $8 iron and no practice.

Doing my first build and keep hearing about solder temperature. What is a good temperature for soldering switches on a board. Solder i'll be using looks to be [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1520171074&sr=8-4&keywords=hakko+solder)

I appreciate any other soldering guidance as well.

Thanks for any replies!

Soldering iron: https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-FX-888D/dp/B00ANZRT4M

Edit: most people recommend getting a chisel tip for the soldering iron. Big tips for big jobs, small tips for small jobs. Just having the pencil tip and one chisel will get you by for a long time.

Desoldering braid: https://www.amazon.com/Aven-17542-Desoldering-2-5mm-Length/dp/B003E48ERU/

Desoldering pump: https://www.amazon.com/WEmake-WM-SP4-Solder-Sucker-desoldering/dp/B0002KRAAG

You want both the pump and the braid. Get thin solder for electronics. You should probably use lead-free, but I like good old 60/40.

There are a ton of suggestions on multimeters. The exact right one for you depends on what you eventually want to do. Dave Jone's EEVBlog has some good suggestions. As does Adafruit. Anything Adafruit recommends isn't too far off the mark. If you just want a suggestion: Extech EX330 for $45 https://www.amazon.com/Extech-EX330-Autoranging-Multimeter-Thermometer/dp/B000EX0AE4 Cheaper ones will do the job, but this is a better one. The next step up are True RMS meters for about $100.

I mean, it's a little higher end.

Whoo, loaded question with tons of opinions, hah.

The "best" lube is highly subjective, and it also depends on the type of switch. If you're lubing linear switches, my personal favorite is VPF 1514 oil. It's not cheap, but it gets the job done (you can order smaller quantities of it from Mehkee. For tactile switches, I use Krytox GPL 205 (which you used to be able to buy DuPont brand on Amazon, but no longer appears to be available).

Best solder for building keyboards is Kester, 0.8mm, hands down. Quality stuff, flows and bonds well, and the size is good for switches or LEDs.

Soldering iron recommendations: This cheap kit is acceptable for building a keyboard (I built 4 or 5 with it prior to upgrading). If you know you're going to be building multiple kits, and you think it's possible you might do re-work or try to desolder boards, just go ahead and spend the money right the first time and get this one: Hakko FX888D. Basically the gold standard of soldering irons.

This is really all I needed to be happy and dangerous. I was actually just doing more research when I saw your reply come though. I just didn't know if it was even possible to wire these connections. My basic understanding is that it should be possible but there's so much I don't know.

​

As for my soldering skills, they are probably "Beginners moderate" which is a thing I just made up. I've got the right gear to do the work but, as I'm sure you know, having the right gear is 10% of the job. Burned through 2 Teensy ++ 2.0's before I got it right with my last project.

​

And I'm totally comfortable ruining some more hardware to try this. I'm actually excited by the prospect. I think I kept those teensy's. If I can find them, I'll practice by trying to remove the smt micro usb ports on those. Not nearly as hard but a better start.

​

Anyway, really appreciated the reply. If you have the time to confirm I'm trying this with the right hardware, that would be just gravy. You've already done more than enough, though.

​

I'm planning on using my:

- Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station

- T18-BR02 Tip

- and the thinnest solder I could find that still has a rosin core

​

Anything look like the wrong choice? Tip and rosin?

​

Thanks again for all the help

I'm just gonna put this out there....for another $40 you can get a great soldering station

Not sure if portability is an issue for you. For what it's worth, I have a cordless soldering iron I never use. Not really making those field repairs I thought I might be

I recently got the Hakko f888d, maybe a little expensive but holy shit soldering is so much simpler now.

This is the one I see recommended at openpv all the time. I would buy this one myself, I'm just using a junky 40w from radio shack.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ANZRT4M/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1451010856&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=Hakko&dpPl=1&dpID=41sCMxh%2BAYL&ref=plSrch

i'm gonna go with what everyone else says: get a decent temp adjusting iron. it makes a world of a difference...add to that a small chisel tip (usually not provided on a cheap pen iron)...such much easier and enjoyable soldering. though, its not worth spending 80-300 dollars on a soldering iron for one project..

i use/recommend:

• an x-tronic station/iron $90 sponge+light/magnifier+tips+replacement heat element
  
  
• a hakko soldering tip cleaner $10
  
  also another good affordable iron:
  
  
• hakko fx-888 station/iron $90 sponge+cleaner
  
  everyone says weller...and its because they dropped the money on one and want other people to do the same haha...if you have the money, sure go for it. if not, many stations in the 80-100 range are excellent quality to begin on.
  
  also get a helping hand, tweezers, needle nose pliers, snips, and maybe a wire stripper.

The Hakko FX-888D runs $100 on Amazon.

I bought this one for $30 and found temp settings in the reviews. Setting marker 3.25-3.75 gets you right around 350°C, coincidentally.

I also bought that cheap-ass Valstar solder sucker with free wick. From what I read about the wick, it needs flux to get the solder flowing into it. The solder sucker sucked. I ended up taking a Dremel deburring bit to create a divot in the metal housing to capture the little arms so it wouldn't spring apart when I hit the plunger release. After that, it worked pretty well, though I usually got a pretty good seal right over the solder and switch leg - no desoldering controllers. I did have one switch leg that was bent over the contact, which required some physical assistance to move while the solder was melted before I could clear it.

Desoldering wick looks like it works great and would work for your situation, if you use it right.

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-Digital-FX888D-Soldering-Station/dp/B00AWUFVY8

I have a Hakko FX-888 and I love it. I don't think you should worry about a digital or analog display.

If you already own a couple of customs, go Hakko or go home.

Pick that up, and some small gauge Kester 63/37, and you're good to go.

Heated PCBs are hard anyway because they are a weird combination of heatsinking and thermally insulative. If you are ever going to solder a second thing, just get a good Hakko or something. I have the analog version of the linked iron, and love it. I leave it at 350C constantly ... it gets to temp in like 20 seconds and holds it rock solid.

http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-Digital-FX888D-CHP170-bundle/dp/B00AWUFVY8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421772043&sr=8-1&pebp=1421772044939&peasin=B00AWUFVY8

Also:
http://www.amazon.com/SRA-Soldering-Flux-Low-Solids-No-Clean/dp/B008OC0E5M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421772121&sr=8-1&pebp=1421772121985&peasin=B008OC0E5M

I'd highly suggest you plunk down and get both. You'll feel like a wizard from now on with soldering. For the flux pen, just drown your connections, wire, pads, etc in flux before soldering. Within a very generous reason, you cannot overflux things, and it makes the solder actually behave like it should. It globs where it's supposed to, doesn't make those stupid little peaky points that bridge everywhere, and so on.

the hakko 888 is the be all end all:

http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-Digital-FX888D-CHP170-bundle/dp/B00AWUFVY8/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1421042769&sr=1-1

best soldering iron ever.

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-Digital-FX888D-Soldering-Station/dp/B00AWUFVY8

the hakko fx888d has been the standard for budget soldering irons for years

I agree with pretty much everything said here except I prefer a different iron:

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-Digital-FX888D-Soldering-Station/dp/B00AWUFVY8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1501705119&sr=8-2&keywords=hakko+fx888d

Hakko FX-888D. Not inexpensive but not the most expensive either. One of the best irons I have ever worked with, was a night/day experience compared to prior cheapo irons I'd used in the past.

I used these guides to help plan and build this.
https://docs.keeb.io/build-guide.html
https://github.com/nicinabox/lets-split-guide

I got the majority of my keyboard parts such as the diodes, case/plates, pcb, and TRRS jack/cable from keeb.io, and sourced the pro micro and switches from mehkee.

The Let's Split and the Nyquist are basically the same, but instead the Nyquist has the extra row, allowing numbers to be on the base layer.

Before starting the build, you'd want to get an adequate soldering iron. I didn't have the funds to get a Hakko FX888D when I got into this with my Clueboard, so I instead bought a Station 60 and a 2.4mm Chisel tip to replace the included tip. Don't forget the solder wire! I used some old solder wire that I found laying around, but something like Kester 44 63/37 solder wire will serve you well. Fairly thin solder wire around .031" will be adequate, but some people use thinner ones; it's all preference. Just avoid lead-free solder, they are a pain to solder with. If you think you will mess up, I recommend either getting some soldering wick or a desoldering pump. I heard that desoldering irons are also pretty good, but I never tried one to give a proper opinion.

Then you want to check out a tutorial regarding soldering, if you don't know how to do it already. I learned from EEVblog (warning: it's a lengthy video!), but you can probably find some other video about it.

After you have all your parts and double checked the parts list, you can start building. It's pretty much just following the guides step by step. The Let's Split guide that I linked is the most detailed for the build process, but the official Nyquist one seems to still be under construction at the time I am writing this. If you have any trouble, you can contact bakingpy here on reddit or on keeb.io, or just make a thread here or on /r/olkb. Someone will help answer your questions!

Without the keycaps, I spent around $75 on the project. Overall, around $150.

Edit: cost

Unless you absolutely need it to be portable this hakko was a huge quality of life increase for my hobby building
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AWUFVY8/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1456806658&sr=8-3&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=hakko&dpPl=1&dpID=41KfFMZyi9L&ref=plSrch

I would stay away from the cheap no-name all in one solutions. They tend to be pretty crappy. Look at some of the nicer options from Hakko or Weller. You really only need a 100$ish soldering iron to do incredible work (obviously nicer IS better, but the returns are diminishing). Check out this one from Hakko: Hakko FX888D,T18-B,BL,I,D24,D32,C05,S7,599-029 Soldering Station with T18-B/BL/I/D24/D32/C05/S7/599-029 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C2BHTBI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ohkZDb6WW5TJY

That set meets all of your needs and more. That, plus a cheap air station like this: BACOENG 110V Digital 858D SMD Hot Air Rework Station Solder Blower Heat Gun https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BRQX15Z/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ojkZDbTDPH5PN

and a cheap extractor, and you are more then set.

Would something like this help?

I've used those, and they're kind of garbage. Once you've used this type, there is no going back.

Here is a comparable one, and OPs is definitely cheaper.

quad hands there are probly better versions but I grabbed this one to be quick about it.

I bought a variable temp Aoyue soldering iron. It's worked fine despite it not being a Hakko. $30
http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Variable-Soldering-Station-Removable/dp/B00MCVCHJM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463421574&sr=8-1&keywords=aoyue

I've used it for a total of around.....50 hours so far? Works fine for me.

I also found a desoldering pump to be easier to use than soldering wick.

Ayoue 469

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Variable-Soldering-Station-Removable/dp/B00MCVCHJM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483544891&sr=8-1&keywords=aoyue+469

$30 very well regulated, compatible with Hakko tips. Excellent value.

I can pick up a half decent multimeter (Amprobe AM-510 perhaps? 50USD on ebay), then learn/do the troubleshooting. Then if it turns out I need to replace the power transistors I could pick up something like this Hakko digital soldering station? Would those potentially be sufficient for the job?

I've done some amount of soldering, but only with a cheapo iron. I replaced a dead capacitor in a LCD monitor and have mended several wires.

Thanks for response.

I think i'm going to go with this one here. Its more then the one I originally thought of getting but sounds like this one is MUCH better then the Chinese crap. But I might go with this one here its a lot more but its worth it from what it sounds like.

Don't know that soldering station, so can't comment on it.

But if you want to get a proven product, go with a well known brand, like a Hakko, JBC, Pace, Weller, ERSA or Metcal. E.g. this Hakko is very popular and good:
https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-FX-888D/dp/B00ANZRT4M

Just beware of ripoffs - there are plenty of fakes of this (and other) Hakko stations around.

Unless you planning on reworking massive BGAs then for the hot air I would recommend a cheapie - it is not something you are going to use all the time (definitely less than a soldering iron) and it only takes unnecessary space on the bench if you buy a combo rework station.

I have an Atten 858d now. I actually prefer it over my old rework station because it doesn't have that thick air hose going to the nozzle (which was always getting in the way on the bench) and a noisy air pump - it uses a normal cheap blower integrated right into the handle. And if it breaks it is easy to repair, in the worst case it is cheap enough to toss and buy a new one.

However, I do have that microscope, or at least one that looks identical, mine is from eBay, branded AndonStar. It is an OK microscope for a cheap USB device, but if you want to solder under it, I suggest you invest into a proper optical stereo microscope or at least one of those flip-up magnifiers that you wear on your forehead.

These USB microscopes are quite fiddly mechanically (even though this one is better than most), feel "laggy" due to the delay inherent in the fact that it is essentially a webcam and lack sense of depth because it is not stereoscopic. Also having to look at a screen and not at what you are doing requires practice and is very unnatural. All of this will wreak havoc with your hand-eye coordination. Not very good when you are soldering tiny components.

It is certainly possible to solder under one of these in a pinch, but it is a pain. I would recommend using it only for board inspection - it is fairly decent for that. For actual soldering I have switched to a head-mounted stereo magnifier and then later a stereo microscope. You don't need much magnification - 5-10x is more than enough for most jobs, but the lack of lag and the sense of depth thanks to the stereo image even with the $10 magnifier make an enormous difference.

I’m in the same boat as you, just want the best quality. I was doing some looking around recently and I came across this middle of the road iron, has a lot of great reviews. Isn’t the best, isn’t the worst. This is what I’m aimin for!

Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station FX-888D FX-888 (blue & yellow) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_KP11BbBJPKH4S

Do keep in mind though shelling out for a good soldering iron and some very thin solder will make a huge difference in your work. A good roll of solder will run you $40 and a good iron is gonna run at about $100. But damn is it worth it over the cheap ones...

Just something to consider if you get into this hobby...

Depends on how "decent" you're looking for. I have the Hakko FX888D and I don't think I'll need anything else for years to come. Hakko and Weller are both solid brands, and are what you will find in a lot of EE workplaces. Ideally you'd want something with temperature control. You can get one of those cheap $20 if you don't want to make the investment now, but I can guarantee it will crap out on you by the time you graduate, and probably much earlier than that.

Kinda spendy for just starting out, but I highly recommend this one. Really easy to use and more dependable than the more expensive ones.

Yep as soon as I saw 75-100 my mind went straight to my Haako station and what a difference it made to my ability to solder having a real nice station:

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1543381467&sr=8-2&keywords=haako

To be more precise, I mean something like this . They make lots of stuff apparently.

Build Your Own Clone

I doubt you'd keep track of any more websites I could mention above once you find a few kits there. As far as equipment goes, get:

A decent soldering iron ... Alternative (please also get this with the alternative)

Solder

Micro Cutters to trim leads

Hopefully you have a small flat-head screwdriver to set knobs and a small flat pair of pliers to attach hardware to the enclosures.

I doubt you'd need to but if you ever need to get any components that aren't supplied with a kit, go to Tayda Electronics for nearly any part (they tend to be cheapest for hobbyists, you can find anything from passive components like resistors and capacitors, to knobs/switches/audio and power jacks, etc.).

How good?

Here is one that will last you pretty much for whatever no matter what you do with it, its the soldering iron I have used for the past several years and has been great on a number of projects: https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M/

Here is one that will do just fine but isn't great or anything:
https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC

The most important feature for a good soldering station is variable temperature.

The only other things you will need is solder:
https://www.amazon.com/WYCTIN-Solder-Electrical-Soldering-0-11lbs/dp/B071G1J3W6, a solder wick: https://www.amazon.com/MIYAKO-Desoldering-Wire-Handy-Dispenser/dp/B010VMHR5M, and possibly wire cutters if you don't have them: https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-CHP-170-Micro-Cutter/dp/B00FZPDG1K

Some personal advice is get the best one you can afford if you thing you will use it a lot, the difference between a okay one and a great one is huge. I hated soldering till I got a good iron.

here's what i currently use - http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-FX-888D/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=sr_1_1

get a good iron, don't get something really cheap. everything is easier with something that works well.

Don't buy it from radio shack those are all garbage which he will be unhappy with.
What is your budget?can you swing $100? This one is very good for that price.

Ohh, that's good idea. My little Weller station finally gave up the ghost last month. Maybe I'll add a Hakko to my list.

Then you should get a good soldering station. Hakko is a really good brand. Heres one of their soldering stations: http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-FX-888D/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=zg_bs_13837391_9
If thats more than what your willing to spend i've heard good things about the low end weller stations. doesn't have the highest wattage but it should be good enough for your purpose. Link: http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-Soldering-Hobbyist-Yourselfer/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1305842734&sr=8-2-fkmr0

Here is a short build inventory for people who may want to perform this mod in the future:

• 1x 0.5oz - 2oz tube of Krytox GPL 205 Grease. This will last you a long time.
  
• 1x Victorinox Multi-Tool Oil or any plastic-safe, high viscosity oil.
  
• 1x 100pc bag of 68g Cherry MX compatible springs
  
• 100x Plate mount Cherry MX Clear keyswitches. You could also buy a KUL ES-87 with Cherry MX Clears, but just be sure to have extras in case of damage during the modification process.
  
• 1x KUL ES-87 of any Keyswitch/color (black or smoke black) variety.
  
  Lube and replace switches based on WFD's guides. Get two small paintbrushes and a pair of forceps or tweezers to help manipulate the components during the lubrication process. You should also whip up a couple of these guys. They make opening the switches a hell of a lot easier.
  
  This was only my second time desoldering so I learned a lot along the way. Quality, flux-treated desoldering braid and a temperature controlled soldering iron with a chisel tip was the most reliable method I found to desolder. I used the Hakko FX888D soldering iron and station with a 2.4 mm x 14.5 mm Hakko chisel tip. I used Chemtronics' Chem-Wick desoldering braid to remove the solder from the plated through holes on the PCB. You have to take extra care when using desoldering braid not to heat up other components on the board, but with enough practice you will be a pro!

Thanks! Went with Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station FX-888D FX-888 (blue & yellow) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_AQOTCbD1N59JX

My understanding is I still need cutters and a solder sucker as well

If you’re running a brushed motor you’d only have 2 leads so it would work. I personally prefer 4mm bullet plugs for the motor myself.

As far as for battery and esc leads I think they’re about the nicest plugs out there. They’re way nicer than deans if you get the version with the cover at the bottom. This way you don’t have to use shrink tubing to cover the soldering. Makes for a nice clean look

Also I find them much easier to solder. They have a C shape to them so you lay the wire in a little channel and can solder away.

Last, if soldering is a bad experience you should consider upgrading your soldering iron. I use a hakko and it makes soldering so easy it’s incredible. It puts heat at your joint quickly so you get on and off without heat traveling everywhere. No wire is too thick or difficult to get the solder to adhere to.

Couple this with a helping hands setup from amazon and soldering becomes a simple and dare I say fun task. Believe me I used to hate it every time.


Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station FX-888D FX-888 (blue & yellow) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_M2ZMDb5GVCP21

I got mine for $70 so maybe check around. Or perhaps they’ve gone up :/


Fstop Labs Helping Hands Soldering Tool, Third Hand Soldering PCB Holder Tool, Four Arms Helping Hands Crafts Jewelry Hobby Workshop Helping Station Non-Slip Steel Weighted Base https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TTZCZPR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_z3ZMDbM7HTAT0

So helpful. Game changer.

You could go with this one and it would be better than anything you could get for $20.

But it’s definitely worth the extra money to go with

This one

or this one

I have the Hakko and a buddy has the Weller so I’ve used them both and they’re both great stations.

I have an older model of this solder station. It's held up pretty well in the 9 years I've owned it. Still on the original heating element too.

There are cheaper Hakko solder stations out there too, like this basic unit. You should also invest in some flux and a solder sucker if you ever plan on desoldering anything.

hakko

there are about 5-6 other components that I could still replace in the horizontal linearity circuit and I will probably do this. I do think it will solve the issue but I will likely try because of how much effort and money I have invested into this set. I love the set other than the geometry problems and the geometry issue isn't really that noticeable in 3D games. I don't notice it at all when playing Super Mario 64 and N64 looks great on the JVC D201 set. Also, keep in mind that when you are dealing with geometry issues, you only need to focus on the horizontal and vertical linearity circuits which contain 20-30 aluminum electrolytic capacitors combined. Replacing capacitors isn't hard at all with the right tools. I did make sure to watch a ton of videos on how to solder and desolder and I bought my tools based on recommendations in Youtube videos and on several electronics forums.
 
I use this soldering iron and it works great, https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=hakko+soldering+iron&qid=1556333443&s=gateway&sr=8-3
 
I use this solder sucker and it is also great. You just have to make sure to push out the old solder with the pump after every 1-2 connections, https://www.amazon.com/Engineer-SS-02-Solder-Sucker/dp/B002MJMXD4/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=engineer+solder+sucker&qid=1556333566&s=gateway&sr=8-3
 
I recommend have a desoldering wick as backup as well. Use a no-clean solder wick of 2.0mm for general desoldering. As far as flux, flux paste is easier to use as it doesn't drip. The AMTECH NC-559-V2-TF no-clean tacky solder flux is good. Any no clean liquid flux from Kester or MG Chemicals will work fine as well. Definitely get some wire cutters for cutting solder and cutting component leads.
 
I use this solder (I recommend lead solder with a rosin core and also no clean) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068IJOU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Any time you work on a CRT, you need to discharge the anode cap. This is very easy to do with the proper tools. For example, you could use a flat head screwdriver and an alligator clip wire to do this. You connect one end to the screw driver, the other end to a ground point on the CRT chassis (i.e. the metal frame around the CRT), slide the screwdriver under the rubber anode cap with the CRT unplugged until you hit the metal connector in the metal. Rub the screwdriver on this metal connector for about 5 seconds and it will be discharged. Retrotech on Youtube has a video on how to do this. I wouldn't say you need $80 electrical gloves to do this but at least wear a rubber or leather glove or both and only use one hand. Retrotech actually has quite a few videos on how to work on CRTs.
 
Overall, doing basic things like replacing capacitors in CRTs isn't that hard, you just have to spend the time to educate yourself, be patient and it will click. If you have any questions, just ask me or anyone else on here. If you ever work on any power circuit capacitors, make sure to discharge them with a high wattage and ohm rated resistor but using insulated pliers to hold the resistor legs to the capacitor legs for about 5 seconds to discharge the cap before you remove it.

No worries. If you're looking in a good iron, this would be what I'd consider entry level. It's what I'm currently using, and has paid for itself many times over. Your typical habor frieght/radio shack iron is total garbage that will cause more damage than repair.

Decent flux and braid, and soldering tips to go with that iron.

For solder, it's more or less the same, other than lead-free vs. leaded. I would get leaded solder. It's a million times easier to work with, due to the lower melting temperature. It's also nice for desoldering -- you take a blob of leaded solder and run it against the solder joints you're trying to remove, and it'll lower the melting point of the preexisting solder and make your life much easier.

Lead-free solder is used today to prevent lead from entering wastewater, since millions of tons of electronics get thrown away every year. When you're repairing something, you're keeping it out of the trash, so I have no moral concerns with it. And it's not really a health concern for rework/reflow, so long as you wash your hands and keep them out of your mouth :)

Yes, soldering stations are a ridiculous improvement over normal soldering irons! If you get the cash to splurge a little, Hakko makes great soldering stations. The FX-888D is a great entry level soldering station for about $100, which is still pretty much on the low end for soldering stations. But you should be able to find one on Amazon a little cheaper, closer to $90. However low end soldering stations are usually perfect hobbyist stations.

edit: Found one!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079VVHPPS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_u81-Ab0BZ4Z1Q

And he is looking at this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_n91-AbMVGHT1R

-a good workbench with clamps and a lot of surface area

-a soldering STATION. I have this. also buy LEAD solder, and those little things of cleaner/tinner are super useful.

-fume extractor (optional, but very easy to build with a fan and some ducting. Worth it.)

-pliers, wire cutters, crimpers, and strippers,

-lots of extra wire

-heat shrink tubing and something to heat it with.

-lots of extra screws/zip ties/fasteners

-somewhere to put screws. A flat tray works nicely, but magnetic ones are the best.

-a multimeter or oscilloscope. I use this.

-prop balancer. Very necessary, especially if doing video or using cheap props. (They can explode if not balanced.)

-lots of lamps and light sources.

-a pair of Helping Hands for soldering.

-hex wrenches/screwdrivers

-good hacksaw/hobby saw/Xacto knife.

-calipers/rulers

-drill/dremel

I went with this one. I liked the digital temp and everywhere I looked said hakko was a BIFL brand. I also got like 10 different tips because I have no idea what I'm doing with the thing. Didn't realize the included tip was perfectly fine for the big joints I needed to retouch.

Maybe I'll start buying broken electronics on ebay to learn to fix stuff.

well.. shipping is not cheap. but i just ordered mine to Norway.

^(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ANZRT4M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

I'm basically in the same boat as you so I cant help you much but here's some places that can.

https://youtu.be/gDbVtbLJicA
I haven't watched that video but there are is a few on YouTube.

try doing a search here and if you still have questions do a post.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/

Thsee are two highly rated soldering stations on amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BRC2XU/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?qid=1427285096&sr=8-9&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=soldering+iron

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ANZRT4M/ref=mp_s_a_1_19?qid=1427285346&sr=8-19&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=soldering+iron&dpPl=1&dpID=41sCMxh%2BAYL&ref=plSrch

And you may want to get these

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000RB38X8/ref=pd_aw_fbt__hi_img_2?refRID=04241AVDK89CA7JZ7G53

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002KRAAG/ref=pd_aw_fbt__hi_img_3?refRID=05VW456WDCV7D1PTHEPE

You may want to start with an unregulated or an okr or raptor build. It'll be cheaper and its easy to find tutorials on building them online. That is probably what I will start with.

Eh, soldering just takes a bit of practice, and there are tons of Youtube videos that explain in detail the best ways to do so.

(I'd recommend this channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChbLnX8JcsN9bH4BNgJZ6wA)

Really it's all about not holding the iron on the board too long. Once you get that down, it's easy. Learning the wire gauges and all that is also very easy as most boards have recommendations in the paperwork. (if it carries power, big wire... If it carries signal, smaller wire). These new DNA boards are about the easiest thing ever to work with, and even someone with little to no experience could solder them with ease. (now the DNA20/30/40, notsomuch)

If you're looking for a good soldering iron, you want something with wattage control, and while weller has been the standard for decades, they are overpriced and a bit hardcore unless you are a pro. I'd highly recommend the Hakko FX888D http://amzn.com/B00ANZRT4M which is what pretty much everyone uses, or what I personally use, the Aoyue 9378 http://amzn.com/B00BSW69LI which has served me very well. There are others for considerably less, and if you aren't planning on making this a hobby, then something like the Aoyue 469 http://amzn.com/B00MCVCHJM would be perfectly fine. (60w is about a low as you'll want for a variable wattage iron, so you'll have a little wiggle room)

>will this soldering iron do:
>
> https://www.amazon.ca/Bundle-Soldering-Station-CHP170-cutter/dp/B00AWUFVY8/ref=sr_1_10?gclid=CjwKCAjwzJjrBRBvEiwA867byrf2CO2v74Zq8TKN4jPpp7bf4BwLl4NvTcrNgbMfunTmJb3ziP5QDRoCVdMQAvD_BwE&hvadid=208372446373&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9001405&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=6614975178178446183&hvtargid=aud-748921816227%3Akwd-298023941695&hydadcr=23342_10093192&keywords=hakko+fx-888d&qid=1566999351&s=gateway&sr=8-10
>
>is this a good power supply:
>
> https://www.amazon.ca/Variable-Supply-LETOUR-Adjustable-Alligator/dp/B07KS45YNM/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=DC+power+supply&qid=1566999570&s=gateway&sr=8-2
>
>
>
>will this one do?
>
> https://www.amazon.ca/SainSmart-Handheld-4-Channel-Analyzer-Programmable/dp/B07FXDWMKN/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=logic+analyzer&qid=1566999713&refinements=p_76%3A3276484011&rnid=3276483011&rps=1&s=gateway&sr=8-7

Likely the tip is contacting the AC live. That thing is an electrocution waiting to happen. Bin it and complain :)

If you absolutely must cheap out on a soldering iron get this one at an absolute minimum. Can take a lot of abuse, delivers enough power for a beginner and most importantly is safe.

Then save up for one of these.

• Save yourself a few bucks and get the Hakko / Snip Combo.
  
• I beat the shit out of my 10 yr old radio shack fire starter, and now i LOVE my Hakko. To be prepared I found this video on how to take care of tips. I've been doing this guys method from the start and HOLY BALLS my tip is still in good condition after several months of use. I even bought extra tips from HK thinking i was going to need them. LOL.. maybe down the road or precision soldering.
  
• I know you said you have hex drivers, but i picked up this set due to my original hex set stripping. The Titanium apparently keeps from stripping.. have yet to strip them, so we'll see. Also good to have something at the bench, and an on the go set for the field. I actually have a multi-tool from HK for the field.. it's not titanium but it works.
  
• I also have a multi-tool ratcheting hex nut driver for my props.
  
• zip ties
  
• blue lock tight for motors
  
• personally i have yet to use or need a heat gun, if it's for shrinking heat shrink i simply use a lighter.
  
• little baggies for small parts. I label mine where these parts came from but not necessary.. e.g. Cobra motors, Naze32, Strix frame, etc.
  
• i picked up a cheap helping hands from Harbor Freight for like $3.. it comes in handy.
  
• Lipo Checker.. i personally got a Hyperion EOS Sentry 3 for $11.
  
• XT60 male/female connectors
  
• 12/14/18/20/22/26 AWG wire..
  
• Car bulb for smoke stopper.. this should be the FIRST thing you build.. it's saved me sooooo many times.
  
• electrical tape.. lots and lots of electrical tape.
  
• double sided tape.. foamed/padded
  
  probably more.. but all i can think of right now..
  
  
  

Hakko Digital , I have this exact one and its lasted me three years of EE labs. The ones they sold at the school shop are terrible and are probably borderline dangerous. Just remember to protect your tip!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006HJSIW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00
I personally enjoyed it!

http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-Digital-FX888D-Soldering-Station/dp/B00AWUFVY8/ref=sr_1_2?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1457518303&sr=1-2&keywords=hakko+fx-888
And this is the soldering station i used.

I second the Hakko. Heats up quickly and built sturdy! Link to the specific model I have:

http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-Digital-FX888D-CHP170-bundle/dp/B00AWUFVY8/

I think if you're able to financially, you should try and get something more in the mid-range. I have a feeling that this 15 dollar iron is going to be wildly inconsistent in keeping it's temp up and make it extremely difficult for you to get good solder joints. I would recommend something like this.

As far as other accesories go, I would grab a "Helping Hands" a head band magnifier and some nice small tweezers.

https://www.amazon.com/Bundle-Soldering-Station-CHP170-cutter/dp/B00AWUFVY8

https://www.amazon.com/Engineer-SS-02-Solder-Sucker/dp/B002MJMXD4

Also get some flux, some good solder, and desoldering wick.

Don't cheap out on an iron. It's one thing if you absolutely can't afford something from hakko or weller, but if you're going to be doing any amount of soldering a better iron is going to be worth the money, even if you've got to save up a bit.

For someone who anticipates doing a decent amount of electronics, I'd generally recommend the Hakko FX888.

Advantages:

• Heats up in moments (not 10 minutes). This is good because it means the iron recovers more quickly.
  
• Build quality. I've been using an old Hakko 928 that I received second-hand since like, 2006-7 and haven't even needed to replace a tip

Thanks. I have a Hakko 888D and a big ass magnifying glass. I just ordered a USB microscope (non-cheap, it has a bed for raising and lowering height). Thanks for the videos.

AND - check THIS out! I just used a thinner stencil, and followed your other instructions. Ignore the blobs to the left, I wasnt concentrating on those. This is really exciting.

hakko 888d

I thought I was bad at soldering.. Turns out I had a bad soldering iron.

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-Digital-FX888D-Soldering-Station/dp/B00AWUFVY8/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1483152293&sr=1-3&keywords=hakko+888d

This one is absolutely fantastic from what I've seen/read. The only problem is that you're on Europe, but neverthless you should definitely get a station with temperature control. I'd also recomend you to find a digital one.

The digital version is somewhat cheaper and comes with a free flush-cutter:

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-FX888D-CHP170-bundle-cutter/dp/B00AWUFVY8/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1374602448&sr=1-1&keywords=Hakko+FX-888

In case anyone cares, I ordered this.

I use the Hakko FX888D:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWUFVY8/

And this solder sucker:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MJMXD4/

I heat up the solder and suck it up with the solder sucker one pin at a time.

Well I just bought this one that I haven't tried yet. It has amazing reviews and although it looks like a pre-K toy it most certainly isn't.

Step 1: Buy a multimeter. I prefer the Fluke 87v http://amzn.com/B0002YFD1K Sure it's $387, but it'll pay for itself eventually.

Step 2: You'll need to take apart the charger. A good set of screwdrivers would definitely help. http://amzn.com/B000NZ5QG0 It's only $40. Wiha maybe isn't the best, but I like them and they do offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Step 3: Once you open it up, you can start testing it with the multimeter. Inevitably, however, you'll probably have to solder something. Hakko is a popular brand for good reason. This one is under $100 AND it comes with wire cutters: http://amzn.com/B00AWUFVY8

Step 4: After you put it back together and find out that it's still not working, buy a replacement charger.

I'm not sure about that one, but I can say don't buy this one from Circuit Specialists. It's what I've been using for years for the odd project here and there and it was always frustrating. I don't have enough experience to have known why it was so difficult, but I finally decided I was due for an upgrade and I got this Hakko soldering station, and the difference is amazing. Mainly, it gets hot and stays consistently hot, which it turns out makes things much easier. Another big difference is the tip, which perhaps would have been an easy upgrade to my old iron if not for the inconsistent heat. But I notice that the one you linked has a sharp slender tip, and I've learned that the chisel shaped tip that came with the Hakko is much better for heat transfer since you can apply more of the tip's surface area.

I'll just recommend these:

https://www.getfpv.com/ts100-digital-oled-programmable-interface-mini-soldering-iron.html <----- Fantastic portable and desktop but best if you need portable. I own this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Variable-Soldering-Station-Removable/dp/B00MCVCHJM?ref_=ast_bbp_dp60W so you can split the diff.

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-9378-Programmable-Digital-Soldering/dp/B00BSW69LI?ref_=ast_bbp_dp <---- I own this one. Works very very well.

Never owned a Weller that I've liked.

I just bought this off Amazon to do soldering related projects with my pi.
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00BSW69LI/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1419892846&sr=1&keywords=aoyue+soldering
I haven't had a chance to test it out yet but the reviews seem good and from the research that I did, the brand is pretty good

If you plan on taking it further than just simple mods a couple times a year, I recommend spending a little more if you can. You don't have to go crazy either. I know that a lot of people go the Hakko or Weller route, but I've been very happy with my Aoyue 9378. Here is the Aoyue 937+ which is cheaper (45w vs 60w and a couple other things). Like others have said, get some wick and grab one of these over the sponge crap.

EDIT: Oh, and pick up some flux. There are flux fans and some that use it sparingly, but just pick it up.

Also, this goes much further than just installing a battery holder, but check out Voultar's videos to watch some technique. He's also a liberal flux / No Clean user and you'll see why.

Can I get your guys opinion on this one?

http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00BSW69LI/ref=cm_sw_em_r_am_wp_am_ca?ie=UTF8

I've had it in my cart for almost a month now and I'm thinking I might pull the trigger. Currently I'm limping along with a $12 soldering iron from radio shack that's probably 15 years old.

Thanks!

It's a Weller 23w basic iron. I had my eye on this model a while ago, I think it was available for <$100 But it never made the top of my list when I was buying stuff.

You definitely want to get a soldering station. So something that can control the temperature of the of the iron. The reason being is the ones that just plug into the wall usually fluctuate between extremely hot and very hot which can become if you’re trying to solder next to very delicate transistors on the pcb.


I know people say you can get away with the cheapest everything but that’s usually not the case at all and sometimes dangerous to your health.


Getting good solder, tip tinner, brass sponge, flux pen, and a fan with a carbon filter will do you great things.


The fan is extremely important when your desoldering as that will give off a tonne of chemicals.


This is what I personally have


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BSW69LI/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B074J6R1KQ/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001W2XZOS/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FZPGDLA/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00NS4J6BY/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1


The soldering iron is overkill if you’re just using it for trains

Is it necessary to clean up flux? Almost never. Is it a good idea to do it anyway? I'd say so. Here's a good article about all things solder and flux to bring you up to speed.

Flux is SUPER carcinogenic, or so I've been lead to believe, and it also causes serious gastrointestinal issues if ingested, in even relatively small amounts. I generally try to leave all the circuit boards I work on clean of big globs of flux, but I'm no perfectionist. Flux is non-conductive, so don't worry if you leave a bunch behind or it looks like the flux might be bridging a connection. I oftentimes leave smaller flux contamination spots on the board, unless it's in a spot where I'd be likely to touch next time I'm handling the board.

Here's a pretty good soldering iron, the Hakko FX-888. It's more than enough iron to last you through all your projects in the foreseeable future, and it comes with extra tips and a tip cleaning canister. To be honest, though, it's pretty expensive, and I totally understand if it's out of your price range. Personally, I use a Chinese clone, which works extremely well, for what I paid for it.

I'd also recommend anyone working on anything with a soldering iron to get a set of helping hands. Finding one which isn't broken or of shit quality is a real crapshoot, but, once you have one that works, you'll wonder how you ever got by without one. Personally, I recommend spending the cash to get one with some sort of LED built in, but here's a link to a cheap and functional set of helping hands.

If you're going to be desoldering things often (or trying to make beautiful solder joints), you definitely want to get yourself some desoldering braid, which is just stranded copper wire filled with flux paste. When you put heat to the top of the braid and put the bottom of the braid on the component, the braid will wick excess solder from the component. Once you master using this stuff, it's a real boon for disassembly (or cleanup of solder blobs). You might also want to look into a desoldering pump, which is okay for some things, but not nearly as versatile as desoldering braid.

Last, but certainly not least, is having the right solder for the job. Personally, I use silver bearing solder, because I've been told it is more resistant to cold joints, and slightly more conductive. Here's a link to a spool of silver bearing solder, which I'd buy, were I in the market for a new spool.

One more link for you... When I was looking for a link to that Chinese clone soldering station, I stumbled on this DIY SMD soldering practice kit. Might be worth your time to invest in one and try your luck. For $2, it's a great way to go from soldering zero to soldering hero in a day or two. Also, check this page for more DIY kit ideas.

Let me know if you have any more questions! My inbox is always available, if you'd feel more comfortable PM'ing me questions, too. (That goes for anyone who needs a hand, not just /u/websurferathome)

This was my first iron, though under a different branding. It's only $16, and it has a knob you can spin that at least loosely correlates w/ the iron's temperature.

I wouldn't recommend it, though. I splurged for a Hakko FX-888D a couple of months later and haven't regretted it once. It truly is a night-and-day difference. Working with my old iron was like pulling teeth. Working with the Hakko is effortless.

I'd definitely recommend an upgrade. If you're un(willing|able) to spend $100+ on a soldering iron, I'd recommend still getting the first one I linked, along with some Hakko tips. Hakko tips are about 10-20x as expensive as their no-name counterparts, and you absolutely get what you pay for.

Easily the most frustrating part of using my first iron was how quickly the tips would oxidize, even though I kept them tinned religiously. Hakko tips, when cared for, will last indefinitely. I wouldn't be surprised if nice tips + cheap (but temperature controlled) iron got you 70% of the performance of the all-Hakko kit.

Here's my suggestion:

• Hakko FX888D Soldering Station
  
  
• Hakko CHP-170 Micro Soft Wire Cutter
  
  
• MG Chemicals 63/37 No Clean Leaded Solder
  
  
• MG Chemicals No Clean Super Wick Desoldering Braid
  
  How to use it and getting your soldering technique right:
  
  
• EEVblog #180 - Soldering Tutorial Part 1 - Tools
  
  
• EEVblog #183 - Soldering Tutorial Part 2

Alright, so you basically have 3 options depending on how much soldering you plan to do. If you're just gonna build one or two keyboards and and will never try to do SMD, I recommend this:

• https://www.amazon.com/Tabiger-Soldering-110V-Adjustable-Temperature-Welding/dp/B01H1IFT54
  
  If you think you're gonna do this a lot, OR you've already had the cheap iron and want something better, you have two choices:
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Soldering-Station-599-029/dp/B00C2BHTBI
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WESD51-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000ARU9PO
  
  The Hakko is recommended by basically everyone here, and is widely used in the hobbyist world. I've used the Hakko a few times at TechShop, and it's a good station. However, I've never seen anything but a weller used commercially. I picked up a weller for my own station, I couldn't be happier with it.
  
  No matter which of these 3 you end up you'll be happy.

I have this one. Haven't run into any issues. Granted this is NOT a rework station. But it's the same model they are issuing in Fed labs. $135 gets you great soldering iron which wide range adjustable temps, set of various tips, though if you are doing ISP you'll want the very fine tips...I'll have to find the number for the ones I use...The only other thing you would want for ISP is decent magnification to work under.

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-T18-B-D24-599-029/dp/B00C2BHTBI/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1525274929&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=hakko+soldering+station&psc=1

This looks pretty decent

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00GIKVP5K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_f0BCyb94CVFXW
Source: https://youtu.be/gKGjxq96m-o

I have a very similar vise in my workshop. Works great and I love it, but third-hands are amazing if you get a good one. I tried this one out after seeing the amazing reviews on Amazon and was not let down. Having 4 clamps instead of 2, and having them be able to lock down makes a world of difference.
https://www.amazon.com/QuadHands-Helping-Hands-Third-Soldering/dp/B00GIKVP5K

I also have one like this, only not quite as expensive:

https://www.amazon.com/Tools-004-570-Regular-Soldering-Station/dp/B01579QJYO/ref=sr_1_95?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1518811625&sr=1-95&keywords=third+hand

I used to have one of those. The magnifying glass (plastic) broke off almost immediately.

I'd like to get this, but it is way more expensive...
https://www.amazon.com/QuadHands-Helping-Hands-Third-Soldering/dp/B00GIKVP5K/ref=sr_1_6?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1495130651&sr=1-6&keywords=helping+hands

Haha, completely self taught through trial and error, thanks! Having the right kind of paste flux and magnification helps. I’ve also purchased one of these to help keep things steady with this and future jobs.

QuadHands Helping Hands Third Hand Soldering Tool and Vise
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GIKVP5K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Oh.MBb478C70E

My business partner and I just started making our own cables in December. We use Switchcraft connectors (personal preference) and Canare Star Quad cable. It hasn't been too hard to learn on star quad. We use a Weller WES51 which is around $85.

Also recommend a brass sponge and this helping hands tool if you have the budget for it.

EDIT: Neither one of us had really soldered much before, but we did have someone showing us how to do it. So Quad-Core might be tough if you're totally trying to teach yourself.

This one is really good:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GIKVP5K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Gx0ryb2535NT7
Shows out of stock on Amazon right now though.

Hey guys, this is more of a SOLDERING question rather than a keyboard related question.

---

• I am gonna be doing my first build soon and I was wondering what soldiering iron/set/thing I should get under $40 if possible - no more than $60 though..(but I would prefer constant/consistent temp - since thats what everyone seems to say is important? :O)
  
  
• Also, what solder should I use for the PCB work?
  
  
  
• So far i was checking out This cheapo Iron but people seem to be complaining about it's temp control? But would this be an okay Solder Iron set thing?
  
  
  
• What else would I need besides solder and soldering iron? :O
  
  
  
  ---
  Thanks guys!!!

I have this one. It's not great, but it's been good enough for my purposes for a few years. It's about $40.
https://smile.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/

There are ones on Amazon that are a little cheaper. This one sounds pretty comparable and is in your price range.
https://smile.amazon.com/Aoyue-Variable-Soldering-Station-Removable/dp/B00MCVCHJM/

For really basic soldering, you actually can get away without a temperature control, but it's hard to recommend that for anything involving a printed circuit board.

For my part, I'm thinking of upgrading to a hot air reflow station, to make it easier to work with solder paste and surface-mount components, as well as heat-shrink tubing. But the basic adjustable Weller was good enough for several years of tinkering.

This right here is amazing for as cheap as it is. I am sure that if you punch in the model number you will pull up one for the UK.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MCVCHJM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ninja edit: nvm found it for you.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soldering-Aoyue-Station-Interchangeable-PCB-Soldering/dp/B00ZA8776C/ref=sr_1_1?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1474631869&sr=1-1&keywords=Aoyue+469

Diy lm317 power supply. these things aren't the best but it is a linear supply and for hobbies you won't need anything more sophisticated. It's dirt cheap, and you get to practice soldering. Imo, buy 2 so you can supply the negative voltages for the common op amp.

Soldering station I have fondness for this station as it was the one we had to buy for our program at school. I like it a lot because the iron stand, heating element, sponge holder, and a solder wire spool are all connected so you just need to haul around 1 object. Don't need to go digging for your iron stand or setting your spool of solder somewhere and forget it. Works well enough for your use and I believe there are tips out there.

Breadboard and wires this is mandatory. If there's anything on my list you choose to buy, you must buy this first. Breadboards are essential. If you can buy two of these.

63/37 solder you don't work for a company that is rohs compliant, don't burden yourself with leadless solder. Look for a us shipping of that if you don't want to wait.

Wire snips if you own side cutters you probably won't need these.

Wire strippers again you might not need these if you are patient and strip them with cutters. Also the breadboards above come with pre cut

Helping hands I do SMD rework professionally and I don't use hands because I'm an idiot. Don't be an idiot and learn from the get go using these.

If you can find any of these for cheaper than I found, go for it. Should be around 70 bucks. Good puck!

>Copy pasta'ed from my post a few months ago:

After doing some research, here are my top 3 budget soldering iron options. Thoughts?

My $4 Harbour Freight iron's tip is dissolving, and it's time I got a new iron. I don't solder super often, maybe a handful of times a month, so I can't really justify getting a nice $40 Weller soldering station. My budget is around $30. After doing some Google-Fu, and browsing through Amazon and Ebay, here are my top 3 budget choices:

• [Vastar Soldering Iron Kit] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01712N5C4?tag=bestseekers-20)
  
• [Sywon Soldering Iron Kit] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E1ISGH0?tag=bestseekers-20)
  
• [Aoyue 469 Soldering Station] (https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Variable-Soldering-Station-Removable/dp/B00MCVCHJM)
  
  I'm open to suggestions, comments, and questions regarding these choices. The Sywon Soldering Iron kit has nothing I really care about over the Vastar one, aside from a slightly nicer stand and sponge, and of course the carrying case. The Aoyue 469, being the only soldering station on the list, doesn't come with any flashy accessories unfortunately. A solder sucker would be nice, and I'll probably be glad of the extra tips that are included wit the two kit irons. However, if you guys think that the Aoyue 469 soldering station would be better quality, I might be willing to shell out a few bucks more for it, and pick up another tip or two.
  
  
  https://www.reddit.com/r/Nerf/comments/8bugth/after_doing_some_research_here_are_my_top_3/

This one on Amazon seems to have pretty good reviews. I'd recommend getting a stand like this to go with it for safety reasons. (I decided to solder without mine a few weeks ago, and wouldn't you know it, the one time I decide I don't need the stand, I burn myself!)

You can easily spend a lot more on irons, and if you start doing a lot more soldering you may want to make a bigger investment. A lot of people really like the Hakko FX888D, but I personally prefer the Weller WTCPT-60 because I don't like fussing with knobs. (Despite not having a knob, the Weller actually does have very precise temperature control, but depending on what temperature you want you have to buy different tips, which isn't worth the hassle for most people. I use only one kind of solder so it doesn't matter for me, but I digress.)

I've never found any tutorials I really like, and my advice is to just get busy! You'll make a lot of mistakes and do a lot of projects slowly before you get good, and I don't think there's a tutorial out there that will let you skip that. To help you stay pointed in the right direction, here are a few things I look for in a good solder joint:

• A clean, consistent meniscus around the parts being soldered. If I'm tinning stranded wire, then I want to be able to see the contours of the strands underneath the solder once it's cooled, while still using enough solder to get good penetration. Big gobs of solder all over the place look tacky, can cause shorts, and can indicate the next problem:
  
• "Cold" solder joints. By this I mean that the conductors you're soldering together weren't hot enough when the solder melted, and so the solder didn't stick. Solder on "cold" joints will often (but not always) have a frosty appearance, and will usually bead up instead of forming a meniscus like I described earlier. To make sure your joints aren't cold, use the iron to heat the joint, then touch the solder to the joint (rather than the iron), to melt it. If the conductor is hot enough to melt solder by itself, you can be sure you're joints won't be cold. (Usually you have to melt a little gob of solder onto the iron first to get the heat to conduct into the joint. This is a trick you can only get good at through practice.)
  
  There are a few intuition issues you should be aware of that I've observed while teaching students to solder. For instance, most of the stuff you'll be soldering is so small that it will be "cold" (as in "too cold to melt solder") the instant you pull the iron away, and cool enough to touch within seconds. Try it if you don't believe me. The part will only stay hot as long as the iron is touching it. You'd be surprised how many people can't get their head around this.
  
  Also, oxygen is your enemy. The longer the part is hot, the more oxidized the surface will become and the harder it will be for solder to stick. This is true even when the joint is hot, but not hot enough to melt solder! So once the iron contacts the work, you have to be expedient. Most joints can be finished in 5 seconds or less, and if you're holding the iron on there for 10 seconds or more but the solder still isn't melting, stop and reexamine what you're doing. You may want to get some fine-grit sandpaper to clean the conductors off before you start again.
  
  Keeping oxygen out of your solder joint is the job of flux, and like /u/avialex (edit: fixed) said it's very helpful (provided everything is relatively clean to begin with). But again it's a balancing act. If you use too much flux you'll make a mess, and raw flux is slightly corrosive and can be very difficult to clean off your work.
  
  There are lots of other tricks you'll learn through practice too. I guess that's where tutorials might come in handy. You'll probably learn to splice wires (probably the most difficult thing to do with a soldering iron) much more quickly from someone with experience on Youtube than struggling through it 20,000 times yourself, doing it a harder way because you didn't know any better.
  
  At the same time though, there's no substitute for practice. This went on a lot longer than I intended, but I think now you have plenty of information to keep in mind as you get started. Good luck and happy soldering!

Some tips I learned the hard way:

• Don't get a GoPro mount just yet. Chances are you probably won't even use it until you're a much better pilot, and it will just add unnecessary weight when you're not using it.
  
• Get an F3 based flight controller (SP Racing F3 or similar) instead of an F1 (Naze32). If you're anything like me, you're going to try to get the most out of your quad and use all of the fancy technologies available to you (like an on screen display, or using SBUS and telemetry with your receiver, or LEDs, or whatever). When you go to add stuff on, though, you have to work with hardware serial ports, or UARTs; the Naze32 has 2 UARTs while F3 FCs have 3 available. Having that extra UART available will make a lot of things a lot easier, and the increased processing power on the F3 should allow you to use more software serial ports than on the Naze (meaning you can use more stuff simultaneously).
  
• When assembling your quad, make sure you put your screws through the plates facing downwards with the nuts on the ground. It's a lot easier to use a socket wrench to tighten stuff than a hex wrench.
  
• If you're building a 250 quad first, use 220X motors instead of 180X motors. The 220X motors are bigger and produce more thrust than the 180X motors, which will improve your flying characteristics. Just make sure that the frame you choose can accommodate them; if you're starting out with a tried and true ZMR250, make sure you get the version with M3-sized arms.
  
• Make sure, among other things, you have the following equipment:
  
  
  • Soldering iron with a fine tip (these are replaceable, so if you already have an iron you can just get the tips). One with adjustable temperature helps a lot.
    
  • Solder
    
  • Soldering flux (I recommend a flux pen; you can get these from Amazon)
    
  • Desoldering wick
    
  • Solder tip cleaning wire
    
  • Soldering iron holder
    
  • Multimeter (useful for testing stuff). Make sure to also get a battery for it.
    
    
• If you're planning on using LEDs, get addressable LED strips (WS2812 or equivalent). Since my ZMR uses nonaddressable strips, I have switches on the strips, which tend to get damaged in rough landings.
  
• Get a spare motor in each direction and a spare ESC. You don't know when you'll break something, but when you do, you'll have a spare you can quickly switch out.
  
• Heatshrink looks better than electrical tape.
  
• Zip ties are your friend.

> Can you point me in the direction of a guide to fix it? Thanks for the response, also.

r/AskElectronics can help you find the problem and fix it. You will need a soldering iron and related accessories. This is what I got for myself to fix my mouse:

• AmazonSmile: FX60101 by Hakko
  
• AmazonSmile: T19D24
  
• AmazonSmile: Elenco Soldering Iron Holder
  
• AmazonSmile: MAIYUM 63-37 Tin Lead Rosin core solder wire for electrical soldering (0.6mm 100g)
  
• AmazonSmile: LA-CO 22101 Regular Soldering Flux Paste, 2 oz
  
• AmazonSmile: OMorc Desoldering Wick, Solder Sucker & Solder Braid (2.5mm Width, 1.5m Length) – Desoldering Vacuum Pump Solder Removal Tool
  
  You will save money in the long run by fixing your stuff. Use your rights or lose them. Right to repair was first lost when consumers started tolerating proprietary batteries. Then proprietary non-replaceable batteries (NRB's). Then disposable devices. Then pre-paid charging. Then pay per charge. It keeps getting worse. The only way to stop it is to go back to the beginning and eliminate the proprietary NRB's. Before you can regain the right to repair, you first need to regain the right to open your device and put in new batteries.
  
  There are 2 subreddits committed to ending the reign of proprietary NRB's:
  
  
• r/AAMasterRace
  
• r/18650masterrace
  
  Another notable subreddit with right to repair content:
  
  
• r/StallmanWasRight
  
  You can learn more about this issue here:
  
  
• Hackers, farmers, and doctors unite! Support for Right to Repair laws slowly grows : r/AAMasterRace, crossposts, more crossposts
  
• Saving Mankind from self-destruction: A "repair economy" might fix more than just stuff. It could fix us as well. : r/AAMasterRace, crossposts, more crossposts
  
  > research found repair was "helping people overcome the negative logic that accompanies the abandonment of things and people" [...] relationships between people and material things tend to be reciprocal.
  
  
• Reasons to repair : r/coolguides, crossposts
  
  A few other subreddits to help you or inspire you to fix your stuff:
  
  
• r/fixit
  
• r/easyfix
  
• r/ifixit
  
• r/kintsugi
  
• r/Visiblemending
  
• r/techsupportmacgyver
  
• r/hackedgadgets
  
• r/mobilerepair
  
• r/appliancerepair

This is complete overkill for NERF needs but Weller is known for high quality soldering irons

This is the one I use but it's over your budget (I do more than NERF stuff)

This is what I would recommend for starting out. It's good but totally not stupid expensive.

I would avoid soldering irons that don't have the cradle/base (although you can buy a cradle separately)

You won't find a battery powered iron worth using. The reason you always feel the cord is in the way is just because you have a crappy iron. Good irons have cords that are very flexible and easy to deal with.

I have the Weller WESD51 and I like it a lot. I use it mostly for SMD down to around 0402 passives or 0.5mm pitch leaded or leadless packages. It has enough power to do bigger projects as well, but of course you wouldn't want to use it to solder copper pipe or something.

There are many other good irons out there, it just depends on what your price range is and what features you want.

I honestly think you would regret buying a cordless iron.

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WESD51-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000ARU9PO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1323148923&sr=8-3

Anything Weller

That will work perfectly fine. I got this as a grad gift a little while back.

I like my Weller WESD51. With that said, if I were buying something now I'd look at the Haako 888D -- though I've never used it. It has excellent reviews, is $30 cheaper than the Weller, has more power, and is otherwise spec'ed similarly.

Resale value wouldn't even be on my list of criteria for purchasing a soldering iron. I'd be looking at

• Safe design
  
• Minimum power of 50W
  
• Tip availability (Weller ETA for surface mount and fine pitch components and ETR for everything else of modest size)

Maybe I got lucky? Not really sure, but my experience went quite smoothly with it. Took several hours, and I forgot to solder the end key at first, but other than that no problems. You certainly want to use a heat controlled soldering iron though.

If you're interested I used a soldering station like this one(didn't actually buy it, borrowed from work), some Kester 44 solder, and a cheap desoldering gun that I got with the purchase of some speakers from parts express.

I have the hot air only version of the first one, the 858D. It's okay, gets the job done. I got it on the recommendation of a friend who uses it all the time and is really happy with it.

For a soldering iron though, IMO you'd be better served by something name brand like the Hakko FX888D or the Weller WES51. I have the WESD51 and it has served me well. For J Random Soldering Iron, the temperature control might not be very good, and it might be tough getting different tips.

A decent budget option might be a hakko 936 knockoff, which should have pretty good availability of replacement tips.

LOL @ $42 being pricy...

I have a Weller soldering station that is a little more expensive than that. Of course, I use it on a regular basis, for sometimes hours at a time, so it's worth spending the money for good tools.

http://www.amazon.com/home-improvement/dp/B000ARU9PO

I have two, both work great.

>https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1485277821&sr=8-8&keywords=soldering+iron+kit

This is nothing more than a 40 watt iron with a triac. There is no temp control or even a way to gauge how hot the iron is. I own one and would not recommend it.

I saw the Hakko, don't wanna spend that much right now.
A weller is in my budget. Is that an okay one? Does it come with everything I'd need or do I need to get more things?

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC

weller wlc-100 about $40

Thank you for this.

Dude, what kind of soldering iron are you using? I have this one. I'm totally unable to solder 12 awg wire (from xt60s to pdb) because it won't melt the solder. It just won't! I can crank it up to 5 and hold it for minutes... nothing doing. So when I see you just barely touch that iron to the solder and it melts so quickly, I'm blown away. I can't imagine being able to solder that 12 awg so quickly.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks a lot for the comment. So when you say Weller soldering station, you mean something like this and not this which was suggested earlier. I can't seem to tell if the latter is adjustable (packaging seems misleading) but I'm assuming not. If the first link has your thumbs up I'll probably go with it because the price is totally doable, it's adjustable between 5W and 40W, and it looks pretty cool IMO.

Love your work btw!

$14 link for a solid basic soldering iron.
Here's one that costs a little more, but has more adjustability $39 link.
Anything from Weller is going to be pretty good.
Here's a pretty good basic soldering video.
It's not hard, but takes a little practice to get the feel for it. I would recommend finding a broken electronic that you can pull a circuit board out of and just practice soldering by removing parts from the board and putting them back.
Have fun!

Depending on how much you are willing to spend, these are two good options, one cheaper and the other more expensive:

• https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D29BY-ESD-Safe-Digital-Soldering/dp/B00OSM27T8
  
  I have the WLC100 and it works great. Remember to test the different settings - 5 gets too hot. I think used mine either on 3 or 4. I start with 5, so it gets hot fast and then switch it to either a 3 or a 4.

don't buy a radioshack iron.

Grab something off amazon - they have some really cheap wellers which are probably the same price as radioshack but much better quality. (honestly if you plan on doing any of this stuff more than once, spend a little more and get a wlc100 http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1395934640&sr=1-1&keywords=wlc100 I used one for a long time - it not the best, and if you look around there is probably something better and cheaper but I can personally vouch(hundreds of hours of use) for the wlc100 being a decent device.

I am using a cheap 30watt iron right now. I was thinking about getting something like this.

This, this and this should get you started.

Well to replace the battery you'll need to open the cart, carefully desolder the old battery, and solder in the new one. It's fairly straightforward and easy, but you can go look up a youtube video for a walkthrough. In theory you can tape in a new untabbed one in, but going with the original design/intention is preferable and won't come loose and lose your save if done properly. However, you'll need the following:

• special driver/bit to open the cartridge (can also use fine tipped pliers to grip the screw and put it in/take it out, but you may scratch up the top of the screw)
  
• replacement lithium coin cell battery with solder tabs (probably a CR2025)
  
• a soldering iron or station
  
• solder, probably 60/40 Sn-Pb as mentioned earlier
  
  optional:
  
• solder wick (copper braid) for removing old solder, it makes putting the new battery in a little easier if you can work with new solder and a cleaner point to solder to
  
  I got my batteries and screwdriver from a online store that sells gameboy stuff:
  https://www.mortoffgames.com/cr2025-coin-cell-battery-with-tabs-panasonic-
  https://www.mortoffgames.com/gameboy-color/repair-and-replacement-parts35/game-repair-parts39/38mm-security-screw-driver
  
  From Amazon:
  https://www.amazon.com/Steel-3-8mm-Screwdriver-Security-Nintendo/dp/B000F8GWH2/ (3.8mm security bit)
  https://www.amazon.com/Super-Nintendo-Genesis-Master-System-Advance/dp/B00ES2B0CI/ (CR2025 w/solder tabs)
  https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC
  https://www.amazon.com/WYCTIN-Solder-Electrical-Solderding-0-11lbs/dp/B071G1J3W6/
  ^ lots of options, this is close to what I use --- 60/40 Sn-Pb, rosin core, 0.6mm diameter -- it don't think it's that much solder for the price, but I probably paid at least twice that at least and I've done lots of stuff and I still have way more than I needed. You can probably use a smaller diameter for this specific job, but that size is easy to hold.
  
  It seems like a lot of money, but you got a pretty good deal on the unit and game. They can go for $20-30 and $12-18 respectively. Also, the screwdriver/bit and soldering iron are one-time investments in being able to do it again later and also do other soldering work.
  
  If you don't mind making separate purchases the other source I mentioned has way better battery prices and their screwdriver is a bit cheaper and has a handle, I have one myself and it works fine. In general though I recommend going for the best quality one just so you don't have cheap, crappy tools. Sometimes that means you pay a little one more, and sometimes pricing is about the same.
  
  
  

Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_S3b.zbZTVY46Y
This is the one i bought

Can't go wrong with this, $19.07 shipped with Prime.
http://www.amazon.com/Weller-SP40NUS-Medium-Soldering-Black/dp/B00B3SG6UQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1398198851&sr=8-3&keywords=weller+40

If you need something safe for smaller projects as well, this would be fine. $41.19 with Prime
http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1398198808&sr=8-2&keywords=weller+40

I guess I'm a fan of weller products. I've had them at home and a shop. I got one of their higher end soldering stations when I was about 11 to build my own battery packs for my R/C cars and it saw a lot of use. Back then we hardwired the leads from the ESC to the motors and batteries between heats for the lowest resistance. (not to mention deans plugs weren't a thing yet, tamiya connectors would melt together with a hot motor/battery combo) I still have it over 20 years later.

I would say 40 watts is about the standard with typical R/C projects. Also, the lower end brands 40 watt irons don't ever seem to create the heat as something of decent quality.

Also, if you don't have something like this yet, pick one up. $7 shipped all over Amazon. Also available at Harbor Freight for about the same price if you have those in your area.
http://www.amazon.com/SE-MZ101B-Helping-Hands-Magnifying/dp/B000RB38X8/ref=pd_sim_hi_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0TB7X5RYFKZ3SR4EXY1P

I don't know about making repro crats, but I do know about mods and repairs. I have done an overclock mod and 2 s-video mods on my genesis consoles, as well as lots of repairs on other consoles.

I have the basic tools like screw drivers, needle-nose pliers, and some tiny cutters just like these.

My soldering iron is a cheap 35 watt fixed temperature hunk of crap. Get a better one. I don't have any recommendations, but this one is linked to from this subreddit's sidebar. It has good reviews, but I haven't tried it myself.

I also have a spool of thin rosin core solder that is about 1mm thick. I also have a spool of de-solder wick which comes in handy.

To hold down and/or secure wires I use some rubbery electrical tape or hot glue. I use the electrical tape whenever I can, since it is easier to remove than the hot glue. The hot glue is useful in small amounts to keep wires from getting accidentally pulled out of place.

A multimeter is very useful. You probably won't need a really fancy one, just a basic $10 one.

I bought one of those parallel cables that all the old printer's used for only $1.99 at a thrift store. It's packed with different colored wires, that are just the right thickness to use for most console repairs/mods.

I picked up this guy a while back... no complaints.

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371130948&sr=8-2&keywords=weller+soldering+station

I just bought this one, it works for me: http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324388172&sr=8-1

I've got a Weller WLC100, relatively inexpensive but the difference in quality from a $7 RadioShack is tremendous. Makes everything so much easier with better results. Weller WLC100

I have had this one for almost 2 years now. Does the job and does it well.

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC

Depends, how much you wanna spend?

I have this one and I love it. https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1473696178&sr=8-3&keywords=weller

I suggest this:

http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Practical-Soldering-Project-Kit/dp/B0002LUAL6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1406761425&sr=8-4&keywords=learn+to+solder+kit

It's a very good kit, and will give you plenty of practice before you solder your Poker 2. No frills, and will give you plenty of practice for through hole soldering.

Combine this with a practical, but good quality soldering station:

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_3?s=power-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1406762091&sr=1-3&keywords=soldering+iron

A desoldering pump:

http://www.amazon.com/Sucking-Vacuum-Desoldering-Solder-Remover/dp/B005GIPKOW/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1406762167&sr=1-3&keywords=desoldering+pump

And some solder:

http://www.amazon.com/Alpha-AT-31604-60-40-Solder-Ounces/dp/B00030AP48/ref=sr_1_1?s=power-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1406762345&sr=1-1&keywords=solder

To learn, there are plenty of Youtube videos, I recommend you also solder the Elenco kit, then desolder everything to get a feel for how the desoldering pump works (it's super easy, you can't really screw it up). Then, solder it together one more time for extra practice.

All together, about $66 bucks. Add in the cost of the switches, and you're looking at a little over 100. Still a bunch cheaper than the Poker 2 from Massdrop ($143.50), and you've just learned a life skill. For me, that's totally worth it, but then again, I'm an engineer, and learning useful skills is what my entire profession is based on.

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EDIT: Get this soldering kit instead:

http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-SP3B-Practical-Soldering-Project/dp/B0002LUALG/ref=pd_tcs_compl_t_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=00RQRQTCJ767WDS4D7KV

Cheaper and has more soldering points. The other one has a shitty speaker which doesn't add much to the soldering lesson, but drives the cost up.

Like several others have mentioned, /r/diypedals is a good place to go. As long as we've got you here, though... I had already practiced soldering before and wanted to start with a kit. That way you have everything you need and just have to assemble. A very easy and inexpensive first build was [this] (http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/effects-projects/boosters/stratoblaster-booster/) boost pedal. Don't let the simplicity fool you. I still have this boost pedal on my board to this day and love it. Also, I picked up [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1483458417&sr=8-2&keywords=weller+soldering+station) Weller soldering station. Crazy cheap, but I've been using it for over 6 years with no issues. Finally, just read, read, read and read some more! There's tons of great info in various forums, books and youtube videos to get you on your way. Best of luck and have fun with it!

Yet another vote for Weller soldering irons. The WLC100 is the model I use and it does the job well.

Soldering Station

Solder Sucker

Just these two tools (and solder of course but I already had that laying around), a Phillips head screwdriver (to unscrew the PCB from the case), and a small flat head screwdriver (to pop the old switches out of the plate). I highly doubt you’ll break something though. Soldering/desoldering isn’t that difficult and as long as you’re careful about it you won’t mess anything up.

I also have a custom planned for my first GMK set coming at the beginning of next year! Gonna throw some 67g Zealios or Zilents in it (haven’t decided yet).

I have this. It works well, but the tip on it is a bit large for the more intricate work. I would recommend something like this, which may work better, and it even comes with some stuff to practice on.

I have this one. It has served me well for several years. I did however get a better tip cleaner.

I've got a Weller WLC100 that does the job just fine. It's a soldering station, so it's an iron with a variable temperature and a base with an iron holder and a spot for an included sponge. It also has removable tips that I believe are a standard size.

Well, I really want to say that it's not worth it if you don't have a soldering iron, but having an iron opens you up to modding. I personally would buy this iron to start Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_a-b5wbP6YPKQS

It's a decent iron and then you can buy a DMG and put in a bivert mod! Also, don't forget to tin your tip or else it slowly corrodes when the iron is hot. These are the starter irons in the electronics shop at my school, a technical high shool. And if you get bored you can always poke holes in the power supply with the hot iron!/s If you have a lot of money then buy the iron I have, a Weller WES51. Soldering irons can also fix jewelry and other metal, so it's not a one time use purchase. And if you get burnt you don't even feel it, I don't think I have nerves in my right index finger anymore!

Replacing the batteries is very easy. They go for $7 for 10 on eBay just search Gameboy save battery. Only Pokemon RSE need them for GBA games because of their clocks. They use CR1616 batteries. No other GBA games need batteries AFAIK. Most original or color game needs them for saves, however. They use CR2032 batteries. It's easy, just make sure that the positive and negative are correct. Positive side is shiny with writing on the battery and the negative is textured. Earlier GB games such as Kirby's dreamland, Tetris, Pinball, etc require no save battery, as they didn't save!

That Weller wlc100 is what you're referencing, yeah?

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC

I’d recommend getting a pedal kit from BYOC . The other thing you can do is just just buy a bunch of hook up wire and some jacks and just practice. Another good soldering iron to start with in addition to the one above is the Weller WLC100. Good luck!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_r.9rzbBZMZH60

The face plate might be as difficult to solder to too. I'll take a picture of it later

Soldering is a good skill to have, in general.

And if you're careful, there's not much you can screw up.

Watch a YT tutorial or two and you'll be good to go.

For tools you'll eventually want what is in this kit, but probably not that kit itself.

I bought a Weller WLC100 40 watt kit (definitely get a norrower ST2 or ST3 tip as well), a solder sucker tool (you can use desoldering wick, but the solder sucker is worth the money), a Helping Hands and 60/40 rosin-core solder.

In addition, I like using tip tinner, a wire tip cleaner like this because I found that using a wet sponge reduced the tip temperature too much.

Also, solder fumes are not great so only do this is in a well-ventilated area. I like to use a small fan to blow the fumes away from my face.

The only thing you'll need to do is desolder/clip the existing swtich and wire up the replacement. You don't have to mess with the pots or caps unless you want to.

Phostenix Tele diagram page.

edit: fixed solder type

WLC100

WLC100CUL

It's fairly easy. I bought a Weller soldering iron that I think works well. Take a note of where the positive and negative wires from the pickup are comnected, then heat the solder so you can disconnect the wires, and solder the new pickup's wires there.
This page has some tips for guitar wiring & soldering:
https://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Online_Resources/Learn_About_Guitar_Pickups_and_Electronics_and_Wiring/Soldering.html

I'd say around 30W. I have a variable like this that works for most work I do.

Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_LS5zCbJQSBE0H

I am looking to buy a new soldering iron/station off of Amazon. I don't really do any electrical work that would warrant needing an iron around the house, but the one my dad has is a POS and it's time for fresh equipment.

I am planning on building at least 2 more keyboards this year (though I'm not sure I'll build any more after that, but I wouldn't put it out of the question).

Is this station off of Amazon okay? I was recommended this Weller station but I don't like that it doesn't have an exact temp display (people complain about the 1-2-3-4 settings). However, it's a good amount cheaper.

What do?

Here is the desktop version of your link

I recommend this Weller from Amazon. It is a little pricier than others, but top-notch quality, especially if you plan on soldering in the future.

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC

I've been soldering for 20 years and I still can't quite get it down all the time.

Take an evening, beer up and go watch the PACE International soldering tutorial. Get a good soldering iron from a local electronics shop or Amazon; I like the little $30 Weller "student" irons because they're adjustable and have good tip variety for cheap. SMT soldering needs two basic kinds of tip: point and a flat. With some practice, you can easily drag-solder gull-wing packages like the Atmel here.

You also don't seem to have