Best Soldering Gun Ever Made?

Racetech

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As a sure sign that I'm getting older, certain things made decades ago just seemed to be better. I grew up in the 60's with electronics as a hobby. I soldered together countless projects, Heath Kits, and Knight Kits.

I had a soldering gun back then that I used for most things--a Wen #100. It was 100 watts but worked better than any gun I've used since. Here are some of the pluses and minuses as I saw it about that gun. Mine still works, but the case is broken. I found one last month on Ebay and was happy to have a pristine one (see photo attachment).

Pluses:

1. While only 100 watts, the tip design is such that the highest resistance is right at the very tip where you need the heat. It narrows there.

2. Because only the tip heats up, the gun reaches melting temp in only one second. It starts glowing red in two. It's like the microwave oven of soldering guns.

3. The tip makes mechanical connection back in the case, not near the working end. This means that there's not a lot of temperature change there and the connection remains good almost forever. This gun works every time you pick it up with no need for tip tightening.

4. The gun features a 1.5V bulb with a built-in focus lens.

5. The gun is very small and lightweight, making it easy to get around say--inside a pinball machine where mine spent a lot of time in the 80's.

6. The tip will last a lifetime if you don't pull the trigger a lot just to see it turn red hot.

7. These guns sell on Ebay for less than 10 dollars.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...rue&rt=nc&si=MpiMpLrlSm%2FkH8ekLXyXrcuo69Y%3D

Minuses:

1. The case is very fragile bakelite plastic. Drop it once and it cracks.

2. They quit making this gun in the late 60's. If you do need a new tip, it would be hard to find, but not impossible--they show up on Ebay now and then.

I'm not the tech that many here at klov are, but I think if you use one you'll get hooked. Anybody agree/disagree? Any better gun out there?
 

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I'd use one for removing old solder, but there's no way I'd work with new parts, especially transistors, with a 100w iron.
That's far too frigging hot and too easy to damage sensitive components.

I have 50w iron I use for desoldering, any time I'm putting parts in the 30w gets used. 100w irons are meant for stained glass work.
 
For precision soldering like board work you really need to have a soldering iron. One with an accurate temperature adjustment is preferable. Otherwise send the board out for repairs. :)
 
OH NO! I wasn't advocating the use of any soldering gun for board work... it's strictly for coil lugs and the like. The tip of that Wen 100 gets so hot so fast, you'll totally burn off traces if you try to do that.
 
I used to use a Wen 100 for stained glass work. I agree that it was the best in putting heat where you needed it. But for circuits I have always used a pencil type soldering iron. The ones with the temperature sensors are definitely the way to do. They are not much more expensive than the rheostat ones and the tips will last longer as they don't continue to heat up in the holder until they are burned up.

ken
 
OH NO! I wasn't advocating the use of any soldering gun for board work... it's strictly for coil lugs and the like. The tip of that Wen 100 gets so hot so fast, you'll totally burn off traces if you try to do that.

Ok yeah I was gonna say! :p I don't have a soldering gun but I probably should get one. There are some instances where I've needed much more heat in places where a lack of thermal reliefs was a problem. I ended up using two soldering irons to get the copper plane hot enough to work. Thanks for the info!
 
I used to use a Wen 100 for stained glass work. I agree that it was the best in putting heat where you needed it. But for circuits I have always used a pencil type soldering iron. The ones with the temperature sensors are definitely the way to do. They are not much more expensive than the rheostat ones and the tips will last longer as they don't continue to heat up in the holder until they are burned up.

ken

Funny thing--I used it for stained glass artwork too. What I don't understand is why all other guns use a copper tip that has the same wire gauge all the way around. That means the gun has to heat up the whole freaking tip. It means too that the heat cycling and dissimilar metals between the tip and terminals will cause connection breakdown. They even include a little wrench with those guns because you're going to have to use it almost every time you want to solder. They may be rated a lot higher than 100 watts but a lot of that gets wasted heating up the entire tip. Just very strange to me that every company has that same (IMO) poor design.

I have pulled out my Wen 100 for (other than stained glass work) replacing coils and soldering heavy gauge wire connections. Three seconds and the job is done. For me, going slower with anything else is like trying to use a slower computer. Drives me nuts, but then I'm the kind of guy who'll put a doughnut in a microwave and say "come on, come on!".

Only once did I use the gun on a board; I bought a driver board for Williams pinball machines (non-working) and some moron had laid on (literally) a half pound of junk solder. In places, that dull gray solder was 1/4" thick on the border traces. Wen to the rescue! After that and actually doing some diagnosis (it had one bad chip), it worked great.

That reminds me--I think it was here that I learned something very useful... someone had posted that Radio Shack brand solder is actually Kester.

EDIT: Here's where I got that info:

http://www.pinrepair.com/begin/
2c. Tools Needed: Get good solder!
Using good solder is VERY important in circuit board repair. The best solder is made by Kester (USA made). Radio Shack solder is Kester solder (but with the Radio Shack label).

The St. Louis area now has only one really hardcore electronics store left and for reasons I can't comprehend, they sell trash solder. The Radio Shack stuff rocks. I mentioned that to the employee there and he said "Well that explains something to me... we have a lot of customers who come in here and just buy solder". Thoughts?
 
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