30W Fine Tip Soldering Iron in Maplins for only £2.99!!!

[Smithy]

More of a tool than a part but its seriously good value for beginners or people on a tight budget.

This offer is best suited to people living in the UK and Ireland.

The fine tip is makes soldering circuit components much easier, and 30w is more than enough power!

I cant believe how cheap this is:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=32909&doy=21m9#overview

[cimo]

.. this will go dead after 100 hours of use, then you won t find a proper replacement for the tip and if you find it it will cost more than the soldering iron and will last another 100 hours.Anyway the tip will probably start decomposing after a few hours.

I would better spend 30 euros (minimum) for a weller or ersa or something that will give you many many hours of pleasant soldering.Funny how they usually mark as "ideal for beginners" something that will make the beginner s life more difficult.

I liked very much that one: DIY doesn t stand for make it cheap!

Simone

[Smithy]

Thanks for the heads up.

I thought it looked a bit fishy alright.

They have replacement heads alright for it that are cheaper than the iron, but i dont think its worth it now.

[Jidis]

.. this will go dead after 100 hours of use, then you won t find a proper replacement for the tip

Well, look on the bright side.You can buy a nice Weller/Ungar rework station which is supposed to last forever like I did,and have the same crap happen with the replacement tips, rendering the whole thing about as useful as the junk iron from Maplin after it dies. >:(

I'll soon be in the market for that cheap import desolder gun people talk about.

George

[cimo]

hi George

thanks for pointing out the Weller stuff.. i have to say that i had the same problem with Weller, but i did want to break an arrow for it since it s world known and blablabla but i couldn t find the replacemnt tips, but hey i live in a small island in the middle of the ocean.. but it seems like it is a wide spread problem.. so Mr Weller where are those tips?? eh? and mine was a quite crappy (can you say crappy? ;) 25W mains unit.

Anyway stay away from those extremely cheap soldering irons except if it is for a desperate one go, anyway it won t last more than 1 project..

..for the fun of it, i did my first MB project with a 12W (12v) solderinng iron and 2mm (!) dia tin!!!! and it incredibly worked at the first attempt!!

Simone

[Goblinz]

I used to have an iron very similar to that one. The tips are very (cheap) simple, just a tapered piece of metal rod. I ended up replacing the tip for the end of a nail which seemed to do the job a lot better than the original.

              G

[stryd_one]

I thought I'd just say that spending a few extra bucks on a soldering station was a really wise call for me, it just makes the whole process so much easier.

I got a hakko 936 clone (carefully chosen... the only difference with mine is the hakko logo is missing) which I've been slowly replacing clone parts with genuine. The parts are easy to come by and the iron is bang-on for what we're doing here. If you search ebay for solder* 936* you'll get the stuff. It's a bit more than 3 quid but definitely worthwhile IMO.

[cimo]

I ended up replacing the tip for the end of a nail which seemed to do the job a lot better than the original.

  ;D ;D ;D ;D