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Thread: Recommend a soldering kit

  1. #1
    Master
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    Recommend a soldering kit

    Hi

    Would like to buy a soldering kit. Have not really soldered before, but want to get something to do repairs or mods on things like guitars etc. Ideally want something that will be good enough to last, but also something that isn't so compromised that it makes everything more difficult. Budget wise - about £50 (or am I wildly out)?

    Any recommendations or thoughts?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Grand Master Dave+63's Avatar
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    Recommend a soldering kit

    I just bought a soldering iron from Halfords today for £15. All you need in addition is some flux and some solder.

    Depending on the intricacy of your soldering requirements, get a suitable size iron and solder.

    Then it's just practice!

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave+63 View Post
    I just bought a soldering iron from Halfords today for £15. All you need in addition is some flux and some solder.

    Depending on the intricacy of your soldering requirements, get a suitable size iron and solder.

    Then it's just practice!
    Thanks, will take a look. Had come across a kit on Amazon that had a couple of clips to hold things, few tips etc.

  4. #4
    Master Omegary's Avatar
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    I bought a Zacro soldering set off Amazon for about £14 to install a five switch and new pick ups on my Telecaster. Works fine and has various end pieces for more delicate procedures, a pair of tweezers, stand (a bit crap but works) and flux.

    Cheers,
    Gary

  5. #5
    Weller for professional grade soldering irons but £15 from Halfords is more than adequate for home use. You only really need the good stuff if you're doing IC boards.
    Last edited by Groundrush; 28th July 2017 at 22:41.

  6. #6
    Grand Master Rod's Avatar
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    Aldi have some soldering kits.

  7. #7
    Grand Master Dave+63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Groundrush View Post
    Weller for professional grade soldering irons but £15 from Halfords is more than adequate for home use. You only really need the good stuff if you're doing IC boards.
    I actually bought mine to do some plastic welding!

  8. #8
    Grand Master Mr Curta's Avatar
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    For 50 quid you'll get a fairly decent temperature controlled solder station from Maplin or Amazon, maybe with a hot air gun as well if you need to use heat shrink sleeving. Cheaper ones will do the job but whatever you get make sure that it has a good stand.

    These aren't bad: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015IZ3C...ding=UTF8&th=1

  9. #9
    Master Harry Smith's Avatar
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    I have used a gas powered kit for a few years. Obviously a bit more care required due to flame but it's great for flexibility like being able to solder away from 240v power sources. Also more heat available quicker and heat-shrinking easy. Aldi have one or Maplin

  10. #10
    Craftsman
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    Gas for me, bought mine from Marlins, have a 240v one as well, but mainly use the gas, more flexible.

  11. #11
    Master IAmATeaf's Avatar
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    Recommend a soldering kit

    For soldering larger items\contacts you'll definitely need a higher wattage device, I have a 15w mains powered for the smaller jobs and a butane powered iron for larger items. Think I got the gas powered iron from Maplins.

  12. #12
    Grand Master Neil.C's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Omegary View Post
    I bought a Zacro soldering set off Amazon for about £14 to install a five switch and new pick ups on my Telecaster. Works fine and has various end pieces for more delicate procedures, a pair of tweezers, stand (a bit crap but works) and flux.

    Cheers,
    Gary
    That's interesting Gary.

    On some guitar forums they reckon you need a pretty powerful weapon for the sort of jobs you have just done. Good to hear otherwise.

    Last time I did any soldering was at school in metalwork!

    My youngest has yanked the volume knob on his Fenix Strat, ripping off a wire and it is completely dead.

    I might have a little go at fixing it now.
    Cheers,
    Neil.

    My Speedmaster website:

    http://www.freewebs.com/neil271052

  13. #13
    Grand Master Neil.C's Avatar
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    *Edit* I see it's 60 watts, so plenty powerful.

    Is that solder I see with it in the kit?
    Cheers,
    Neil.

    My Speedmaster website:

    http://www.freewebs.com/neil271052

  14. #14
    Master Omegary's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neil.C View Post
    *Edit* I see it's 60 watts, so plenty powerful.

    Is that solder I see with it in the kit?
    Yes mate

  15. #15
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    Whichever 1 you get have look on YouTube at soldering tutorials some really give a lot of help.

  16. #16
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    Make sure you buy some of the anciliary items like a stand, sponge, desoldering braid, glasses and maybe a light. I would recommend you look at a fan or fume extractor as the fumes can be pungent.

    It's easier than you think though.

  17. #17
    On some advice received here previously, I bought one of these Chinese Hakko clones. If you search for 936 on Amazon/eBay they are easy to find, seems to cost about £20 from a UK seller currently.

    Comparing the clone with the original:
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=TP0etU7mTwU

    What sold me on this is it's nearly identical to a serious workhorse bench soldering station that is time tested, plus the tips are identical so you can easily get hold of real Hakko ones, or compatible.

    I don't do much soldering, but for everything I've done with it so far it's been very consistent and far better than the little soldering iron I used years ago (when it was occasionally part of my job).

    In addition to the other bits & pieces, I'd highly recommend getting a desoldering pump as well. They are cheap, and make it a lot easier to correct things if you accidentally create a short, which you probably will do when you are first getting started.

  18. #18
    Deleted
    Last edited by Analogue; 15th September 2017 at 02:37.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Analogue View Post
    ...one of the Maplin adjustable temperature ones...
    When I got my Yihua, all the reviews I found said the Maplin one wasn't very good. It was also more expensive. Don't know if they are still selling the same one, but Maplin do tend to be overpriced and very hit and miss when it comes to quality. I only ever go there as a last resort.

    The Yihua is built like a tank and the internals (as shown in that video) are dead simple, so I can't see much going wrong with it apart from maybe the cheap capacitor having slightly less than average lifespan (but all capacitors wear out eventually). The only minor quibbles are that the stand is quite light and wobbly (also shown in the video), and the entire unit is fairly big & heavy compared to something like one of the gas pens. I still want one of those because they are cool, but was warned against them for anything other than quick fixes because they aren't very temperature-stable.

  20. #20
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    Thread resurrection!

    I've just realised that I still haven't bought a soldering kit - a year later.

    Now I need to fix one of the car keys that needs a new rechargeable battery fitted so I figured its a good a time as any to get on with learning how to solder. Obviously Maplins is no more now so I'm really left with online stores.

    Quick re-cap re possible uses in the short-term:

    - Fitting new pots/pick-ups to a guitar
    - Fitting new battery to car key
    - Speaker leads (very occasionally!)

    Longer-terms uses:

    - Making up guitar cables (just fancy having a go)
    - Possibly building a valve amp from a kit

    Budget is now about £30 as I realised that £50 is a bit much for a starter kist and then you start looking at things that are way above your original brief - and ideally that should cover everything that I need to get started. If I take to it then I can always buy something better, but it might just be that it gets used twice a year.

    What would be wonderful is if someone who knows what they're talking about said "just get this" and pointed me to a specific kit. Failing that, some suggestions would be wonderful.

    Thanks again.

  21. #21
    Craftsman
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    I got one of the Chinese hakko clones and the handle melted, was lucky not to get injured. Replaced it with a draper adjustable one which has been fine, very much like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-6147.../dp/B010823P38

    I use it for electronics so not sure if it's best for your purposes, is in budget though :)

  22. #22
    Grand Master PickleB's Avatar
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    There are plenty of kits on Amazon...eg link...to get you going. That one has a stand and sponge, some solder and is a 60W iron. That way you've somewhere to park the iron and avoid scorching your surfaces, plus it's powerful enough to heat up a reasonable workpiece (15W for delicate electonics, 25W for heavier wiring...100W+ for metalwork...as a guide). Plus it has a solder sucker...useful for de-soldering and cleaning up if a joint goes wrong.

    To go with it I'd buy some solid flux...link. OK, there's flux within the solder, but a light application helps to 'tin' surfaces (apply a light coat of solder in preparation for jointing).

    The alternative is a solder gun...link. They're quicker to heat and have other uses, eg cutting, but might be a bit unwieldy...depending upon your job.

    As mentioned above, Weller is a very reputable make that you'll find on Amazon and elsewhere, but the less expensive 'names', eg Silverline, would do the job...as should the majority of what you'll turn up on Amazon.

    Then you mentioned a kit that included some clamps. They can be very useful as a third hand and there are a variety on Amazon and eBay. Find something that suits your job whether or not it's in a kit...they're cheap enough.

  23. #23
    Craftsman
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    I use a Gascat 60 from time to time...seems nicely put together...never let me down...yet

    very easy to use as no trailing cable

  24. #24
    Journeyman
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    Weller have good reputation, their kit tends to be used in industry. My Antex is still going strong after 40 years too.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  25. #25
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    Make sure whichever you get that you can easily buy replacement tips. as a beginner you're going to ruin them pretty quickly.

  26. #26
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by PickleB View Post
    There are plenty of kits on Amazon...eg link...to get you going. That one has a stand and sponge, some solder and is a 60W iron. That way you've somewhere to park the iron and avoid scorching your surfaces, plus it's powerful enough to heat up a reasonable workpiece (15W for delicate electonics, 25W for heavier wiring...100W+ for metalwork...as a guide). Plus it has a solder sucker...useful for de-soldering and cleaning up if a joint goes wrong.

    To go with it I'd buy some solid flux...link. OK, there's flux within the solder, but a light application helps to 'tin' surfaces (apply a light coat of solder in preparation for jointing).

    The alternative is a solder gun...link. They're quicker to heat and have other uses, eg cutting, but might be a bit unwieldy...depending upon your job.

    As mentioned above, Weller is a very reputable make that you'll find on Amazon and elsewhere, but the less expensive 'names', eg Silverline, would do the job...as should the majority of what you'll turn up on Amazon.

    Then you mentioned a kit that included some clamps. They can be very useful as a third hand and there are a variety on Amazon and eBay. Find something that suits your job whether or not it's in a kit...they're cheap enough.
    Thanks. I bought the kit in the link, along with some extra solder, flux, wire pot and helping hand, and got a mate to replace the battery for me as I didn't fancy trying it for the first time on an expensive key!

    Now that I have the kit, can you guys recommend something / some kits to get started with to build skills and experience?

    Thanks

  27. #27
    Grand Master PickleB's Avatar
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    Find an old circuit board with discrete components:



    ...and practice removing and replacing them. If the wires are two short once you've taken it off, use a single piece of wire to poke though the two holes rather than an actual resistor etc.

    Then, have a look at Popular Solder Connections or any of the other myriad of videos on YouTube.

  28. #28
    Master Tifa's Avatar
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    Weller

  29. #29
    I've got several as I haven't found one that'll do everything, always use flux and have a good vacuum pump for de-soldering

    R
    Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.

  30. #30
    Grand Master PickleB's Avatar
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    If anyone is feeling the need...here's a link to Soldering Essentials from CPC. I find them useful for some things as they offer free standard 3-5 day delivery on all UK mainland online orders over £8 (ex VAT).

  31. #31
    Craftsman Kevin's Avatar
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    Weller

  32. #32
    OP’s probably sorted by now.

  33. #33
    Three best makes currently are Ersa, Metcal and JBC

  34. #34
    Grand Master hogthrob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rihanabrian View Post
    I started with a couple of these soldering projects kits : Elenco Electronics. pretty clear easy instructions to follow think there also may be a build guide on YouTube.
    rihanabrian: Post count 12. Number of watch related posts: 0. Age of previous reply to this thread at his time of posting: 2 years 8 months.


    Isn't it nice when new members are interested in watches?

  35. #35
    Master
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    Weller for me, get maybe a 25w and a 100w with a trigger.
    Bought a 100w from Argos decades ago and it's the one I use the most.

  36. #36
    Quote Originally Posted by ralphy View Post
    I've got several as I haven't found one that'll do everything, always use flux and have a good vacuum pump for de-soldering

    R
    This.
    I have 3 electric ones
    15/40/50W for everything from electronics to heavier work smaller Antex one and 2 Weller ones.

  37. #37
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
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    Edited

  38. #38
    Grand Master oldoakknives's Avatar
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    I have a couple.
    Mainly I use one similar to this which is adequate for most wiring jobs and similar stuff........



    But I have one of these and a portable gas ring as well..........



    And for serious stuff I have one of these sets.......
    Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.

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