Soldering station: Weller vs. Hakko?
by brionic 
, Wednesday, June 11, 2014, 22:25 (3760 days ago)
I've decided (finally) to jump the curb and get a soldering station.
Any experience relative to the merits of Weller WES51 vs. Hakko FX888? Both are thermostatically controlled; the Weller is hecho en Mexico and available without blinky digital lights; Japanese Hakko is digital only, and is really purple, which bewilders but doesn't frighten. Random non-objective online comments praise both, generally.
Either runs about $90 delivered and is, hopefully, a lifer.
My crackling, scratchy, and semi-functional amplifiers thank you for your advice.
Back when I worked for a military contractor,
we had Wellers. All had to be adjustable and calibrated for milspec soldering and the operators trained and certified. I still have a perfectly functional one that was discarded when all were replaced with new models - in 1990.
Gonna replace all those electrolytic caps with mylar ones? When I was in college, I worked on church organs. Chief complaint was they sounded bad. Paper caps in the primary DC power supply were ancient and dried out, therefore no filtering effect. Yeah, they had tubes. LOL
Exactly. Starting small - a few speakers and fuse holders..
by brionic , Thursday, June 12, 2014, 12:28 (3759 days ago) @ John K.
then I'll work up to some of the caps and resistors once I have a steady hand and clear conscience.
I figure monkeying with the end of the circuit first is like dangling a toe in the shallow end, rather than cannonballing into the middle of the pool.
Thx, John.