Soldering irons: Hakko vs Weller

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bytebuster

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OK, so I'm going to start soldering DC jacks, after I finish a course on how to solder, and I want to know what's the best iron. My local Frys sells cheap irons, which I don't look at, then they sell two basic brands of good iron: Weller and Hakko. They sell several different Weller irons and two Hakko irons: analog and digital. The digital Hakko iron is way out of my price range, so that leaves the analog Hakko iron or a Weller iron. Any ideas on what's the best iron of those two? It seems that soldering services, such as soldering DC jacks, is what's in demand here, and few people seem to do it or know what they're doing, so I decided to take a community college course on how to solder, then practice a little, then start soldering.
 
Can't really go wrong with either. It's the tips that are going to make a difference, and those'll (mostly) come down to personal preference.
 
I have never used Hakko models, but have used Weller for about 8 years now and can say that they get the job done. They are reliable units.

With Desoldering DC jacks I found that using a re-working station is much easier then using just a soldering iron. Then after you remove it, the soldering iron is used to solder it back to the board.

I have the Aoyue 852A+ Reworking Station, and it works well.

But soldering is all about the practice. Start on dead boards first. Desolder, resolder. Until you feel you have a good grasp of it.
 
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Both Hakko and Weller are good. Not only will the tip size make the difference for the particular application of soldering that you are going to be doing. But you have to ensure that you have the wattage necessary for the job at hand. Too much heat is bad and then not enough heat is also bad. Another big help to you will be flux and solder wick.
 
I agree with the above. I have the same hotair station and it's good for jacks.

Both makes are good quality. You don't need digital to be honest. You just want a decent one with swappable tips and enough watts to do the job.
 
I used to own a Hakko 936 iron (now discontinued) and loved it. Melted solder on heavy joints and backplanes like they were butter. I still have a Hakko 926 model and it's grossly underpowered, so the advice about adequate power is good. I also have a hot air rework station and it's essential for DC jacks, in my experience, because of the difficulty of heating joints completely through the motherboard when the DC jack metal shield absourbs so much heat. The MCUMall 952 station was $100 and came with both hot air and temp-controlled iron, and digital read-out.
 
Larry Sabo said:
I used to own a Hakko 936 iron (now discontinued) and loved it. Melted solder on heavy joints and backplanes like they were butter. I still have a Hakko 926 model and it's grossly underpowered, so the advice about adequate power is good. I also have a hot air rework station and it's essential for DC jacks, in my experience, because of the difficulty of heating joints completely through the motherboard when the DC jack metal shield absourbs so much heat. The MCUMall 952 station was $100 and came with both hot air and temp-controlled iron, and digital read-out.
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The Hakko 926 is what Frys is selling. Therefore, I think I will get a Weller. MCUMall has an analog rework station for $80. I doubt I really need a digital readout (although anybody who thinks otherwise is welcome to change my mind!). Aoyue may be good, but I couldn't find a price for their station, so I'll go with the MCUMall.
 
I love my Hakko iron. Make sure you get the brass cleaning braid. It does an excellent job at cleaning solder form the tip of the iron without cooling down the tip like a sponge with water does. It also helps the tip last much longer because it isn't constantly being heat cycled.
 
http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19142&page=2

You guys should read this thread in combination with this current one.

I just started learning soldering on my own. I have replaced two laptop DC jacks. One with wick and vac. And the other with a Hakko 808 vacuum powered de-soldering gun. The Hakko took the solder off so easy I couldn't believe how easy it was. It made me laugh almost!!!!!

I own the Weller WES51 I replaced the stubby tip with a long tip.

I own the Edsyn DS017 regular style vacuum kinda works but not as good as the Hakko 808 automatic!

I got a radio shack braid which stinks. And it took forever.

I use an expensive flux.

After I got the second Gateway stripped I had a new DC jack on in less than 15 minutes. I sorta just stared at it thinking, is it supposed to be this fast? Did I do something wrong? I'm kinda worried if I should even tell you guys when I finally get going everyone will have an hakko 808.....

I have watched over 30 youtube videos and about six photo guides before I spent my money and went with the listed products. I also took apart about 3 56K modems and re soldered some of the larger pieces before I went crazy on the gateways. My newbie advice. New long tip and be VERY CLEAN the solder sucks on to the jacks sharply! Better than the factory. Use Tip tinner, and use a .022 radio shack high tech solder.
 
ive used a Weller for 5 years no problem and ive also used those cheap ones from radioshack. dont go with the radioshack one and you'll be ok. as long as it keeps the heat (its a good power rating) then your fine. you'll probably need flux as someone mentioned and solder wick its up to you but id go with the lead free one. i personally wouldnt go with the copper mesh and Instead get a good sucker. If you have those things your ready to go.
 
Guys, my teacher of the soldering class I'm taking says "buy your own station", because the college has no money to keep replacing soldering stations that students kill (yes, I'm in CA). I have no money for anything really expensive, so I'm gonna have to buy a Weller WLC100. It's $40 at Frys. It's the red colored small station. After I'm done with the class, will I have to buy something more expensive to solder DC jacks, or will the WLC100 work ok? I do plan on getting the MCUMall reworking station, I've already put in a request with Santa. :D I don't want to have to buy another soldering station if I don't have to. My prof likes the more expensive blue colored Weller better, but says that the red one will work fine for class.
 
This thread is a great source of information for soldering/desoldering. I'm compiling new equipment now after 'buying cheap' and learning the hard way and the suggestions really go a long way in giving me a budget to work on and the type of equipment I will need. I really want to get a Hakko 808, I just recently bought a weller iron and would also like to get a hot air station for chip replacement...depends on budget though!
Thanks guys!
 
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