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Solder station bargain?

It’s not such a bargain if it is as reliable as any of the previous Maplin irons I had.
Certainly not professional :D
 
You need to use the wide tip with them otherwise they don't hold enough heat. Apart from that they are ace.
 
No but similar price / discount.

I had three, each one had a different selection of tips, each one failed.

In the end I had a used Metcal SP200 for £60 on fleabay and never looked back.
It's in a different league altogether.
Recently left it on for a couple of days by mistake and the handle was as cool as when switched off.

However sq is happy with his, hope yours is fine also.
 
Haven't bought it yet - Metcal SP200 on fleabay seem to be £100+ getting it for £60 is good.

If I do buy it and it is garbage then it goes back. Simple.
 
Not sure if they are reasonabe in the UK, but I bought a bottom of the line Hakko soldering station and it has been very reliable and works very well.
Start around $80 here.
 
I bought a cheap Maplins Iron - it's rubbish - tip lasted about 10 seconds and its not a standard size so I can't get a replacement.

You get what you pay for with these people, I wouldn't buy anything from them if I could help it.
 
I've used Metcal irons and rate them very highly. They were the only iron that could desolder a Naim tuner head like the proverbial hot knife through butter. Sadly I've only got a weller TCP at the moment but it'll stay in use until it dies or until I see a Metcal on ebay for £60!

Mark.
 
This IS a bargain.

I and a few others I know have one and they are good work horses.

This has been covered on another forum you frequent ;)
 
Yes the Weller is a fine tool, I had over twenty years service from one and only chucked it as the tips became unavailable. Thats when I tried the Maplins and became disapointed, lukily I droped on a Metcal and have to say it is better than the Weller.
There again the Metcal must weigh in at over a kilo so there must be something for the money.
 
cjarchez said:
This IS a bargain.
Click to expand...

I did buy the Maplins iron as I can't get tips for my old soldering station any more, only £40 and it can always be returned if it is too crap. The Maplins iron looks identical to the one in the link above, and the power unit is similar in the display and controls so maybe they are made in the same Chinese factory. I am still trying to decipher the English in the manual.....
 
I just used this iron to build a little psu kit and it worked fine, the good thing is how quickly it heats up (~15 secs to 340 deg), one less good point is that the lead is a bit short.

Pretty good for £40, time will tell if it is going to be good in the long term.
 
graham-r said:
I just used this iron to build a little psu kit and it worked fine, the good thing is how quickly it heats up (~15 secs to 340 deg), one less good point is that the lead is a bit short.

Pretty good for £40, time will tell if it is going to be good in the long term.
Click to expand...

If it seems O.K. stock up with spare bits, by the time you need them they probably won`t be available.
 
I too have a ebay Metcal 200 - was less than £100 and was one of my best purchases ever. I use a reasonably large tip on it for most work as you can get in and out quickly and it has no trouble soldering to ground plains.

CJ
 
Barrymagrec said:
If it seems O.K. stock up with spare bits, by the time you need them they probably won`t be available.
Click to expand...

Certainly will, lack of bits is what caused the demise of my old station, but it was 30 years old. The iron itself seems common to other stations so you would hope that bits will be available for a long while. But at £40 who cares if it only lasts a few years :D Personally I think it will go on working for quite a while - it feels pretty well built.
 
graham-r said:
Certainly will, lack of bits is what caused the demise of my old station, but it was 30 years old. The iron itself seems common to other stations so you would hope that bits will be available for a long while. But at £40 who cares if it only lasts a few years :D Personally I think it will go on working for quite a while - it feels pretty well built.
Click to expand...

Stocking up on tips is a good idea so long as it continues to function.
My mistake was in three different sets of tips for three different irons that all failed to soon.
On the other hand...
 
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