soldering irons.

[jmsjabb]

Looking at doing a guitar valve amp kit and am looking at soldering irons.
On a point to point, what wattage should I look for?
Are soldering stations worth it? Maplin do a station for £40 with temp adjustment and I was wondering if this was a good buy

[ricardofmh]

If you want to work with a normal printed circuit board (one or to sides) a 25 Watt (normal tip) soldering iron will be enough, for boards with surface mount elements, 15 Watt (sharp tip) and for heavy duty (or electrical) 40 Watt or more.

Sorry for my English, I am from El Salvador, Central America!

[deckingman]

Soldering stations are more for professional users and continuous use. Having said that, £40 for a station is a damm good price. You ought to get a temperautre controlled iron in any case. The higher the wattage, the quicker it will heat up and the sooner you can use it. However, if it isn't temperature controlled then, it would get too hot for fine work. You need to get a fine tip as well. Basically the bigger the iron (wattage) the bigger the tip you can use, but for something like the kit you want to build then a large tip won't be needed. Hope some of that makes sense. Basically, I'd look at something like a 40W, temperature controlled iron with fine tip. Antex are a good make.

[hornydragon]

Originally Posted by deckingman

Soldering stations are more for professional users and continuous use. Having said that, £40 for a station is a damm good price.

Its a crap iron i got one and its not been used since its first outing.....