soldering stations>$60 incl. hakko 936 clones from Circuit Specialists

[spoo76]

So Ive been tired of my cheap radio shack irons for a while. Im not a heavy user yet they never last or heat up well.
My needs are fairly typical. adjustable, quick startup and recovery, easy to find and replace tips.
while looking around everyone always seems to love and recommend the hakko 936, but I rarely find them for less than $80 new and thats a bit more than i want to spend right now.
after searching Ive come across the 936 clones. the best and most popular models seem to come from http://www.circuitspecialists.com aka webtronics
They have a few in the 60-70 watt range and wasn't sure which to get.

I think I am going with this
60 watt dual core ceramic heater CSI-station-3DLF
http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/10369

but there are also these ..
70 watts CSI-2901 $49 http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/8395

70 watt CSI-2900 w/ digital display $59
http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/8396

If you are on an even tighter budget for $35 this is the
CSI-STATION1A 45 watt hakko clone thats had plenty of good reviews and supposedly can use hakko tips ( some of the other CSI irons do as well though i dont know which )
http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7307


from all the searches on forums and google these seem to be great bang for the buck. many hakko owners also swear by some of these.

I just thought i would share for those looking and wondered if anyone had any input

 

[bob1961]

not bad prices, i only paid 65 bucks for my hakko 3 years ago and can't be happier with it "thumbsup" .......bob

....

 

[neillarson]

Can't beat the hakko

 

[brios86]

dont mean to come an take over or anything like just have a soldering related question, i been trying to solder deans plugs on my ESC and BATT but when i put the soldering thing on it (sorry i cant get the name at the moment) it becomes a little ball like a rain drop and thats it, like if it dosent want to stick to the deans, like if its some type of solder resistant lol, am i too hot or too cold? by the way i have a solder that plugs into the wall, i believe it says 20/200 on it

 

[Charlie-III]

dont mean to come an take over or anything like just have a soldering related question, i been trying to solder deans plugs on my ESC and BATT but when i put the soldering thing on it (sorry i cant get the name at the moment) it becomes a little ball like a rain drop and thats it, like if it dosent want to stick to the deans, like if its some type of solder resistant lol, am i too hot or too cold? by the way i have a solder that plugs into the wall, i believe it says 20/200 on it

The metal to be soldered must be clean (oil/grease free) and either use flux you "paint on" or a rosin core solder to get the solder to flow.
I use ~1/16th" diameter rosin core solder on clean metal.

 

[mann0mann]

One concern I would have or one thing I would look into is what type(s) of tips are included with these irons. Given the website name, I bet most are including a pencil tip, which IMO you really don't want. You want a broader chisel tip for doing 99% RC-related soldering.

At my shop we just got in the new Hakko FX-888 models for $99, they are really nice, small footprint and worth every penny.

 

[spoo76]

dont mean to come an take over or anything like just have a soldering related question, i been trying to solder deans plugs on my ESC and BATT but when i put the soldering thing on it (sorry i cant get the name at the moment) it becomes a little ball like a rain drop and thats it, like if it dosent want to stick to the deans, like if its some type of solder resistant lol, am i too hot or too cold? by the way i have a solder that plugs into the wall, i believe it says 20/200 on it

Sounds like you may not have the deans plug hot enough. what i like to do when soldering deans is make sure its connected to another deans as you would normally connect.
Then I heat up and Tin the wires and plug. works every time and wont melt plugs or wires
(edit) not sure if you know what it means to "tin" the wires. it just means to heat up the wire and plug and give them a coating of solder. it makes it much easier to solder together

One concern I would have or one thing I would look into is what type(s) of tips are included with these irons. Given the website name, I bet most are including a pencil tip, which IMO you really don't want. You want a broader chisel tip for doing 99% RC-related soldering.

At my shop we just got in the new Hakko FX-888 models for $99, they are really nice, small footprint and worth every penny.

They use the same tips as the hakko but it does come with a pencil tip. I need to pick up a bigger tip and a broader one for small brass parts.
it works great so far and heats up very quick