Soldering station with vacuum desoldering

[Leuven]

That Hakko 808 is very nice but over the budget at 200$, especially that it's just for desoldering. The thing is I really don't want another manual pump, I had enough of them lot. This time I want to spend a buck and make it easy for myself.

Farnell sells something similar to those ZD987 double units at £140, it's called Duratool D00674. They are also available separately, in single units.

http://uk.farnell.com/duratool/d00674/soldering-rework-station-uk-eu/dp/1498363

If I were to get desoldering station as a single unit, is there any reason why I couldn't alternate both a soldering pencil and desoldering gun in the same socket?

This is Zd917 clone or rebrand, i reviewed it also on this forum. Its first version and its bad, you must search for ZD987

Ok, thanks for the tip. I'll keep that in mind.

[hacklordsniper]

Kids these days ... Don't they get any proper bench training any more?

For this and other tiny metal scrap, e.g. cutoff component leads, one keeps a small tin can on the bench. A flat one, like an Altoids tin, or some other mint tin, where one has cut a 1/2" hole into the top, works best.

Today kiddies like to have the whole bench almost "sanitized" and avoid dust with lead 

[Leuven]

All right, I've managed to get myself a JBC station and boy, do I understand why people rave about them! It looks and feels quality all the way through, amazing attention to detail, very easy to set up and gets up to temp in a blink. Best part, came off ebay brand new in sealed box at £107 shipped - that's what I call a bargain!

For the desoldering part, thinking to get the cheap and cheerful Atten hot air station. It will do me for now.

Thanks for all the advice folks.

[robrenz]

Very wise decision. I wanted to post "get a JBC" but I didnt think it fit in the theme of this thread. JBC has the widest range of tip styles I have ever seen along with the highest thermal performance.

[Leuven]

Very wise decision. I wanted to post "get a JBC" but I didnt think it fit in the theme of this thread. JBC has the widest range of tip styles I have ever seen along with the highest thermal performance.

Yeah, I've noticed that too. Huge range of tips (they call them cartridges), plus there was a leaflet in the box with all the pencils/tips/accessories very nicely laid out for you to pick and choose. Their website and literature is top notch, I'm a designer myself and I rarely see a tool company going to the trouble of investing in interface design so that ANYBODY would understand what the heck is going on. That is of course very helpful for me as a beginner, a week ago I didn't know the first thing about soldering stations.

Then there's the price, not cheap at £20 a cartridge but probably well worth it.

[robrenz]

I paid US$396.00 (253£) for that station in the US so you really got a good deal.  But tips average around US$24.50 (15.65 £)  May I suggest one of your next tips be one of the bent tips like the 245-259 (round point) or 245-963 (screwdriver Point) I saw a soldering video with a guy using this style of tip and realized how versatile they are. You can use the tip just like normal for detail work but when you need to solder something heavier you can lay the whole tip flat to the part or board to get better thermal transfer. It works really well especially with the very small and flexible 245 handle. One other suggestion is to wet your sponge to let it get to normal size then let it dry out again.  Then cut parallel slits in the sponge with a sharp knife about 3mm spacing across the whole sponge about half the sponge thickness deep.  Sponges from some older stations used to come this way.  When you drag your tip thru one of the slits you get both sides of the tip in one swipe. If I am using a bent tip I put the sponge in with the slits running sideways.

[Leuven]

I paid US$396.00 (253£) for that station in the US so you really got a good deal.  But tips average around US$24.50 (15.65 £)  May I suggest one of your next tips be one of the bent tips like the 245-259 (round point) or 245-963 (screwdriver Point) I saw a soldering video with a guy using this style of tip and realized how versatile they are. You can use the tip just like normal for detail work but when you need to solder something heavier you can lay the whole tip flat to the part or board to get better thermal transfer. It works really well especially with the very small and flexible 245 handle. One other suggestion is to wet your sponge to let it get to normal size then let it dry out again.  Then cut parallel slits in the sponge with a sharp knife about 3mm spacing across the whole sponge about half the sponge thickness deep.  Sponges from some older stations used to come this way.  When you drag your tip thru one of the slits you get both sides of the tip in one swipe. If I am using a bent tip I put the sponge in with the slits running sideways.

Thanks for the suggestions, I want to buy couple extra tips and I will certainly get a bent one too. I'm going from zero to hero with this, my cheapo 25W Antex could only solder with the base of the tip and now I'm cutting slits in the sponge