Which Weller iron (2019)

[kerouanton]

Hello all,

I'm currently soldering a lot of SMDs, 0603 and 0402s, FQP and QFN.

Until now I was struggling with my Hakko, until a friend of mine told me to try his Weller station with a WXMP pen and a RT tip, and it's simply a marvellous experience (compared to my previous soldering irons).

The problem is the price. The WX1011 is nearly 800CHF/USD, which isn't really in my budget. I found that Weller had a "pocket" WSM-1 (or WSM-1C for the battery-powered version) soldering iron quite similar at half the price. It is available at many retailers but according to the Weller Tools website it seems "obsolete".

As those soldering irons are still expensive, I don't want to make a mistake (I did many already, as many as I have bought cheaper soldering irons that were not practical enough...). So, has anyone over here got a WSM1 and/or a WX1011, and is able to say which one I should get, considering I want it to be my "life-long" iron (I heard many people say Weller can be good for decades), and I am soldering more and more SMDs (obviously!). My current Hakko 888D will continue to serve as a general-purpose one (but not for SMDs).

There is another topic on this, but it's from 2015 so maybe there are news to consider?
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/which-weller-iron/

Many thanks in advance for your tips (!).

Bruno

[TJ232]

ERSA i-CON Nano: https://www.ersa-shop.com/icon-serie-industrie-1kanal-nano-c-1_1284_6.html

I still think the best deal remain a i-CON 2V with tweezers (0IC2200VC) , but it's out of your desired budget: https://www.ersa-shop.com/ersa-icon2v-kanall%C3%B6tstation-sdslot-itool-150w-chiptool-vario-2x40w-autostandby-p-12172.html

Happy breadboarding,
TJ.

[kerouanton]

Thanks for your links to this brand. However I'm trying to get some more info about the WSM1 and WX1011 models. The reason is also that I saw some homebrew projects to replace the Weller soldering station by a homemade arduino-based (I believe?) one, while keeping the XWMP pen and RT tips.

[kerouanton]

No replies?

shall I conclude Nobody here owns a Weller WX1011 or a WSM1 ?
That seems suspect 

[Towger]

I take it you have not seen the recent reports of issues with Weller irons on this forum.

[kerouanton]

indeed. I had several friends with (old) weller stations that keep saying they're very happy with them for decades.
Recent issues? Heard about quality issues from non-german manufactured tips? any other things?

[martin1454]

At my job, we have a WX1011, and I love it - It can solder very large pads with even small tips, and heat's up nicely.

But! - I think I will buy either an PACE ADS200 or JBC-CD-2BE if I were to spend that much money.

I really enjoy Metcal's quality, but the whole thing with "changing tip for changing temperature" is a no-go from my side.

from those I held in my hand and tried my top list is:

1: JBC C245
2: Weller WX1011
3: Metcal CV 5200

One thing to think about for a "life time soldering iron" is simplicity so you can repair it if it breaks, and tip availability - That's where Weller is very good, I don't think you will have any issues with buying WX1011 tips

[ebastler]

Heard about quality issues from non-german manufactured tips? any other things?

EEVBlog episodes #1152 and #1160 discuss the lack of a primary fuse in (some of?) the Weller soldering stations, and their rather disappointing response.

[Towger]

Weller presumed to have set lab/home on fire: https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eeevblog%2Ecom%2Fforum%2Findex%2Ephp%3Ftopic%3D167053%2E0&share_tid=167053&share_fid=25658&share_type=t

[stj]

you didnt say which hakko you have.
it may just need a different tip / iron for the existing base.

[MrFox]

Weller presumed to have set lab/home on fire: https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eeevblog%2Ecom%2Fforum%2Findex%2Ephp%3Ftopic%3D167053%2E0&share_tid=167053&share_fid=25658&share_type=t

I see no indication a powered off weller soldering iron can cause this.
And the weller WX is one of their high power models, which seem to be all fused.

Both of the cheap weller I owned have the front power button turn off the mains mechanically so the only way this would cause a fire is literallly leaving the iron powered and unattended (are some newer models different? This WX one is mains-fused so the FUD is pointless). I checked my wes51 and the xformer primary have a 1cm segment hanging in free air which would break long before anything would create a flame. Hot enough, the main winding would smoke from the resin melting. Then, when shorted loops reduce the resistance, the free air segment would break first, because the rest is a massive block of metal absorbing the heat.

I understand the recommendations for something better and if I upgrade I would get the Pace or JBC, but I don't understand the drama about the fuse.

[agehall]

I understand the recommendations for something better and if I upgrade I would get the Pace or JBC, but I don't understand the drama about the fuse.

Another thing to consider is availability of tips and other accessories. I choose Weller (and more specifically the WX2) because of this reason. I was looking at JBC but I found it much harder to source accessories for it where I'm located.

[Doctorandus_P]

I have a Weller PU81 base + WSP80 and I'm quite dissapointed in it.
It is a reasonably quality product, but it is too expensive compared to the quality.

It has a redicilous "stop and go" stand. If you put it in it's stand it cools down to room temperature and you have to wait 20s after you pick it up before you can start soldering That was a big dissapointment (And got disassembled in the first week).

Also, the tips do not connect well to the iron. They have a fairly small round contact surface, which is adequate, but there is a stainless steel sleeve over the whole assembly, and that gets worked loose by the repetitivy expansion / contraction of heating and cooling.
This would have been acceptable for a EUR 100 Iron, but not for the almost EUR 400 I paid for it.
This would at least have needed some kind of spring assembly in it to keep it tight.

Dit you see the recent EEVblog about the Weller Iron that did not have a fuse in front of it's transformer?
Kind of redicilous if you ask me.

There are some very good Irons out there JBC seems to be top notch, but you also pay for that.

For around EUR 50 to EUR 100 you can choose from a multitude of fairly well built temperature controlled soldering irons from Ali / Ebay / China / etc, (Including some spart tips) and If I didn't have my Weller I would buy one or 2 of those. I like the TC100, but unfortunately the models of the tips are rather limited and they're also quite long.

Having 2 separate irons is very handy when working with SMD resistors and capacitors, because you can then heat both sides for rework.
This works just as good or better than the soldering "tweezers" and is a lot cheaper.

[Mr. Scram]

I take it you have not seen the recent reports of issues with Weller irons on this forum.

You mean the wilful overreaction and manufactured issues? People were obviously looking to have some fun at Weller's expense.

[ebastler]

Weller safety discussions aside, here's another vote for the Ersa i-CON. I just love the short, compact handpiece -- can't fathom how I managed to work with the traditional, longer ones for all those years...

I have the standard i-CON 1 and like its straightforward one-knob interface. For most purposes, the lower-cost i-CON nano should be just fine.