Which Budget Soldering Station to get in Germany

[whaytom]

I am a first year EE Student looking to buy his first decent soldering station / additional equipment.
Unfortunately i live in germany. I looked all over the Forum already, but i could not find a good suggestion for a soldering station, which is available here.
I would have loved to get a Hakko (or even a cheap hakko clone, with original tips), but they are nowhere to be found here. I have found not a single website where i could buy original Hakko tips.

Currently it looks like the only option would be a ESRA iCON Nano http://www.amazon.de/ERSA-i-CON-digitale-L%C3%B6tstation-0IC1200A/dp/B002MQLJ46/. But that would cost me 177€, just for the station. I cannot afford to spend that much money on it
Are there any clones which fit original esra or wella tips? It seems these are the only options in germany.
I was planning on spending ~100€ on it, including a couple of extra tips

Where would you buy good solder?

Any Ideas are greatly appreciated

[wraper]

You can buy I-CON pico if not concerned about it not being ESD safe.

[whaytom]

According to this post , the Pico is not very good. I would hate to spend >100€ on a soldering station im not gonna like.

[mij59]

I bought form here http://www.batterfly.com/shop/hakko_fx-888d , based on the review from EEVblog members.

[nowlan]

*cough*toploser*

[whaytom]

Even if I buy a genuine Hakko one, i would not be able to get replacement tips. And Shipping Cost are >15€ on batterfly

[nugglix]

If you're not fixed on one brand, I bought this:

* http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B004RKZK68   (http://www.elv.de/elv-80-w-komfortloetstation-at-80d.html)
* http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B009LEDSPK  * 2

and replaced the stand with:

* https://www.reichelt.de/Loetkolbenhalter/HALTER-105A/3/index.html?ACTION=3&GROUPID=4128&ARTICLE=87402&START=0&OFFSET=16&WKID=0&

The soldering station was cheaper at the time I bought it (dec last year).

I'm quite happy with this setup, given that I'm not a solder junkie.

For solder just check amazon or the big names in germany (conrad, reichelt...).

Cheers

[Augustus]

EEVBlog Forum member kristapsdreija did a mini review on his Xytronic LF-1600, bought at Reichelt:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/xytronic-lf-1600-intelligent-soldering-station-unboxing-mini-review/

I have no personal experience with this station but it is apparently considered as one of the better budget irons. Current price at Reichelts is ~70€, you can get tips for ~5€, shipping would be another 5.60€... 

http://www.reichelt.de/XYTRONIC-Loetstationen/STATION-LF-1600/3/index.html?&ACTION=3&LA=2&ARTICLE=88890&GROUPID=4543&artnr=STATION+LF-1600


edit: (nearly forgot)

Felder 60/40 "EL" (leaded) solderwire in 0.75mm diameter is really good "all around" stuff, ersa-shop.com sells 500g rolls for less than 15€

http://www.ersa-shop.com/sn60pb40-bleihaltiger-l%C3%B6tdraht-075mm-500gr-spule-rol0-p-2402.html

[neslekkim]

Even if I buy a genuine Hakko one, i would not be able to get replacement tips. And Shipping Cost are >15€ on batterfly

Sparkfun and Adafruit also have original tips for the hakko, and cheaper shipping price, unless you buy one at the time.

[wraper]

According to this post , the Pico is not very good. I would hate to spend >100€ on a soldering station im not gonna like.

IMO that post was made by clueless person. Suggesting Chinese 936 clone over ersa  . Of course only 2 turns to fix the tip, the same as on nano or top end I-CON which I do have. Once you screw two turns, tip is already fixed. He don't like the plastic thread - did he manage to break it? Though I personally seen how the metal thread (he thinks being good) just falls out of the plastic in Chinese clone of 936.

And i suggest to anyone not to buy the 0102PDLF02 tip. It get to less heat as the station shows you. For example you adjust 350°C on the station an will get about 210°C.

This is just nonsense. Don't know how he measured the temperature, but of course 0.2 mm cone tip cannot be used for soldering anything hefty, I have this tip BTW. Did the try to touch the thermocouple with a tiny cone tip?  Otherwise I don't get how he could manage to achieve this.

[nanofrog]

*cough*toploser*

Excellent suggestion. 

OP, for convenience: TopLoser (sells top quality equipment in the UK/EU, so well worth sending a PM). 

[Ysjoelfir]

Well, even if I go against the masses here with this oppinion (i guess), I personally would suggest one of the old Weller Magnastat (in germany they are also called "Klick-Klack-Kolben" ). You can get them for a relatively moderate price on ebay and they last a lifetime if used correctly. My father used one his whole life, it was his first solderin iron and I used it a long time, too, even bought my own one after a while. I myself would use it as my main iron since now, but I got a Weller DS701EC a while ago for a unbelievable low price, so I replaced it.
You can get new tips for a moderate price (or better, use the new adapter weller produces, that works flawless) and the power is high enough to use it in all day work.
If you need to have a station with temperature regulation capabilities (even though I don't use this function on my DS701 often... Use it at 350°C all time and never had problems.) I would have a look at the Weller WS 80.

Another idea would be the "Lötstation Analog 50W" (or 80W, would be ST-80A or ST-50A für the 50 Watts version) from Conrad. I had that thing a while ago to use beside the magnastat, because I thought I need the temperature control thing. It is quite decent for the price. BUT, not as indestructable as the magnastat. And I never used the temperature control.

The question of solder: I would look at ebay in this case, too. I personally was born in the Ruhrgebiet and my father and I used always Stannol leaded solder, made in Wuppertal, only a few Kilometers away. Once I got from ebay some "Esold" from the german democratic republic. That was quite nice stuff, too. And really cheap! I guess I never would buy solder from a standard suplier, only the "good old stuff", at least as long as I can get stuff like that from ebay. I never had issues with it, I even soldered ATMega128 and 0603 SMDs with my combination Magnastat and "antique" solder.

*ducks and runs away* 

[AKM]

Xytronic LF3000 or Xytronic LF3200 (both are 17% off @ Reichelt right now)

[Scottjd]

I'm not a veteran EEVBlog user and will probably be screamed at for this recommendation.
But I'm also trying to consider you price factor without recommending an iron that won't keep up with bigger jobs at 35W.
Also, I will admit I own a 738H  for months without any issue, and have tested and used a 702A+ for a month, both of these have 70W irons. Don't quote me on this fact but I think some of the Hakko tips may also work with some Aoyue stuff, you may need to research that further about the tips.

Sorry, you will have to copy and paste the URL, the forum keeps reformatting it and the link does not work.

So considering your price factor but keeping it at a 70W iron have you looked at this one?

www.amazon.de/AOYUE-Int3210-regelbare-Lötstation-Lötkolben/dp/B003DZIOUM/ref=sr_1_1?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1441594724&sr=1-1&keywords=Aoyue+3210

Or if that is still to much, maybe this one. This one was my first digital variable one from a few years back, but mine is made with the label Tenma. It's the same, different people put their name on it.
I did have some issues with big things, but expected impossible things like a big square 3mm thick aluminum heat bed for a 3D printer. But that was trying to solder wire onto a heat sink. They say it's 60W, I would give it 50W rating compared to my 70W Aoyue that recently soldered wires onto that same heat bed without an issue.
But if you stick to PCB boards and don't do big heat sinks this will work and is cheaper.

www.amazon.de/Regelbare-digitale-Lötstation-Lötkolben-AT-938D-Schwarz/dp/B00HR2MOGM/ref=pd_sim_sbs_60_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1QKC4RT09PN2WJNAD96X&dpSrc=sims&dpST=_AC_UL320_SR320%2C320

I hope you find something that works for you.

Ok, I'm done. Money some times is everything when you can't afford to do the hobby you love.
But start the yelling for those that want to berate me for my recommendations.

[mij59]

Soldering tips for the HAKKO FX-888D also fit on the AOYUE 3210.
The soldering tip that comes with the AOYUE 3210 is crap, the shaft of the soldering tip will oxidize and get cemented to the barrel holding the soldering tip.

[rqsall]

Soldering tips for the HAKKO FX-888D also fit on the AOYUE 3210.
The soldering tip that comes with the AOYUE 3210 is crap, the shaft of the soldering tip will oxidize and get cemented to the barrel holding the soldering tip.

I've had my Aoyue 3210 for 18 months now. No problems whatsoever with it. I did not use the original tip for very long though, because it's conical and I prefer chisel. Since there was hardly any price difference between the hakko and aoyue tips (yes, the hakko tips are genuine, from an official reseller) I figured I'd just get those. I think the 3210 is great value so far and I can't see any oxidation on the tip that came with it, but like I said, I haven't used it much, but it worked fine while I was using it, considering it's conical.

http://www.wiltec.de has aoyue equipment. http://www.soldeerpunt.nl has hakko stations and tips, I imagine they can ship to Germany for reasonable prices.

[Deathwish]

with all the arguments about heat retention etc between units I seriously believe this is the best option. Will solder and desolder anything going.

[Scottjd]

I tried that unit once, it did desolder great. I didn't have a bench or office, or house after. But the parts were found in the ashes completely desoldered from the PCB.

with all the arguments about heat retention etc between units I seriously believe this is the best option. Will solder and desolder anything going.

[gmit77]

hello everybody just for this month of September we offer a free item when purcheasing a FX-888D available now in both color (blu and yellow) and (silver)
you can get one more T18 soldering tip or the B3474 Rubber Cleaner.
leave a comment into the the order stating the following:
- eevblog free T18 and indicate the model
or
- eevblog free B3474

this promo is valid for September 2015 only and it is not cumulative, you pick up one only

links:
FX-888D B/Y http://www.batterfly.com/shop/hakko_fx-888d
FX-888D SILVER http://www.batterfly.com/shop/hakko-fx-888d-silver
T18 SELECTION http://tinyurl.com/n9gvxa5
B3474 RUBBER CLEANER http://www.batterfly.com/shop/hakko-b3474