Which Weller Iron?

[EEVblog]

Weller (EU) have offered carte blanche any iron in their inventory for use in future videos. Which one(s?) would you like to see?
Strangely, they have some irons that are exclusive to the EU, like these:
http://www.weller.de/de/Weller--Produkte--Produkt-Details.html?article_id=D0176894001404467503A158#%7B%22string%22:%22%22,%22current_site%22:%22weller%22,%22current_brand%22:%22Weller%22%7D
and
http://www.weller.de/de/Weller--Produkte--Produkt-Details.html?article_id=D0040864001408109708A74#%7B%22string%22:%22%22,%22current_site%22:%22weller%22,%22current_brand%22:%22Weller%22%7D

The WX seems middle of the road, maybe equivalent to the JBC I have?:
http://www.weller-toolsus.com/soldering/systems/wx-series

[continuo]

My vote would be on the WX series. Very expensive but still within enthusiast range. WS series is nothing special and the irons above WX are way to expensive for hobbyists 

[VK5RC]

My first good soldering station a WD1000 looks likely to be replaced by the WX 1010. That would get my vote for a heavy/long term review.

[tszaboo]

The standard everyday iron is the WP-80 or the WSP-80. Get a station which accepts that.
If they will send you it, get a WR 3000M set. That is the absolute best, once you used it, never go back.
I've used iron from the WX range, it felt like a toy, and the running cost is insane. RTW 1 replacement tip for 100 EUR??? 

[nfmax]

Dave - get them to explain to you exactly what the differences are between the WP-80 & WSP-80 

[KermitDK]

I would go for the WX - If someone forced me to replace my JBC.

[tszaboo]

Dave - get them to explain to you exactly what the differences are between the WP-80 & WSP-80 

The barrel. The WP, you can hold much closer to the tip.

[agehall]

I got myself a WX2021 a while ago and I'm very halo with that one. Combine it with a more heavy duty iron and you should have a very nice setup.

[ElektronikLabor]

I use WX2021 station at work: excelent Station and the tips heat up veeery fast.
But I don't like the user interface. The touch buttons respond after a delay and sometimes the don't respond at all. Also there are some    key combinations which are not obvious: once the iron didn't heat up and I didn't know why. After reading the manual I found out that there is a key combination which turn off the iron and keep it switched off even if you restart the whole station. 

[GNU_Ninja]

This is the one I use at work: WD1000T Bit pricey for what you get, but you can say that about all Weller stuff.

 http://www.weller.de/de/Weller--Produkte--Produkt-Details.html?article_id=D0146601001379336384A107601#

Its a nice iron.

[AF6LJ]

This will be interesting to see since I haven't replaced my WTCPT station since I bought it in 1994, it might be time to upgrade.

[hayatepilot]

I'd vote on the WX Series or the WD Series.
The WD is cheaper and would probably adress more people but the expensive WX would probably have more engineering porn. 

Greetings

[kwass]

I have one of these:  http://www.weller-toolsus.com/soldering/systems/wsm-series/weller-wsm1c-wsm-1c-rechargeable-soldering-stat-120v.html


This is the current EU version:  http://uk.farnell.com/weller/whs-mc-uk-eu/soldering-station-40w-230v-battery/dp/1729968


It's fantastic and you can to move it around the lab or take out out of the lab with ease.  It's also isolated from ground, if/when you need that, there are 3 18650 cells powering it so it can run on a charge for quite a long time.  The RT tips are excellent (but expensive).

[zapta]

Take the fanciest system you can get and show us what it can do. Above the budget of most of us but will expand our horizon.

[Smith]

It would be nice to see the WXR 3030 rework station or equivalent. Yes its expensive, but there are not that many reviews about rework stations. We have bought a WRM 3000 rework station at work about 3 years ago, and it was the best investment we have ever done (better than new scopes, meters, handtools etcetera). People don't really believe how nice and good it works, until they try themselves. Everyone who used it wants one.

[nctnico]

Are sales so bad for Weller? Perhaps people (finally) noticed they keep replacing tips on a Weller iron and spend a boat load of money on tips in the long run  I have used Wellers in the past and I always had a whole bunch of spare tips in my drawer. I have been using Ersa irons in my own lab for over a decade and noticed the tips last an eternity (set at 330 deg C and no auto-power-off). Still I see a Weller soldering station every now and then and it always amazes me how piss poor the state of the tip is.

Let me get to the point: what would interesting is to use the soldering station to do a side-by-side test/comparison with various brands to see how long the tips last.

[GreyWoolfe]

My vote is for the WXR 3030.  I know if I can get a free top of the line station to play with and use in videos, I would jump on it.  Besides, just some more equipment porn for us to get jealous over 

[AF6LJ]

Are sales so bad for Weller? Perhaps people (finally) noticed they keep replacing tips on a Weller iron and spend a boat load of money on tips in the long run  I have used Wellers in the past and I always had a whole bunch of spare tips in my drawer. I have been using Ersa irons in my own lab for over a decade and noticed the tips last an eternity (set at 330 deg C and no auto-power-off). Still I see a Weller soldering station every now and then and it always amazes me how piss poor the state of the tip is.

Let me get to the point: what would interesting is to use the soldering station to do a side-by-side test/comparison with various brands to see how long the tips last.

One of the reasons I bought the replacment Weller iron I did was because I had tips that dated back to the late seventies that were still good, because they had been properly taken care of in spite of tens of thousands of hours of operation.

[nanofrog]

Assuming they wouldn't adjust the kit or send additional accessories for the WXR kit, I'd opt for the WX1010 (or other version that includes the general purpose WXP120 iron).

Dave - get them to explain to you exactly what the differences are between the WP-80 & WSP-80 

As mentioned, it's in the tip-to-grip distance.

On the WSP80, the tip retainer is separate from the grip. But Weller decided to integrate the tip retainer and grip into a single assembly (entire grip screws/unscrews) to get it a bit shorter by about 6mm or so IIRC.

Let me get to the point: what would interesting is to use the soldering station to do a side-by-side test/comparison with various brands to see how long the tips last.

An electron microscope would certainly be handy (measure the plating thickness). 

Anyone have access to one? 

My vote is for the WXR 3030.  I know if I can get a free top of the line station to play with and use in videos, I would jump on it.  Besides, just some more equipment porn for us to get jealous over 

Couple of notes as configured...

Pros:

• Would give Dave a chance to test their desolder tech.
• Flexible regarding the irons available, including tweezers, a solder pot, and hot plate.

Cons:

• The WXP65 iron included in the kit is on the small side, as it's meant for SMD work (65W; updated version of the WMP). The WXP120 is the general purpose iron for the WX series, and would be more appropriate IMHO (upgraded replacement for the WP80).
• Hot air pencil is only 200W, so only suited for smaller packages and heat shrink (great for cell phone repair). Non-upgradeable.

One of the reasons I bought the replacement Weller iron I did was because I had tips that dated back to the late seventies that were still good, because they had been properly taken care of in spite of tens of thousands of hours of operation.

Not quite so far back for me, but I used the same reasoning when I bought my current station (was after inexpensive, quality tips and better performance than a 936/888).

QC is definitely all over the place, but COO makes a huge difference IME. Bosnia seems to be the source for the crappy tips for me (German and Japanese have been fine thus far). FWIW, there are 3rd party sources, such as Plato.  There's even Chinese production (not sure if this is a good or bad thing yet).

[free_electron]

Base system:
WD-1 controller
WSP80 pencil for everyday work ( This is like the gold standard iron. indestructible )
MPR80 pencil for difficult to reach area's (It looks weird but it is incredibly useful for working under a mantis, or for soldering a part trapped between big components. like a 0805 inbetween two fat electrolytics.

For fine pitch work:
WD-2M controller
WMRP as soldering pencil
WMRT as soldering tweezers.

This pencil is so small and light it is a dream to work with. the Tweezers are ideal to pluck 0201 to 2512 and many other SMD off a board...

As rework system :
WR-3000M
This is a dream to work with

The WR-3 controller in this system also accepst the WMRP WMRT and the WSP80 and MPR80

As hot air system (for BGA and big TQFP rework)
WHP3000 preheater
WHA3000P Hot air station

Shot Meter ( paste/flux dispensing)
KDS834A

Tip cleaner:
Weller Clean-o-point tip cleaner (motorized)  This is actually a rebranded ELVO tip cleaner.

Trust me, i have all of those. ( and a bunch more, such as Microtouch MT1500's (discontinued) HAP100 , WHA300 WRS3000 and some others )

[EEVblog]

Let me get to the point: what would interesting is to use the soldering station to do a side-by-side test/comparison with various brands to see how long the tips last.

It would take years to do that test!

[nctnico]

Let me get to the point: what would interesting is to use the soldering station to do a side-by-side test/comparison with various brands to see how long the tips last.

It would take years to do that test!

Some tips go bad really quick (which is my experience with Weller and to a lesser extend with JBC). A couple of weeks should be enough to see which tips can be cleaned and made to take solder over the entire surface again and which not.

[EEVblog]

Some tips go bad really quick (which is my experience with Weller and to a lesser extend with JBC). A couple of weeks should be enough to see which tips can be cleaned and made to take solder over the entire surface again and which not.

I can't think of a more boring test, I think I'll pass!

[John Coloccia]

I've found that my JBC tips last a long time. I'm still on my original tips, and I probably do more soldering than most, unless you're doing production soldering every day. I added it up once, and the wear seems to be pretty much in line with the life estimates on their website.

Personally, I'd simply tell them I'm not that familiar with their current lineup, and I'd ask them to use their judgement and send me something that would impress me and my viewers. IMHO it's all about recovering from a some missteps and quality problems (especially their tips, which drove me away to Hakko). I'd give them a shot to show me what they've got and win me back. The rework stations look pretty neat, but I don't think they really incorporate their latest, sexy technologies, whatever that is, so I'd want to give them a chance to show off what they can bring to the table moving forward, and they're probably in the best position to judge what exactly that is.

Just my $.02.

edit:
FWIW, I think there are a good number of people like me that are hand soldering products (often very difficult to build products) that are always looking for something better in our solder stations.  Better recovery...better tip geometries, more comfortable handles (especially ones that don't heat up), nice features like simple tip changes. We have no brand loyalty. We just want to make perfect joints as quickly and easily as possible so we don't have to do so much rework. This is a nice chance for Weller to start winning us back.

[nctnico]

Some tips go bad really quick (which is my experience with Weller and to a lesser extend with JBC). A couple of weeks should be enough to see which tips can be cleaned and made to take solder over the entire surface again and which not.

I can't think of a more boring test, I think I'll pass!

It would be interesting to settle this once and for all... Finally something different after the 1 millionth multimeter and 1000th oscilloscope. An NL consumer magazine published a test about toilet paper recently. One would say that is a rather boring test but it helped me to finally determine which type/brand of toilet paper is good out of the large selection of brands/types you can buy. The point: a test which looks dull and boring can give unexpected results which can be of great help to your viewers. Has anyone ever tested & compared soldering tips from various brands?