Wasted $60 on a cheap soldering iron kit for fixing old radios

I saw this $60 kit online with a bunch of glowing reviews, so I grabbed one to start fixing old radios. The iron took forever to heat up, and the tip basically melted after three joints. I ended up borrowing my neighbor's Hakko and finished the whole project in 20 minutes. Anyone else get burned by one of those cheap starter kits?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliver_ward1419d ago

I get why you'd be frustrated but I actually had a totally different experience with one of those $60 kits. The iron taking forever to heat up sounds like maybe you got a dud or the tip wasn't screwed on tight enough. Mine heated up in under a minute and I've been using it for a few months now on old circuit boards without any melting issues. The trick is to tin the tip right away and keep it clean. Maybe yours was just a bad batch.

patriciamoore17d ago

Also something nobody's mentioned in this whole thread is that those cheap kits often don't account for what kind of solder you're using. Lead free solder takes way more heat and needs a tip that's in good shape, but the included solder in those kits is usually some mystery alloy that burns up fast. Oliver you might be using old school 60/40 which melts like butter compared to the newer stuff. That could explain why some people have great results and others get frustrated and throw the whole thing in a drawer.