My cheap soldering iron sucked, what do I buy now?

ratz4 · Post by **ratz4** » 18 May 2009, 06:43

hello guys i am a new to buliding pedals and was wondering what is a good soldering iron
i bought a cheap $20 one which sucked

salocin · Post by **salocin** » 18 May 2009, 06:46

I still use my cheap one. I also have a temperature controlled one with a finer tip. They both get used as they are good for different things.

What are the problems you have with your $20 one?

ratz4 · Post by **ratz4** » 18 May 2009, 07:12

the problem with it is that it is way to hot and the tip is too big
do u have any suggestions on any specific model of iron that is good

and i have another question, it is off topic to this post
how do u go about mounting the led to the enclosure

salocin · Post by **salocin** » 18 May 2009, 07:18

Weird, in my experience cheap irons have the opposite problem, they don't get hot enough.

Here's what I use to mount LED's: http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4a110b5d0 ... View/H2031 Picked up about 100 of them for a few dollars. I wack a bit of hot glue around them to hold them in nice and safe.
Edit: Just saw danielzink's thread and it looks like he uses the same thing for his leds: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5719

RnFR · Post by **RnFR** » 18 May 2009, 14:00

xytronic 379. you can get it extra cheap on amazon.com. just buy one- trust me, you won't be disappointed.