Your favorite soldering irons/stations.

[matt239]

What are some of your favorite soldering irons/stations?
Tools, tips?

I'm looking for an inexpensive upgrade to my Weller 40W pencil.
It's been great for through hole boards, and using sockets for ICs,
- but replacement tips seem a little hard to find, and I need something smaller with more kinds of tips to do occasional SMDs.

[onebuzz]

I like the Hakko FX-888D and the Weller WES51. Each around 100 in American dollars. Lots of tips availiable. I use mainly chisel style tips in the 1.5 to 2.5mm for my pedal stuff. I don't know much about SMD though. All my projects are turret board or thru hole.

[John Coloccia]

I usually recommend the Hakko. My preference would be the 936/FX-888 (though I hate the FX-888 doesn't stack). FX-888D if you can't find the other two. I'd say to be very careful and only buy from a reputable source because there are tons of fake Hakkos clones out there floating around. Personally, I have an older FP-101 that I love, and more recently a JBC station. The JBC is pricey, but it's the best I've ever used at any price, including Metcal.

[Dirk_Hendrik]

Pewsonal favourite is Metcal. However my bench has 2 Weller WECP20 which are cheaper and replacement tips are more widely available at this global location.

And from that perspective,
Giving you global location "could" influence the suggestion for a best choice. I have never seen a "hakko" here.

[astrobass]

I got a Weller WES51 station two weeks back and I love it and don't know how I lived prior to owning it.

[lasermonkey]

I have a couple of Weller PS3/TCP soldering stations which I bought off an old employer for £5 each when they changed over to Metcal soldering stations.
The Wellers are great; simple to use, easy to repair and generally dependable. The Metcals were amazing though, a quantum leap over anything else I have used. I had one of the desolder guns too, which was an absolute joy to use.

[Ice-9]

The mention of Weller irons reminds me I have hiding in a cupboard I have a Weller AG700 hot air Iron and a EH1000 hot plate repair station. Must dig them out and see if they still work.
At the moment I have been using an Antex 660TC, cheap and reliable and fits on my bench.