Which Weller Iron?

[bson]

My vote goes to the WX2021 and a full complement of irons.  I think this is a sweet spot for EEs doing personal projects at home, other serious hobbyists, and vocational training.

[EEVblog]

The point: a test which looks dull and boring can give unexpected results which can be of great help to your viewers.

I think you've missed the point - I personally don't find that sort of test interesting - ergo, I have little interest in doing it.
Sure the result might be interesting (or not), but it needs someone who's interested in doing that testing.

[nctnico]

I don't intend to break your balls over this but I'd just like to point out that such a test may be the part of your job you don't like but has to be done. Like every job has it's chores. Just saying. 

[EEVblog]

I don't intend to break your balls over this but I'd just like to point out that such a test may be the part of your job you don't like but has to be done.

Are you serious?

[Georgitsu]

Go for the WX series! As you said, it's pricier than your standard hobbyist irons, but it's really pretty cool.

We got one for work, and it has some really neat features - the tweezer iron tips for instance. But most of all, I want to see your reaction to its quirks    The unboxing experience and initial turn-on should be... interesting     

[donkey77]

I recently got a WRX3032 from TOPWinner on here along with the tweezers and have had no problems with it so far, I upgraded from a WD1000 unit with a single iron and a cheap desoldering tool that was very temperamental. I haven't had a problem with tips on weller irons, I've got a couple of spares/different sizes but thought £5 or so each wasn't expensive. I would be interested/gutted to hear your review of it (depending how it goes). If you are going to test the WX series you may as well go for this one as you can test the complete range with it. I also bought a WRK chip kit to use with it. Ask for one of those as well and see how you find it! It might just be me but I haven't had much luck!

[TopLoser]

Well whenever I've offered Weller stuff up for sale the things that sell quickest are the WX1 and WX2 power units with WXP65 and WXP120 irons (cheap tips compared to the sexy WXMP pencil). The WXMT tweezers are also popular.

The WR series 2 and 3 channel rework stations with hot air and desoldering tools are popular at the right price, I've had a lot of interest in those.

Workhorse has to be the WD1 and 80W iron, but the WD2M is a much more versatile power unit as it accepts the micro tools (iron and tweezers) which aren't supported by the WD1.

Nobody seems at all interested in any of the stations that need external air to generate vacuum, I can't give those bloody things away.

[Gyro]

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.

If you do upgrade then don't get rid of your WTCP - you may need it to repair your nice shiny electronic one sometime. 

[Towger]

Weller (EU) have offered carte blanche any iron in their inventory for use in future videos.

I hope this is just for normal use and a teardown/review and they don't want you to sell you soul by removing all other iron brands from future videos.
Btw Not that you have a soul to sell in the first place. :-)

[Augustus]

Btw, would be a good opportunity to do some more soldering vids (techniques, equipment etc.), quite a lot of time has passed since you did the last ones 

[tszaboo]

Btw, would be a good opportunity to do some more soldering vids (techniques, equipment etc.), quite a lot of time has passed since you did the last ones 

And information in it become completely obsolete, because the sheer amount of new technology invented since that. Also they were quite incomplete, because it didn't show how to solder with a hammer.
What exactly more do you want about soldering???

[EEVblog]

I hope this is just for normal use and a teardown/review and they don't want you to sell you soul by removing all other iron brands from future videos.

The likelihood of that is precisely zero.
I will make it very clear to them that future tutorials may or may not use their iron, and may or may not mention and recommend other brands as well.
Their call on whether they want still participate.
Only company I've ever had pull out after hearing that was Lecroy a few years back. Obviously that someone is not there any more, because they sent me one the other month, absolutely no strings attached. In fact they didn't even tell me what one it was, and didn't seem to care what I did with it 

[EEVblog]

Btw, would be a good opportunity to do some more soldering vids (techniques, equipment etc.), quite a lot of time has passed since you did the last ones 

And information in it become completely obsolete, because the sheer amount of new technology invented since that. Also they were quite incomplete, because it didn't show how to solder with a hammer.
What exactly more do you want about soldering???

I've had in mind a highly polished very short (sub 10min) soldering tutorial. My other ones, although incredibly popular, are way too long.

[Augustus]

And information in it become completely obsolete, because the sheer amount of new technology invented since that. Also they were quite incomplete, because it didn't show how to solder with a hammer.
What exactly more do you want about soldering???

I like to watch them, should I feel bad about that? 

[linux-works]

my last weller was the wesd51.

a few nice things about it: nice spring holder (why don't more vendors use springs?  hakko style is not as user friendly); the cord to the pencil is anti-burn (saved my ass a few times); there is an inactivity timer so if you forget, you dont' end up leaving it on (also useful for folks like me, lol); you can see the set point and the current point with digital (can't see current point with a dial).

I used this for a few years before I got hooked on the metcal stuff.  now, its hard to go back and I'll probably stick with a metcal-style system from now on, but for the lower priced stuff, that weller digital was a good deal and I recommend that one over most others for folks starting out.

[nctnico]

I don't intend to break your balls over this but I'd just like to point out that such a test may be the part of your job you don't like but has to be done.

Are you serious?

Dead serious. Just look at any thread about soldering irons. There is no real information about which tips are bad and which are actually good. Doing a review of a soldering iron usually is limited to at 'well this is easy to adjust' ... 'the tips are hard to change' but the most important part is always skipped: the quality of the tips. Ofcourse a brand new tips picks up solder very well but how does it do that in the long run? Do you end up with tips which will only pick up solder at a tiny spot if it has been on for a few days. How expensive are replacement tips and how many do you need? IMHO it is very interesting for people to know if the tips for a certain soldering iron last a decade or whether it goes through tips fast (and the business model of the manufacturer is probably based on selling the iron at a loss and make money on the tips).

Idea: You could even do a timelaps video on the tips get black and cruddy.

[zapta]

I don't intend to break your balls over this but I'd just like to point out that such a test may be the part of your job you don't like but has to be done.

Are you serious?

nctnico, I would escalate it to his supervisor.

[nctnico]

Yeah, I'll call Dave^2 over the phone on Monday. 

[linux-works]

I don't intend to break your balls over this but I'd just like to point out that such a test may be the part of your job you don't like but has to be done.

Are you serious?

nctnico, I would escalate it to his supervisor.

you think you're at amazon, do you?

lol

[con-f-use]

My vote is for the WX3030 stations as well.

[Neganur]

I don't think the WX3030 set  is realistic to test since it's more a rework station set than a soldering iron thing. (Unless you meant just the WX3 station)

Perhaps a station like TopLoser suggested, the WD2M or a WX2 (the ones that take take two irons) and then get a set of different irons:
(Is there a WD2M for Europe actually...? I only see it when I set the page to U.S.(

WX2: WXMP(55 W micro pencil), WXMT(80 W micro tweezer), WXP65 and WXP120 (65 W and 120 W pencils).

WD1M: WMRP(micro pencil),WMRT(micro tweezer), WSP80 (generic lean 80 W pencil)

The WSP80 that FreeElectron mentions is a very nice iron but I'm not sure it's compatible with the WD2M station? website is unclear

[nanofrog]

Is there a WD2M for Europe actually?

The WD2M is discontinued (WD1M is still in production).

The WSP80 that FreeElectron mentions is a very nice iron but I'm not sure it's compatible with the WD2M station? website is unclear

The WSP80 and WP80 are compatible with all of the WD models, including the M versions.

[ez24]

The point: a test which looks dull and boring can give unexpected results which can be of great help to your viewers.

I think you've missed the point - I personally don't find that sort of test interesting - ergo, I have little interest in doing it.
Sure the result might be interesting (or not), but it needs someone who's interested in doing that testing.

Dave 3  ?

[donkey77]

So which iron/station did you go for Dave?

[zapta]

So which iron/station did you go for Dave?

Metcal.