Weller WSP80 (new) + Station WS/PU81 for 150$ - is this good occasion?

[adamskyyy]

Hello, I am beginner and searching some new soldering iron. I can buy from my friend Weller WSP80 (new) + Station WS/PU81 (used but in very good condition) for 150$. Mostly I will use this set for electric guitar effects. What about Your recommendations (and the price)?

[Psi]

WSP80 uses the previous generation tip technology.
Newer irons have tip+element as one piece which gives vastly better thermal performance since there's no air gap between them.

In my opinion, some sort of clone that uses the newer tip technology is better and maybe cheaper.
Especially if a genuine tip is used on the clone iron.

Others may disagree though?

[adamskyyy]

Thank You PSI. Do You have some Yours recommendation in this price class?

[tooki]

I think it's not worth $150, especially not used. I think it'd be much wiser to buy a new Ersa i-Con nano (€219 at amazon.de) or for a bit more, the Pace ADS200: https://pl.farnell.com/pace/8007-0581/soldering-station-with-isb-tool/dp/2893441?st=ads200

[Doctorandus_P]

I do have a WSP80 Weller with the short flat tips and it gets the job done, but I'm not very happy with it.
They are way to expensive for what they deliver.

If I were to buy a new soldering station now It would probably an EUR 50 TS100 or a EUR30 T12 from Ali / Ebay / China.
The TS100 is a very nice and small iron but it's tips are pretty long and it needs an extra power supply. The TS100 is popular for mobile soldering from a Li-Ion battery pack.

The T12 (Hakko clone?) also has uC controlled temperature and there seem to be a much wider range of tips available.

If you're doing a lot of rework it is also very handy to have 2 irons, so you can easily desolder resistors and capaciors on both ends at the same time. If you do not like your TS100 or T12 you can always buy a more expensive iron later, and use it for the occasions where having 2 irons is handy.

If you really want to buy tye WSP80  then also buy a spare sleeve. This makes it a lot easier to exchange tips while the iron is hot (which I do quite regularly with SMD work). The plastic ring on the nut makes it easy to exchange tips without risk of burning your fingers. You simply remove the hot tip with sleeve and set it in the stand to let it cool, drop the 2nd tip in the second sleeve and screw it on.
A disadvantage of this procedure is that the tips tend to go loose because of expansion when the sleeves get hot. This is a design flaw in the weller Irons. There should have been some kind of spring in the sleeves to allow for thermal expansion without the tips loosening.

[adamskyyy]

wow thank You all for replay. I checked TS100 on Youtube and... it's looks brilliant... So probably I will go for it

[djnz]

The TS100 is good, particularly with third party firmware from https://github.com/Ralim/ts100

However there are 3 flaws I think...

1. Getting a grounded tip is difficult and clunky - you have to hook up a separate earthing wire to a screw near the top of the handle, above the display.

2. The iron itself is made of plastic and the build quality is not that great.

3. The tips are expensive compared to similar Chinese T12 / T15 tips. TS100 tips are approx $9, Chinese T12 tips can be had for $3.

I have often wondered if the Chinese Ksger / Quicko STM32 stations are a better choice. There are some which come with a built in power supply, a grounded iron tip and you can buy a metal (Al  alloy / stainless steel) soldering iron (pencil) to use with them if the default plastic one is no good. Also, you can use Chinese T12 tips or even genuine Hakko ones with them.

However the TS100 is also a good choice and if you have already bought it, I would not sweat it at all.

[Psi]

A couple of friends got this china clone station that takes T12 hakko tips.
They are both very happy with it.
I used it for a short time and also found it pretty damn amazing for the price.
I'm sure the T12 tip that comes with it is not genuine hakko but in any case the tip worked pretty well.
I know one of them is still using the tip that came with it now (2 years later) without any problems.
Only annoying thing is it doesn't come with an iron stand, but you can buy those anywhere.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/138x88x38mm-Digital-Soldering-Iron-Station-Temperature-Controller-EU-Plug-Temperature-180-435-Degrees-T12-Handle/32692999653.html

[Shock]

I own a Pace ADS200 soldering station. For assembling guitar pedals you don't really need a lot of power unless you are soldering to the chassis or the back of potentiometers, but for guitar and amp repair/assembly a powerful iron comes in very handy (especially grounding guitar spring claws) which the ADS200 can handle.

The advantage of the Pace ADS200 is it's like two irons in one, you can use ultra fine tips to huge 8mm tips for the big jobs. This was one of the reasons I went for the ADS200 so I could eliminate the need to have a large iron sitting around just to be used occasionally.

If you are assembling multiple pedals or intend to go into even small scale manufacturing the ADS200 soldering iron is both ergonomic and stays cool in your hand by using an aluminum handle. It's design philosophy is similar to good effects pedals, simple to use and maximum robustness for longevity.

[adamskyyy]

I bought both TS100 and KSGER T12. TS100 will arrive soon but for T12 I have to wait 1,5 month. After receiving this items I will send You my short summary about this items. Thank You all once again for big help!