Recommended Soldering Kit & Tutorials

I originally wrote this article for my website, but decided to post it on FliteTest too. See its original posting location here: 

http://electricrcaircraftguy.blogspot.com/2014/08/recommended-soldering-kit.html.  As I make changes or improvements to the information, I will keep the most up-to-date version of the article on my website, so you might want to just click the link above and read it from there in the first place.  Up to you!

 For additional articles on Radio Control, propeller thrust, electronics, Arduino, etc, see my main website here: http://electricrcaircraftguy.blogspot.com/.

Before I begin this article, I would like to say that I know there are *many* soldering irons and products to choose from today, and this is NOT meant to be a comprehensive list, nor does it necessarily contain "the best" products, since that claim is highly subjective, and it is not practical nor possible to try to test or own all soldering equipment.  Rather, this article contains a brief list of products that I am familiar with, items which for the most part I have used or currently own, and items which are a great value.  In other words, if you have differing opinions from me, that's perfectly fine, but if you are new to this arena, I hope this list is a good reference to at least get you started in the hobby.

Recommended Soldering Kit:

• Soldering Iron
• For General Electronics Work (ex: circuit boards, headers, through-hole & surface mount soldering, etc):
1. (Economical) - http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062728, 15-Watt Soldering Iron with Grounded Tip, $12.99, works GREAT for electronics, such as soldering headers to stuff for Arduino. This is a good beginner iron. I used one for a long time; worked nicely!
1. While you’re in the store, buy an extra tip for this iron too, and be sure to use a dry brass cleaning sponge to prolong tip life.
2. (A little nicer) - https://www.adafruit.com/products/180 - Adjustable 30W 110V soldering iron, $22. Great beginner iron.
3. (Very nice) - 70W Digital Genuine Hakko FX-888D (936 upgrade) – I have one of these, and I love it!

1. $110 here - https://www.adafruit.com/product/1204
2. $92 with FREE CHP170 flush cutters, here - http://www.amazon.com/Digital-FX888D-CHP170-bundle-cutter/dp/B00AWUFVY8
3. Ultra-fine tip for surface-mount soldering - the medium, flat-head "screwdriver"-like tip that comes on the Hakko FX-888D works great for regular through-hole soldering, but when ultra-fine work is required, you might try the Hakko T18-S4 conical sharp tip, found here on Adafruit for $10, or here on Amazon for $10.
4. 
• For Radio Control (ex: heavy-duty battery plugs & connectors, large-gauge wire, landing gear, etc):
1. FOR THIS APPLICATION I RECOMMEND A 60W, ***UNREGULATED*** IRON!!!  I can't stress this enough.  Even the 70W Hakko above, or a $350+ professional 85W Weller soldering station (based on my several wasted hours of repeated personal experience) will not do the job here when soldering a multiple-large-gauge-wire connection.  For this application, we need raw, unregulated heat & power, with a heavy, large-diameter tip to allow a high heat transfer rate.  So, only something as high quality and solid as an $8 Hobbico iron will do the trick! (Yes, seriously. :) Tell your associates to "go shove it" when they tell you to use the "higher quality" Weller station :) [just kidding...kind of]).  PS.  Finding a soldering iron > 30W locally is nearly impossible in my experience.  You'll probably have to go online.  Here's what I use:
2. 
1. Hobbico 60W soldering iron, from TowerHobbies, $8 - when one of the above irons doesn't cut it, this one will.  Prior to getting into electronics (like Arduino), this was my only soldering iron for several years.  I used it on wire from ~30AWG in size (very small) up to ~8AWG in size (very large).  It did the job.  I've also never changed the tip on it yet.  Due to using a wet sponge to clean its tip for a long time, it looked like a mutilated nub. (To prevent/minimize tip wear and tear in the future, use a dry brass sponge as described down below).  Despite the tip being severely dissolved, however, it was still well-tinned and worked fine. See some of its handy work here. I recently used a Dremel tool, cutting wheel, polishing wheel, and file to cut this tip back into a nice shape.  
3. FYI: For lighter RC work and plugs, a generic 30W iron (or one of the irons above, including the Hakko), purchased locally or wherever, will work.  When you get to very large connectors or bundles of wires, however, you will find the heat from a 30W iron (or even a 70W or 85W professional soldering station) is often-times insufficient to allow the solder to properly flow.  Again, this is where the $8 60W unregulated iron is needed.
• Soldering Stand 
1. Note: these stands come with a sponge meant to be used wet, with water, to clean your soldering iron tip. However, to prolong tip life, use the dry brass sponge (listed below) to clean your iron’s tip instead.
2. 
3. Examples:

1. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062740, $10 - Soldering Iron Holder and Cleaner. I have this one; pretty basic but works great! 
2. Configurable Soldering iron Holder With dual Cleaner, $17 - a nice, heavy-duty soldering stand from Amazon, with brass sponge & solder roll holder - great value.  I have used this stand and it works great.  Highly recommended, and since it comes with the brass sponge you don't need to buy one separate.
3. Or a soldering iron stand from Hobbyking, $3.18 + ~$5 shipping or so.
• Brass Sponge
1. The brass sponge does NOT require water to clean the tip, thereby minimizing tip heating/cooling cycles (thermal stress), and prolonging tip life (source). Get one for sure.

1. Ebay search for “soldering iron tip cleaner”, with “Buy It Now” filter selected, and sorted by price – find a brass sponge here for as little as $3.49 w/FREE shipping. I have one; works great!
2. Hakko Brass Sponge Solder Tip Cleaner, from Adafruit, $10.95
• Solder
1. WARNING: the 60/40 on the solder means 60% Lead/40% Tin. If you are pregnant or nursing, I recommend you use lead-free solder instead, which is a little more expensive, has a higher melting temperature, and is a touch harder to use.
2. For General Electronics Work (ex: circuit boards, headers, through-hole & surface mount soldering, etc):
1. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062715 – Rosin core, 60/40, 0.032” diameter, 8 oz (1/2 lb), $14.49, BUY 1 for sure.  I have used this gauge of solder (0.032") to solder anything from general-purpose wires and 2.54mm-spaced headers & through-hole electronics all the way down to 0.5mm-spaced legs on an SSOP surface-mount package.  A skilled hand can use it to solder even smaller legs to a circuit board.  It's great for general-purpose RC use too, though the larger solder below is easier to use on large connectors, since you have to feed less length of it to get the desired amount.
3. For Radio Control (ex: heavy-duty battery plugs & connectors, large-gauge wire, landing gear, etc):
1. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062713 - Rosin core, 60/40, 0.062” diameter, 8 oz (1/2 lb), $14.49.  For larger-gauge applications, I like this 0.062" diameter 60/40 rosin-core solder instead.  The larger diameter means you have to feed less length of it into the solder joint.  I have used this large gauge solder on anything from 30AWG (very small) ultra-light servo or micro motor wires, all the way up to 8AWG (very large) motor wires, though of course you can use it on larger wires too.  It's great for general-purpose Radio Control vehicle connectors.  This solder wire, however, is too big for general purpose circuit-board or electronics use, such as soldering Arduino components.  For small wires (smaller than ~20 AWG), you'll find that you waste more of this solder too, so you might consider buying one of this size and one of the size above.
• Helping Hands

1. http://www.harborfreight.com/helping-hands-60501.html, $3 each – BUY 2, you’ll need them.  You might even want 3 since they are so useful.
• Desoldering Tools--the erasers of electronics work (also available at Radio Shack, Amazon, Adafruit.com, etc)
1. Sometimes you make mistakes. This is how you undo them.
2. Solder sucker from Adafruit, $5
3. Ebay search for “solder vacuum” – I got one for just under $3 here (w/FREE shipping) and it works great!
4. Ebay search for “desolder braid” - http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&LH_BIN=1&_nkw=desolder+braid&_sop=15 – I got some 2mm wide stuff from Radio Shack that works fine, but it’s here on Ebay for < $1.
• Extras
1. You’ll also need a few basic tools like pliers, wire cutters, wire strippers, etc.  Grab these from your local hardware store, or your favorite online retailer. Note: basic wire strippers are probably cheapest from your local hardware store, though here's a pair on Adafruit ($12) and here's a pair on HobbyKing (~$3 + ~$5 shipping).  Note that these basic wire strippers usually come in two sizes: small (for 20~30 AWG wires) and large (for 8~22 AWG wires).  Choose what meets your specific needs.
2. If you are looking for a really nice set of automatic wire strippers, I *highly* recommend these; they work great!
1. Irwin Industrial Tools 2078300 8-Inch Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper with ProTouch Grips, $20, - http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industrial-Tools-2078300-Self-Adjusting/dp/B000OQ21CA
3. For a nice, economical set of flush cutters, I recommend these: 
1. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FZPDG1K - Hakko CHP-170 Micro Clean Cutter, 16 Gauge Maximum Cutting Capacity, $4.37
4. Multimeter: great for any electronics work – 

• (nice, yet economical one) - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J40T3U, Sinometer Auto-Ranging Digital Multimeter, MY68, $30; I have this one; works great!  I've briefly compared it to a $130+ Amprobe and Fluke multimeter, and it performs similarly.  
• (ultra economical) - http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=multimeter - 7 Function Digital Multimeter from Harbor Freight – often-times available for < $5, or even for FREE at times, with coupons from the mail or in-store. For being $5, these things work great. I have several of them. However, they are definitely not as reliable as the nicer $30 meter above, which is *far* superior.
1. Electro-static-discharge (ESD)-safe tweezers - great for holding and positioning your very fine components onto a PCB (Printed Circuit Board)
1. $4 on Adafruit - curved or straight variety
2. or <$3 each on Ebay

Recommended Soldering Tutorials:

 Beginner:

1. Adafruit's "Adafruit Guide to Excellent Soldering"
2. Sparkfun's "How to Solder - Through-hole Soldering"

Intermediate:

1. How to create "solder tracks"/"solder traces" on a prototyping board (see Step 32 of this instructable here [see photo to the right; the order of the process is from bottom to top in the picture]).  Also see steps 34-41 for additional pictures of solder tracks on protoboard. (ex: Step 35, Step 36).

Advanced:

1. Adafruit's "SMT Manufacturing"; Note: SMT means "Surface Mount Technology"
2. Sparkfun's "Reflow Skillet"