Hello everybody.

I am thinking of buying soldering gun - mobile one.
At home I have big station with temperature setting, but as a freelancer I need something mobile.
I will be using it for typical audio jobs, cable, connectors, etc...

What would be your choice?
I'm after some guns from Mapplin, but don't really know what wattage?? (12W, 15W, 18W, 25W)

I'd appreciate any help.

Regards,

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www.myspace.com/biczmusic

At those sorts of powers I would guess that you are talking about a conventional soldering iron rather than one of those big unwieldy fast heating guns that used to be popular. Personally I would go for one of the Weller TCP Magnastat 60W irons that are temperature controlled. The choice of tip controls the temperature. Smaller irons never seem to have enough heat capacity for jobs like soldering cable screens to large connectors.

If you don't want to go to the expense of a Weller TCP then I would say 25W is a minimum power for general use. Smaller irons are strictly for very fine PCB work.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Quote James Perrett:

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(..)Personally I would go for one of the Weller TCP Magnastat 60W irons that are temperature controlled. The choice of tip controls the temperature.(..)

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Seconded!

Cheers,
Frank

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Imagination is more important than knowledge - A. Einstein

I totally agree. Maganastat iron.

I hoiked one about as field service tech for 20 odd years. By the time you have got the tea/coffee ordered (and thus the customer out of the way!) they are ready to rock n roll.

You do not, btw need to buy the whole station. Yes the pencil alone is about 70quid but you can then run that on any ~50va traff you have handy, sec' volts need to be nom' 24 but 10% either way would not hurt. I bet you could run one off a 18-24V line lump SMPSU? DC I know but I can't see that being a problem.

You will need two basic tips. Long "screwdriver" #8 for almost everything and a chunky (5mm?) #9 for serious chassis and heavy Pbfree work. If you have very fine work to do, like the accursed SM, get a very fine conical #8 as well.

Dave.

Don't buy anything from Maplins.. They're a joke

Quote _ Six _:

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Don't buy anything from Maplins.. They're a joke

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While they're a mere shadow on the company they used to be I wouldn't go that far. If you know what you want then they are still useful, albeit a bit pricey.

I have a shop just 5 minutes walk from my house and I have found them very useful. It helps, that they've got a chronologically challenged (tm) guy there who's very knowledgeable.

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It wasn't me!
(Well, actually, it probably was)

Quote _ Six _:

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Don't buy anything from Maplins.. They're a joke

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They certainly stand watching! But like Bellringers, you have to pick your product!

I have a "Precision Gold" solder station from them, 35quid and it is still going strong 3 years later. The exact same sstation is advertized by cpc/farnell.com at about the same price and they have a good name.

Dave.

Well I still shop at mine (5 mins in car) But I was well and truly hissed off with them a week or so ago.
I needed an XLR4 female plug and yes, there it was on the website so clutching the pt# off I zoomed. Could not see it on the rack so asked at "components" hackerty-hack, "Discontinued sir"...
WTF! How can a company with any pretentions to being an electronics component supplier NOT stock what is probably the second most common XLR connector in the world?

I have cancelled my online subscription and the mailouts and told Sales such and the reason why in no uncertain terms. I have also told them that I shall not buy from Maplin again unless they reconsider this daft stocking policy (I shall still get bits from the local store but I shall not give name and address etc. I have told the store manager this and why and he agrees that they are out of their tree "up there"!)

Dave.

Quote ef37a:

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Quote _ Six _:

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Don't buy anything from Maplins.. They're a joke

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I have a "Precision Gold" solder station from them, 35quid and it is still going strong 3 years later. The exact same sstation is advertized by cpc/farnell.com at about the same price and they have a good name.

Dave.

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I have one of those! Did you manage to find new tips for it? Mine came with a conical tip and isn't very good for smaller joints so I hardly use it.

I've seen a picture of a board with some absolutely shocking soldering direct from the factory. Mine is okay but I'm not sure I trust the brand or manufacturer.

Quote ef37a:

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I totally agree. Maganastat iron.

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You do not, btw need to buy the whole station.

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You don't have to buy anything extra at all if you get the mains voltage version. The handle may be a bit bulkier than the low voltage version but I don't find that a problem.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Whats a good starter set for home - PCB component replacements etc?

Sorry to crash this thread...

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Quote Chaconne:

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Whats a good starter set for home - PCB component replacements etc?

Sorry to crash this thread...

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What do you want to do? Build small circuits, pedals and such? Make up cables?

For projects you will need a solder station as descibed but then MOST importantly a decent digital multimeter. Spend £30 or more if you can, autoranging is a boon and frequency readout very handy too (might want to build a test audio oscillator). At least 1/2 doz 300mm croc-croc leads. A second, can be very cheap, meter is invaluable.

Next some low power, 1/4,1/2, 1W resistors. You can buy "E12" kits but I would just grab a lucky bag from Maps..DO check the values tho' on your shiny new DMM! Same for capacitors, electrolytics and foil/ceramics. Active devices buy as you need them for a specific project but if using ICs (you only need two audio types, TL072 and NE5532) buy some 8pin holders. Oh! and a sq'ft of 12mm MDF to build on.

For cables, meter, iron and heatshrink and silicone sleeving plus a small swivel table vice. Get a meter with a "beep"...
Swearbox to fund the next project.

Dave.

If you're starting from nothing you could look at CPC's range of toolkits. There's one for around £70 quid plus VAT which includes a basic meter, soldering iron plus accessories and just about everything else you could need in a smart looking case. I bought some of these kits for field use and found that the tools may not be the best quality but they're usable.

Personally I would replace the soldering iron with a Weller but then that would double the price.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Everything Dave says, but I would add a pair of side cutters for trimming component legs once you've soldered them, a flux pen can make it a lot easier to remove old components as can solder wick and/or a solder pump.

A good halfway house between CPC/Farnell and Maplins are places like Bitsbox who supply hobbyists. Great value, they even have their own Pound Shop section. They have 15 8pin sockets for a pound, 10 of the crocodile clip leads Dave mentioned for £2.35, decade resistor kits, both op amps mentioned, and all for a small one off postage charge. I can recommend them and have used them a few times recently. I'm already planning my next order

Andy

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When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro.

Quote zenguitar:

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Everything Dave says, but I would add a pair of side cutters for trimming component legs once you've soldered them, a flux pen can make it a lot easier to remove old components as can solder wick and/or a solder pump.

A good halfway house between CPC/Farnell and Maplins are places like Bitsbox who supply hobbyists. Great value, they even have their own Pound Shop section. They have 15 8pin sockets for a pound, 10 of the crocodile clip leads Dave mentioned for £2.35, decade resistor kits, both op amps mentioned, and all for a small one off postage charge. I can recommend them and have used them a few times recently. I'm already planning my next order

Andy

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Nice one Andy.
That LM386 1W amp kit is ideal for beginners. Maplin do a version but it is a fiver and you don't get a speaker etc. The amp also makes a splendid guitar headphone amp if you run it off 2x AA.

Dave.

Hi fellow UK DIYers!

When you only want a few pounds worth of components you don't want to end up paying more for postage than for your goods. So, as we're talking about value for money stockists of electronic components, let me put in a plug for the ones I've used recently.

3. Doctor Tweek may not be the absolute cheapest around, but only charge £1.80 postage, are very quick, friendly and helpful, and have a reasonable range, particularly for the stomp box enthusiast in search of parts: www.doctortweek.co.uk

2. I'd put Andy's Bitsbox next (postage from £1.75), and then Spiratronics, whose range is a little limited but does include some more unusual items, and low postage charges of £1.49: http://spiratronics.com

1. In pole position I'd put Brimal, who have a significantly larger range than the others here, even keener pricing, and whose postage is the lowest I've found to date, starting at just £1.20: www.brimal.co.uk


Martin

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YewTreeMagic

Cheers for that Martin.

As it happens I recently got some parts from the Spiratronics Ebay shop and found them good value and very quick too. No complaints there.

Very useful to get the Doctor T Week link too, the last link I found here was dead and when I searched I didn't find anything useful. I see he has some very good prices on enclosures too, which is very handy when the enclosure alone usually costs far more than the rest of the parts put together.

And Brimal are safely added to my electronics links now, excellent find Martin

I've been too much time looking at guitar FX pedal schematics and references recently. Small Bear have a range of these light plates that fit between the enclosure and it's base. I've known about them for a while, but the range is getting bigger and they are very tempting. So many cool things you can do with them too. Once funds allow I'm tempted to design a little pcb to hold an Atmel AT Tiny or similar with a regulator so that I could use bi-colour/RGB LEDs with the plates. Changing the colour of the light when the effect is switched on and/or changing the colour in time with the rate of a phaser, that sort of thing. Using SMT parts it could be really tiny and easy to hot glue to one of those plates.

D@mn!! It's got me thinking again !!

Andy

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When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro.

Also look at Rapid Electronics. They used to be my supplier of choice, back when I was doing more homebrew electronics.

Hi grab!

I use Rapid for my larger orders, as they have an exceptionally large range and very keen prices. However, I didn't include them in my above list because they are just too expensive for small off-the-cuff orders.

Orders over £35 (excluding VAT) get free carriage (hooray!) but below this Rapid have a £4.95 postage charge


Martin

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YewTreeMagic

Quote zenguitar:

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Cheers for that Martin.

As it happens I recently got some parts from the Spiratronics Ebay shop and found them good value and very quick too. No complaints there.

Very useful to get the Doctor T Week link too, the last link I found here was dead and when I searched I didn't find anything useful. I see he has some very good prices on enclosures too, which is very handy when the enclosure alone usually costs far more than the rest of the parts put together.

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Hi Andy,

Stephen Kirkby (Doctor Tweek himself) is very helpful, and personally checks each order carefully before posting it - when I got a load of knobs with grub-screw fixings from him he noted on the order from that he'd checked each one to make sure the screw was in place

Quote:

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I've been too much time looking at guitar FX pedal schematics and references recently. Small Bear have a range of these light plates that fit between the enclosure and it's base. I've known about them for a while, but the range is getting bigger and they are very tempting.

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I've drooled over the Small Bear range on many occasions (one of the largest selections of pot knobs and pre-painted enclosures I've ever seen), but haven't plucked up enough courage to order components from the US yet - have you taken the plunge yet, and if so how did you get on?


Martin

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YewTreeMagic

At work I have the reverse problem - large quantities of old stock much of it obsolete (anyone want a dozen 709s?) because at the time, only one was wanted but we - or our predecessors - had to buy a bunch of them

I'm loathe to throw them out, but I can't hide this stuff forever!

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It wasn't me!
(Well, actually, it probably was)

Quote Martin Walker:

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I've drooled over the Small Bear range on many occasions (one of the largest selections of pot knobs and pre-painted enclosures I've ever seen), but haven't plucked up enough courage to order components from the US yet - have you taken the plunge yet, and if so how did you get on?

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As a fellow drooler I've yet to order from Small Bear, although those light plates and wah inductor kits/pedal cases are very tempting. If I could afford a big order I'd stock up like a shot, but as it is I have to search out what I can afford in the UK or from China on ebay. The postage is a killer from the US (I know that from order guitar parts/tools/materials) and when you make a big enough order to justify the shipping costs you can pretty much guarantee that you are going to be hit with Duty and VAT when it arrives in the UK too. I've just got some Nokia 5110 displays on breakout boards from China, in the UK I can get them for £7.50 each + £1.50 postage, I got 5 of them from China for just under £10 including shipping, and at that price it's just not cost effective for Customs and Excise to do the paperwork.

Guess I'll just have to keep buying lottery tickets

Andy

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When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro.

Thanks for the info Andy - largely as expected then.

I've ordered several batches of one or two CDs from the US (direct from the musicians), and they normally arrive within a week and with no interference from HM Customs & Excise, but I suspect as you say that a more sizeable order would attract their attention and duty.


Martin

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YewTreeMagic