best soldering station for work on tube amps

[jimmy74]

from what I understand I'd be looking for a weller or hakko with the ceramic element type that would isolate the heater from any HV present inside tube amps.... is this correct? If so can anyone link me up to soldering stations that have this feature? All I can find are single soldering irons.

thanks
J.

[guittech]

Forgive my ignorance, but I've never worked on an amp while high voltage was PRESENT! always unplug and discharge the caps first, never saw anyone do differently.
?

[jimmy74]

Of course but it can happen that some components can be charged just enough to short the soldering iron.

[sluckey]

I've been using a Weller WTCPT for about 35 years. Simple, easy to use. I like the 800° conical tip for tube work.

http://www.amazon.com/WTCPT-Temperature ... ords=wtcpt

For heavy stuff like chassis soldering I use a Weller D650 or Weller 8200PKS gun.

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-D650-Indus ... dering+gun

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-8200PKS-12 ... dering+gun

[Aurora]

By today, I'd assume that all electronic soldering stations would have the tip isolated from it's supply, -BUT - they almost all have a separate grounding lug, to connect the tip to ground or a common work surface.
I'd say min 50W temp controlled, - the newer 80W series Wellers are good. The old 20-and 35W thingies are too small for effective work.

[John_P_WI]

Regardless, the amp should always be powered off and drained of voltage before any work is performed with ANY soldering iron.

Best? Best, is relative - at what price point are you looking at?

[jimmy74]

any price range is ok, it will be my main tool so reliability, spare parts availability and perfect functioning.... price isn't important

[tubesinside]

I see you are in Italy. This is one of my soldering stations (also have Oki/Metcal and Weller).

[http://www.ersa-shop.com/ersa-icon-nano ... p-364.html]

I find this station is very good. Have it 4 years and use it 9 hours/day. Very reliable and very fast to heat up. Plenty strong for turrets and eyelets (with the bigger bits). Small handpiece with silicone cable does not take from the power of this iron.
(No connection with Ersa)

[John_P_WI]

Ersa, JBC and Metcal are all fine instruments. I use the Metcal 5000 series as that is what I am familiar with from work where we have at least 20 stations between engineering, service and production.

What ever system you decide on, make sure that you can buy the appropriate sized chisel tip. It's all about surface contact to transfer the heat.

I almost use the Metcal STTC-136 chisel tip (2,5mm wide) exclusively as it is great for all "tube" sized components all the way down to 1/4 watt through hole pcb work.

Metcal also offers a 5mm wide chisel for heavy ground plane work along with any surface mount tip / accessory imaginable.

I'd suggest trolling ebay, it sure seems that soldering equipment doesn't hold it's retail value for long and it is possible to find great deals on Ersa, JBC and Metcal systems.