X-Tronic Model #3010 Variable Power 70 Watt Soldering Iron Station with Solder Roll Holder, Extra Heating Element, Wet Sponge & Brass Soldering Tip Cleaner with Supply of Cleaning Flux

For the price range this station is tops! Plenty of power for beginners or more experienced tinkerers. For everything it comes with it is a great value. I was wanting to buy a good soldering station for someone like myself who is just starting out but that will last for quite a while. After looking at several different ones I decided this was the best one for my buck. It was sold out when I first saw it so when I noticed it was back in stock I had to order it. I've used it to remove parts from a Gamecube controller to fix another one and it works amazingly well. It arrived on time and well packaged. I am quite satisfied with this product and I recommend anyone looking to buy a soldering station to check this one out!

If you need a low-cost but still quality soldering station, look no further. The inclusion of a solder spool holder and brass wool for tip maintenance help set it apart from the competition in this price range. Iron gets up to temperature as described and in a reasonable period of time. The spool holder is perfect for standard one pound spools, but will hold smaller ones as long as they aren't too wide in circumference as well.For higher-end users, you'll find a few minor things lacking;1. There is no temperature increments marked around the dial, so you'll need to use it for a while to figure out the butter zone for what you're doing.2. The sponge is also small and utilitarian, and even when wet, the edges are recessed in the station, so you'll be knocking the iron into the plastic a bit.3. Assembly of the spool holder is a bit difficult as the outside upright blocks most screwdrivers; you'll want a long, skinny driver to be able to fit through the holds on the outside upright; this is a minor, one-time inconvenience if you're going to use it.4. You may also need to bend the uprights inward a bit, as the rod that goes through the spool is only just long enough to sit there and isn't attached by anything beyond gravity; finger/hand strength will be enough to make the slight bend needed.And I would be remiss to not mention the customer service. Mine was missing the coil iron holder part of the station out of the box. Upon emailing X-Tronic about the problem, a service worked responded to me in less than one hour and apologized; they shipped me a replacement part the very next morning, Priority Mail, at no charge, and I got it less than 72 hours after originally opening the packaging the first time. Excellent job by X-Tronic.All in all, a great little station that has everything hobbyists will need, and can work for a number of professionals too. It has a few warts, but they're all minor and don't detract from the package too much. For under $40, you can't go wrong here.

I am not an electrician. I honestly hate electrons and all things hidden inside wires. I am, however, a motorcycle nut, shade-tree mechanic, and home-owner, which makes me need to keep all the smoke INSIDE the wires. This is a very good beginner soldering iron. The temperature thing works good (as far as I know) but I usually keep it close to high. The cord that goes from the base to the iron is very flexible, improving ease of use. There is nothing worse than getting tangled up in a stiff cord while you have a hot iron in your hands! The sponge works good and the little brass dealy is nice for cleaning the tip. If you are just getting started playing with wires and stuff, this is a great set that will take you to the next level.

Basically you get what you pay for. This setup might work fine for a casual user. Someone who solders once in a while. I build models and solder all the time (almost every day), so this product just wasn't practical. My biggest complaint - it takes forever to get up to temperature. It takes at least 10 minutes to get to medium-high. Another issue I had was that the tip fell out of the iron while it was in the stand (heating up). It could have burned my entire garage to the ground. The tip is only held in place in the heating element by a set screw. If the set screw becomes loose (which mine did) the tip falls out. This is a poor design. If the tip fell out when the iron was at high temp it could have also burned me pretty badly.My tip only lasted about 2 months, and I was careful to clean it and tin it on a regular basis. You can buy extra tips from the manufacturer's website and they do ship fast, so that's good.Overall it's a basic setup if you don't want to spend twice as much on a Weller or Hakko station, but the tip issue did it for me and I retired this thing.

The media could not be loaded. This is the first video review I've ever done so please bare with me :D. I got this little beast because my small weller junked out on me(caught on fire) after only a year. With this said, I decided to buy a different brand and wound up with the 3010. Its light weight with a polymer construction but is very solid and even has a built in metal pan to hold wet sponge so you don't melt anything. One of the best parts about buying this unit vs going back to a weller was that it came with a brass sponge built into the unit with a surprise of rosin flux underneath of the sponge! Wasn't advertised and I was extremely happy. The unit looks real sleek and works from 390 degrees to 900 degrees. Seems that all of the x-tronics soldering stations have a solder role holder so it was nice that they designed this unit to hold one unlike the smoked up weller. I use this for general purpose all around the house from garage type "events" as the wife likes to call them, to replacing a capacitor in my old guitar amp. Couldn't be happier with this unit, it has every function and accessory you need besides your favorite brand of solder. For the price you just cant beat it! Highly recommend this guy!Update: 8/29/14Just a quick update to say that I have been soldering everything with this unit. I solder all my bread board electronics with ease! Ill send another update soon.