Weller SP80NUS 80-Watts LED Soldering Iron

First one went belly up after 2 uses, but they replaced it super quick -no hassle. Second one works really great (used a lot). No way to control the temperature on the unit itself, so you’ll need to plug it into a regulator of some sort. The heat will spike and ebb, but it’s easy to get used to the flow of how it heats. I haven’t had any issues. It gets hot enough the easily melt lead came if you’re not incredibly careful but works wonderfully for copper foil work. I’ll eventually upgrade but for a novice stained glass artist it does the job.

This is a fantastic iron FOR THE MONEY, a steal for under $20. Most soldering stations with replaceable tips have rather small tips, while they have precise temperature control and a fast heat-up time, they are too small for large connectors. See an image comparing it to a T12 iron tip. This iron fills that gap if you need to solder heat sinks, connectors, larger wires or copper plates. It heats up in about 2-3 minutes and remains hot (as you can solder with that) for over a minute after unplugging. I measured the power to be 74 Watts. There's no temperature control and the iron overheats for tin-based solders. The high temperature will also deteriorate the copper tip. If you want to use it for more than a couple of times, you will want to add some type of power controller, as dimmer, or simply a diode in series. I recently had a wall dimmer breaking (plastic in the switch cracked) and I repurposed the dimmer circuit for controlling the power to this iron. I put everything in a small plastic box, added a plug and this contraption works great. A diode in series with a switch to short-circuit the diode will work reasonably well too. The AC wire insulation is not silicone and will melt if touched by the iron. The good thing is that the wire is relatively thin, but it could have been more flexible. Overall it's a comfortable iron, the handle does not get hot, the LEDs are not that useful in a reasonably well illuminated are, but don't hurt. Great value!

Ordered a high wattage version of the same low priced soldering irons I have been using for years because I was soldiering to thick copper heatsinks and needed some serious heat to make a solder joint quickly enough to not melt the components. It does work. It does exactly what it is supposed to do, get hot, stay hot. I did take one star off because it is just so unwieldy. The tips are the size of the fat pencils they give you in kindergarten. After this I ordered a soldering station capable of supplying this kind of heat when I need it through a tip small enough I can put it where I want it. If you're going to buy this and then buy a smaller iron for smaller jobs you're already half way to the price of a good soldering station, save money and frustration over the long haul and invest in one.

Against advise (too big) I got this for some pretty small solder points building a couple drones...glad I did. The added heat over a 40 watt lets you get in, apply solder, and get out. Even using the higher heat of silver-solder was no problem. Leads on BECs, plug connectors, ESC wires. The chisel tip is large and limits some work, you will still need a pointed 40 watt to work close to circuit components...but loving this 80 watter for 95% of the soldering I need to do. Bonus tip: Pair with the "Choice Rheostat Soldering Iron Temperature Controller" (I got mine here on Amazon from completeauctionservice). The 80 watt Iron heats quickly, and can get too hot for small projects and lead-tin solder. The Rheostat gives me a full range of control from hot but touchable, to full on 900 degree. They work great together.

I have soldering irons and stations from Hakko, Weller, Radio Shack, Ungar, and this iron gets the job done when all the others fail. I also own the Hakko 200 watt iron and of the two, I reach for this one more often because the tip is smaller and easier to get into the work space. Grip stays cool. I build drones and all the electronic speed controls and battery packs have to be soldered to a central bus. One model uses solid copper plates 1/4 inch thick and about an inch in diameter. Around the perimeter there are 12 holes to insert 10-12 AWG wire into and it acts like a killer heat sink. My Hakko station was sucked cold and in the past I'd actually use two irons to pull off the job. It took a long time to get the heat into copper and flow the solder. The Weller literally turned this nightmare into a simple task. Can't live without it.

I bought this soldering iron for a jewelry class I was taking. On the description it said some of it's uses was for jewelry making, and stained glass. My class involved making jewelry with a stained glass method. This iron was so terrible that it had to be tinned 5 times in 1 hour. It wouldn't hold the solder. It got way to hot! So hot that it kept turning the tip and base black. Some of the other students noticed that my iron was smoking while their Weller's (which was a different model) were not. The rest of the class was almost finished with their project while I had to end up borrowing the teacher's 100W Weller. I was MISERABLE and FRUSTRATED! The teacher told me to return the iron. She said she had never seen an iron that had to be tinned so much. This iron had a 2 prong plug...my teacher said the soldering irons with 3 prongs control the heat better. She wasn't familiar with this type of iron, being that it had a ceramic heating element. This hasn't turned me off from the Weller brand, but it has turned me against this model. 5 of the 6 people in this class had a 100W Weller which they had no problems with at all.

I did not realize how poorly my old soldering iron worked until I got this one. It was the highest wattage one I could find and it is very hot. Conducts heat to anything I have soldered instantly. Since there is no control over the temp, it took a little getting used to, but once I adjusted it is easy to use. A smaller wattage unit would work better on small electronics but if you ever solder large wires this one will get the job done quick.

I bought that Hakko blue and yellow cool looking soldering with a digital regulator etc etc. Long story short its max heat is 899 so I set it to that, and it couldn't even handle Amazon basics 16 gauge speaker wire. It was just terrible, the solder was dry no matter how long I held it there and all. So It's safe to say I think that one is for super light work like hobby toys. I ordered this Weller, and I like it. The cord is soft and flexible, the iron its self is not that larger fits well in the hand and I use to for thicker wires. Its not being used for commercial work, just home use. The tip is rather wire pick up a wood 2B pencil, well its about that thick. Other than that for teh price and for using it once in a while, I can't complain. The LED's are cool too, great for working in darker areas.

Está buena la construcción del cautin. No me sirvió porque calienta demasiado y quema la soldadura 60 estaño 40 plomo. :( probaré un cautin que regule temperatura.

Ça chauffe et Ça va bien pour souder plastique de Vtt , attention très chaud

This is a heavy duty version of the spg-80 I think as it takes the same tips. It seems to last longer and I dig the light. That is saying a lot as I am hard on these things! Gets good and hot….o do wish I could buy the replacement tips when ordering

Excelente producto calidad y precio

Il trouve rapidement sa chaleur, les faisceaux lumineux sont pratiques pour indiquer qu'il est branché et pour réaliser la tâche, il se tient bien (bien balancé), l'embout semble solide pour une bonne période, mais il chauffe trop pour réaliser du vitrail efficacement.