Don’t Drink Wine Whilst Soldering
It seems pretty obvious once it’s been said, but you shouldn’t solder whilst drinking wine!
Sadly I found out the hard way, but it did make me finally upgrade my soldering iron. I was using an Antex ER30 which has an incredibly short cable. As I lifted it up the stupid cable got caught at the bottom of the desk and the iron slid out of my hand and I found myself holding the tip. To be honest, I think this would’ve happened with or without the wine, but the wine certainly helped afterwards.
Anyway, after this I started looking for a new iron and I was recommended either a Weller or Hakko. The Hakko’s were more in my price range but nobody bloody seems to sell them in Europe. That would be a good business importing them if you need a business idea. You can import them easily enough from China on eBay, but there are so many fakes I thought it wasn’t the risk (buy cheap buy twice) So I ended up looking for a Weller Iron; the WHS40 analogue model;
The digital model lets you set the temperature more precisely, but the analogue model seemed good enough for my needs. Soldering with this thing, suddenly I found all my solder work looking amazing. Like somebody that knows what they’re doing (which isn’t me). It really is a step up from the cheaper Antex and if you’re looking for a new soldering iron I can recommend the Weller. A number of reviews complained about the tip sticking into place, but I always loosen it and re-tighten it before turning it on and haven’t had a problem in the two years I’ve now owned it.
If you’re broke, here’s a link to the Antex ER30, which although it nearly cost me the use of my hand, it’s still better than the super-cheap no name brand irons available (just watch the short cable though;
