A few years back I invested in a Hozan HS-51. I've never used any other soldering station before so can't offer a comparison, but there are two things I LOVE about this unit, and absolutely nothing I dislike!
1. You can change the tips on the fly - quite literally hot-swappable! There is a pusher thingy that slides the tip out, and you can then pop the other tip in. Incredibly useful when you're soldering SMDs and then need to solder larger components to the board or do some cabling work. 2. The tips never die... I've used the same tips on all my projects since the "Model 1" in 2009 and they just don't wear down. I leave the thing on for hours at a time. It sleeps at 200 degrees and wakes instantly when needed. And even the lead-free soldering I trialed in the Model 1, with 420-450 degree temperatures, didn't wreck the tips in the least. http://www.hozan.co.jp/E/catalog/Soldering/HS51.html But I don't know if Hozan is very common outside Japan, where it sells for around US$230. Aaron -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/597519ba-79bd-456a-b605-58071801fb25%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
