Hi I was wondering what experience everyone has had with good and bad soldering irons. I dont like the radio shack ones because the tip dies so quickly. I still have my goot soldering iron I was given while attending DeVry. The tip still is in very good shape. So while diving into my hobby once again, I was debating on whether to get an another pencil iron or maybe get a solder station with regulating heat........not sure yet. I do like my blue point gun iron, but I think its too hot (cant leave trigger on too long, tip will glow red). The reason I like it is because I can grab it, hit trigger and I have almost instant heat, and then when I am done, I let go and it cools, thereby reducing the risk of a soldering iron being knocked over or left on. I also am gonna go with peters solder sucker idea....I have used the radio shack one and I just dont think its all that good..........there has to be better ones.

Most pencil irons usually have poor recovery so when you work on the old radios they are barely able to melt the solder. Weller company makes several good temperature contolled irons. They have interchangalble tips so you can use the small tips on solid state components and the large ones on chasis ground points. Check MCM electronics at mcmonline.com. They also have a TENAA model 21-1590 that I have which works ok (I prefer my Weller). You will imeadiatly know the difference when you get a quality iron. Soldering will be easier and the quality of your joints will improve.
MRO