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Soldering iron for wires/connectors and soldering pot - worth of it?

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PekkaNF:
I had probably best part of 30 years of Weller magnastat and I was happy with it.

Then I updated it to Hakko FX-888 and pretty happy with that one too.

But I'm strugling when tinning thick wires, solder lugs and some connectors that have more mass to sink the small soldering iron.

Any advice on choosing a cheap but higher power iton for wiring? Will bigger mass and 80-100W do or do I need more power?

Long ago when I was trainee and we had to do sometimes some internal wiring and there was a small solder pot for tinning wires. Handy, but ridiculously expensive.

Today I googled solder pots and there seem to be plenty and they are either very cheap ot pretty expensive. Quality varies a lot obiviously. Are those chinese any good (the very small ones)?

Pekka

awemawson:
I'm still using Weller Magnastat irons - I have one or two so am unlikely to change now. I've also got the Weller de-soldering set up using the same irons.

As they have 50 watt elements it's rare not to have enough oomph, and  yet there is a plethora of tip sizes  and temperatures to choose from. I reckon they're pretty good !

vintageandclassicrepairs:
Hi Pekka,
80 or 100 watt irons will solder fairly heavy cable/ lugs
I have been using a Chinese solder pot for the last few years to make motorcycle control cables mostly
Go for one with a stainless steel pot, at less than €20 delivered you cannot go wrong

John

PK:
Solder pots come in handy for other things too. Like desoldering high pin count connectors. You just float the board on the solder and lift the sucker out...  As others have said, they're so cheap that it's hard to justify not having one..One warning, the cheap ones have power controllers, not temperature controllers.

Two tips (no pun intended) for soldering big things. 
1: You are correct, a 100-150W, large mass, iron is what you want.
2: Preheating to 80 ish degrees C  with an oven or hot air gun makes more difference than you think it will.

PK

PekkaNF:
Thank you.

I'll buy soldering iron locally. Aim for big tip, good connection to heater and enough of power.

Not sure if I really need that solder pot, but at those prices can't loose much. Anyone of them bit better than others?

Preheating makes sense.

All good, info. Thank you.

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