I having been mulling over the question myself. The cheapo one I have now is realistically unusable for anything past the roughest job, if it even has the heating watts to do it.
I was looking at a Hakko FX888D personally, well regarded.
Here's a link for info, you'd prob want a local supplier or amazon (beware of fake ones on ebay, they are priced like good deals and not dirt cheap so it's plausable).
http://www.svs.ie/index.php?route=product/product&path=100_138&product_id=91
The Metal PS-900 might not look like much, but it heats up realy quickly and is nice to use.
The Weller WES51 is cheaper and has more wistles (temperature knob), but who needs that, right?
Just bought a HAKKO FX888D , real nice. Heats up to 380 C in 15 seconds and I love the separate iron holder to place where I like it. Can program your favorite temps into it too Theres a lot of clones out there and I did not what to risk it so got one from a registered shop. What ever you get, make sure to get any other tips needed because the supplied tip is not always the one you will use.
I did a ton of research and apart from the Swedish National colors, it's a really nice small footprint unit
I've had very good luck with my Hakko. Could you get an adapter to give it a European plug? I only say that because (at least in the states) the digital Hakko iron costs the same as the analog Weller iron.
I have a Hakko FX888D as well. Heats up fast, plenty of tip options, comes with pretty much everything you need to start other than solder, and overall just works very well.
From what I understand you can get them from Dancap in the UK.
I think you are not searching in the right direction ... even those chinese stations are good enough for non professional use.
Buy some good soldering paste ( flux ) ( which you should use always it helps distribute the energy more evenly that's why it makes a better joint ), find good solder and set the temperature as high as you need to be able to solder without interruptions.
For more good info -
you can always check Dave from EEVBlog but man I really don't like how prolonged and boring his videos are ...
Another recommendation for the Hakko FX888D
Weller WES51 has served me faithfully for years now. Works as well as the modern hako's we use at school, but the tips are dirt cheap. Also I surprisingly had good results with the aliexpress 858D hot air station if anyone is looking for a <50$ unit.
Yea that's what I've been doing, had to ramp up the soldering iron to 380 for anything but small joints soldered (but it limits seems to be have been hit as the heat is dissipating too quickly, on larger joints it's getting a nightmare if it wasn't for good flux and solder I wouldn't even be able to do it at all).I completely agree on the flux, originally started with a flux pen, but then i learnt the wonders of using no clean flux specifically through a needle.
Yea got myself a cheap desoldering gun online, was the best purchase I've made in ages. Makes desoldering double sided boards 10 times easier. Hot Air is my next purchase after a decent soldering iron just gonna get a cheapo one though seems like it's somewhere I can cheap out on :P
Carbon yea not to bothered aslong as it gets to the required temperature and stays there. Thinking of getting the PS-900 as can get it easily in the UK, how have you found it?
Found it in the sence of how I like it or how I came across it?
I like it for the simplcity, just press the button, wait a minute and you are good. The grip (Silcon-ish material) stays cold for the heat you get at the tip.
Big clive makes awesome videos! So happy to see him on this forum! :D
Currently have a hot air + soldering station. It's amazing, and so incredibly useful. I use the hot hair so much more often than the soldering.
Are there any good and cheap products that have a soldering station and a hot air machine in one?
@Olfdag EEVBlog Reviewed a "cheap" (~$100 USD) hot air station, and really liked it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vva2t21sOAs&t=529s
Regarding 2-in-1's, most are really crap. Here is mine. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/390722563336?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649
I have it, and it's crap, however, I absolutely love this piece of crap.
Bad:
-It can only output 1A MAX from 0-15V (get's super hot at 1A, most likely due to a transformer running at near-max of what it is recommended to do)
-The soldering iron cannot stay hot for very, very thick PCB's like this one (which I tried to solder onto, but failed really bad. The iron can't do it, even at max heat).
-The temperature monitor for the soldering iron seems super inaccurate (never tested, but seems wrong when in use)
-When I use the hot air, it causes my lights to flicker (maybe due to quick V drops, or maybe due to something else? No clue, never tested)
There's more cons to this thing, and if I opened it up, I wouldn't be surprised to find a lot more wrong with it, however, for a nooby (like I was, and still partially am), it is incredibly useful, and I really love it.
If you do buy a soldering iron of any type, get lots of tips (if you do component based stuff, buy lots of smaller tips). I've only used my rework station for about a total of 100 hours, and have gone through about 3 tips on my soldering iron.
I got four different tips: Chisel, flat top (self ground), small tip and big tip. Never had the need to buy a new one.
I leave my soldering iron for hours sometimes, even when not in use, with solder on the tip, plus, I have a really crappy sponge to clean it.. So, um, yeah lol. I do not take care of the tips very well.
Yeap he knows what he is talking about and he is not annoying as some other youtubers EEv ... hrmr... yeah like some other guys.