In are opinion is by far the best with regards to quality as well as pricing specailly on replacement tip and after sales service and tw soldering equipment SI25; SI75; for DIY and occasional uasge;W60; W61; W100; W101; W200; W201.
These irons are mains temperature controlled by the usage of magnastat and the actual tip is pre set to 700 or 800 deg F.
These include - TCP soldering iron; TCPS soldering iron; P51 power supply WTCP51 soldering station; PTAA7;PTAA8; PTB7; PTCC7; PTCC8; PT07; PTO8; WSP80; WSP80FE; WDD1; WTCP station; WMP1D; WDD1A; WSF80D; WDD161; WDD161V; DSX80; WDD81D; WDD101; or WMD3 systems (Click here for link)
Other soldering station manufacturers and models are: PACE, METCAL, JBC.
Soldering can be done in a number of ways, including passing parts over a small fountain in a bulk container of molten solder (Wave Soldering), heating assemblies by use of an Infrared lamp, or by using a point source such as an electronic soldering gun a brazing torch, or a hot-air soldering tool. Recently, reflow soldering is used almost exclusively for PCB assembly, sometimes followed by a wave-soldering or hand-soldering operation for oddly sized/shaped components.
Though the base material is not melted in a soldering process, some of the base material's atoms do dissolve into the liquid solder. This dissolution process enhances the soldered joint's mechanical and electrical characteristics. A "cold solder joint" with poor properties may result if the base metal is not heated adequately to thoroughly melt the solder and cause this dissolution process to occur.
Note, the distinction between soldering and brazing is arbitrary, with the only difference being the melting temperature of the filler material. A temperature of 450 °C is usually used as a practical cut off. Different equipment and/or fixturing is usually required since (for instance) most soldering irons cannot achieve high enough temperatures for brazing. Practically speaking there is a significant difference between the two processes -- brazing fillers have far more structural strength than solders, and are formulated for this as opposed to maximum electrical conductivity. Brazed connections are often as strong or nearly as strong as the parts they connect, even at elevated temperatures.
"Hard soldering" or "silver soldering" (performed with high-temperature solder containing up to 40% silver) is also often a form of brazing, since it involves filler materials with melting points in the vicinity of, or in excess of, 450 °C. Although the term "silver soldering" is used much more often than "silver brazing", it may be technically incorrect depending on the exact melting point of the filler in use.
