good soldering iron?

[noecoke]

I wanted to know if someone can recommend a good soldering iron to use on my v7 ps2. Also what size soldering tip should I use. A price range of about $50 to $60 prefferably. thanks.

[ken_cinder]

Really any decent 30w iron with a pencil tip will do. You don't need any special "brand". Stay away from pistol grip irons too, they feel like they'd be easier to handle, but they actually make you less accurate when soldering just due to they way you have to hold them. A rule of thumb here would be "If it looks flimsy, don't buy it"

And when you are soldering electronics components, ALWAYS use Rosin Core solder, stay away from stuff like plain tin solder etc, Rosin Core is designed precisely for electronics components.

[noecoke]

thanks IJTF_Cinder

I did some searching and ordered a 15 watt Hakko N453 with a 1 mm bevel tip. Hopefully all goes well. thanks for the tip.

[ken_cinder]

A 15 watt iron makes it harder to accidentally overheat a component, but in a few cases I've encountered.......it doesn't get hot enough to melt certain solders enough to have time to get any work done.

Then again, I do more than just console modding with my irons.

[i l l m a t i c]

i bought mine at radio shack..