I use the Aoyue station. This is a cheap Less than £100 work / reflow station for working on mobile phones normaly but i can do any thing.

It is excellent for work on mods such as this or any thing to do with electronics. I have now managed to string 25 SMD's in a row neatly all though no pics as i have no batteries left lol ...

The tips for this station start a £1.50 per tip to £2.50. So this is real cheap in comparison to normal tips for soldering irons costing you between £5 to £8.

I am actualy considering getting a more expensive Light heat station as this is much better for SMD's and all so for fast soldering.

I still use My different normal soldering irons which range from 15 watt to 30 watt for very quick jobs such as a few led's stringed together.

I would recommend a work station if and only if you plan on doing allot of soldering. I would not recommend one if you just doing a few small mods.

If you doing a lot of SMD work i recommend you using a heat pan and solder paste instead as this can do a much better job. Check out Youtube for Heat paste and soldering oven / pans. And as a word of warning for god sake do not use a Geroge Foreman version there griddles not heat pans ... lol

Hmm, we appear to own the same soldering iron. Cpet mines 25w...

Nice write up mate. Very useful resource to have!

Great guide, really helpful. You missed one thing tho...don't forget soldering irons take some time to cool...this explains why two of my fingers have a fair few burns down them.

lol common sense ... if ppl don't have that then they shouldn't be playing with soldering iron's. You might what to get a cold iron then you wont burn you fingers next time.

Dang...that's where I've been going wrong. Its actually mainly when you put the soldering iron in the holder and it doesn't quite go in, so you nudge it then go ow...

Guy in electronics in college didnt think and just left his iron on his work station, it got nudged and it melted through its own power cable.

Kinda like a soldering iron harakiri

It blew the power the whole Tech block too :-)

Owwwww .. That does not sound safe at all. Mate id be a bit worried saying that you just got me checking on some things about soldering and i came across this.

However, in the writer’s experience, the chances of receiving accidental burns from a hot iron are extremely remote anyway, as electronics hobbyists will usually park the hot iron carefully in a bench holder made for the job. A novice would have to be extremely unlucky, inept or very careless to receive any injury from an ordinary soldering iron, which is generally less dangerous to its user than, say, a cigarette lighter.

i might disagree with that comment my self but it is true, i have seen people burn them selfs buy dropping a iron on the back of there hands but that was a accident.

But suggesting a Cold iron to any body is all so a bad remark on my part after looking at many pro reviews of them they not only wrek PCB traces but all so because they use a positive charge damage electrical components.

There was worse news to come with our test circuit board. It was disconcerting to see afterwards that three p.c.b. copper pads were damaged by excess heat, causing the copper track to lift away from the laminate altogether. Strangely, this was the case with both of the radial lead electrolytic capacitors: the pads lifted completely, breaking the tracks and leaving the capacitors free to wobble on the board, held in place by blobs of solder. A skilled and experienced electronics constructor could repair the damage by soldering jumper wires on the board, but the novice would face the disappointment of having ruined the board altogether.

Thats a bad thing since the these cold irons are sold in normal shops as being a perfect soldering iron. It would seem not ...

I think most damage is done with a soldering iron is through accident or people not checking there work area. Like i say though it is common sense. Would you drive a car if you knew the wheel was about to fall off ....

Yeah, cold irons are pretty rubbish. I've got one, attempted to use it once or twice and its been sat in a box in the loft since...

A real soldering iron is absolutely fine in most cases. I agree with the driving analogy, you wouldn't try to drive while drunk or tired either (although soldering whilst tired is what I did)

Thanks a lot man. Very helpfull post.