Weller 70 Watt Digital Soldering Station | WE1010NA

Great product. I got the basic version and it doesn't disappoint. Solid construction and seems like it'll last a long time. Quick heat and comfortable handle.Recently started spending a lot of time getting back into circuit board builds and works great. It only comes with one tip so plan on buying the $18 5 pack of tips too if you need the precision point.Replaced a highly rated Yihua with this and very happy I did. That got the job done but the plastic sleeve had weak threads and the heat didn't always seem to be up to temp.

The media could not be loaded. SUMMARYI love my WE1010NA and would heartedly recommend it to friends and family. It is very well built, easy to use, and has precise temperature control while soldering components. DETAILSAs a recently retired engineer specializing in electronic manufacturing for many years, I’ve often borrowed time on different types of soldering stations. Generally, the soldering specialists on the manufacturing floor had Weller-brand stations that were larger (more powerful) and more sophisticated. Still, the WE1010NA gives essentially the same performance, but with a lot more bang for your buck. 👍 The first thing I noticed upon unboxing the WE1010NA was its quality. Though Weller was originally an American company, it is now German. The WE1010NA was designed in Germany and is made in Mexico. 👍 Even the cradle for the soldering iron is made of what appears to be solid die-cast zinc with a durable black powder coating (paint). And that’s good because you want a heavy cradle that doesn’t easily move around and tip over as you use it. 👎 The only thing I didn’t like about the WE1010NA is a small detail on that nice heavy soldering cradle: It had only three holes for spare soldering tips; the remaining five (three in a column to the right and two on top) were smaller ones for accessories of some other sort… I don’t know what. Since I had also purchased the five-piece Weller soldering tip assortment, I wanted a proper home for them, so I merely enlarged three of the smaller holes with a #2 drill bit (Ø 0.221″). 👍 The second thing I did upon unpacking my WE1010NA was check that it truly pushes 70 watts of heating power to the soldering tip; I measured a total soldering station power consumption of 66 watts. Assuming the heating circuitry is 90 percent efficient, that’s 60 watts at the soldering tip, which is close to the claimed 70 and good enough for electronic soldering. BACKGROUND INFO: What you want with any soldering iron is a quick response to boosting heating power to the soldering tip after you wipe it on the wet sponge and begin soldering. You also want the same quick reaction time when you start soldering something with appreciable thermal mass, like a 16-gauge (1.3 mm²) wire to a contact terminal. And, of course, you want accurate temperatures. 👍 See the accompanying video showing how precisely the WE1010NA controls tip temperature. The first thing I did after unboxing my Weller WE1010NA was calibrate it using its “OFFSET” adjustment feature. In my case, I calibrated it to 183 °C by wrapping the tip with a 63/37 tin/lead eutectic solder, which has a sharp melting point of 183 °C; that is to say, it has no melting *range* throughout which it is partially molten, or plastic. As you can see in the video, my WE1010NA was off by only 2 °C. The eutectic solder wouldn’t melt at an indicated 180 °C and immediately melted and fell off the tip at an indicated 181 °C instead of the proper 183 °C. A simple –2 °C offset, and I had my WE1010NA dialed in perfectly. HINT: Unless you are building for-sale equipment certified as being compliant with strict IPC specifications, the primary objective when setting the temperature of soldering irons is to keep the tip temperature as low as possible without suffering any tedious delay in getting your components up to temperature; this increases tip life and avoids excessive time dwell and overheating of electronic components. Usually, I keep my iron set to 100 °C beyond the melting point of my solder (283 °C setpoint for 63/37 Sn/Pb eutectic) for low-mass soldering like SMT components and ¼ W resistor leads. And I’ll go as high as +130 or 140 °C beyond the melting point (313–323 °C setpoint for 63/37 Sn/Pb eutectic) when soldering objects with significant thermal mass like larger-diameter wires.

Wow, this is so much better than my old station. This works very well. Sometimes the auto power down feature is annoying, but I'm getting used to it. Tips are very easy to change and the temperature control is very nice.

The Weller WE1010NA Digital Soldering Station is a must-have for anyone serious about soldering. The temperature control is incredibly precise, and the digital display makes it easy to adjust and monitor. It heats up quickly and maintains consistent temperatures, which is perfect for both delicate electronics and heavier tasks. The included brass sponge tip cleaner is a great bonus and keeps the tips in excellent condition. The ergonomic design of the soldering iron feels comfortable during extended use. It’s well-built, durable, and performs like a professional-grade tool. Highly recommended for hobbyists and professionals alike!

After returning 3 soldering stations that were not made in the USA, I gave in to getting a Weller. I usually buy what I read from the specs of the tool I want and disregard the manufacturers name. I restore antique radios which requires lot's of component replacement.Part of this restoration is removing components from 70 year old soldering joints which at times can be very difficult to do.Most of the other soldering irons that I had previously, except one, took quite a long time to liquify the joint. The tip's of the iron acted like a "heat sink" when heating the joint. At times the tip actually froze in place! It seemed like the iron tip temperature could not keep up? It struggled to increase it's temperature to accomplish the job!I wanted a station that I can control the temperature which I usually set at 690 F. One of my previous stations I wanted to set my temperature to 690 F . I had to dial in the temperature to 850 F to achieve that. I took a type "K" thermocouple and measured the tip when it was at 690 F and the set ping dispaly read 850 F ! Sent that one back! That station was around $55.The other problem with this station, which I would have never imagined, is that it put out so much electrical noise that I had to shut it off to listen to the radio I was working on! I usually turn on the radio after installing a component to make sure it's working. I mean this soldering station acted it was like an AM transmitter! Sent that one back.So, after 3 non "working" stations I gave in. This Weller station was $110. More than I usually would pay for a tool like this.First, This Weller station itself is heavy. I believe it uses some kind of variac transformer and not a solid state control, or rheostat. I like that right away. It was heavy and stayed in place when you pulled on the iron cord across you work bench. Second, it had a separate iron holder with sponge plate that was heavy also. Perfect!The LCD screen had large numbers you could read at a glance. Third, it was super easy to set the temp and ALSO you could see the temp drop when applying the tip to remove wires or components from a terminal lets say. You could see the temp drop on the LCD screen and the rapidly adjust the temp back to the set point of the station. (690 F) This iron is not a "quitter", it keeps up!The only little negative is that you have to buy "Weller" tips. Which are really not that expensive.You do not get all the other gadgets that these other iron's come with.It's well made and simple to operate. So, I guess I am set for life. This should last, finally!