[TowerTalk] Slobering Irons

[Michael OBrien]

I'm sure that some of the alternate brands of soldering irons that have been mentioned are fine products. But to describe Weller products as "crap" is contradictory to my experience. 

When I was getting into ham radio as a kid back in the late 1950s, my "Elmer" gave me a new Weller 100-watt gun as a gift when I passed my Novice exam. It continues to serve me well almost 60 years later after thousands of hours of use. I confess it has not always been treated kindly -- for instance, a chunk of the plastic housing was broken off when the gun took a tumble off my workbench onto the garage's concrete floor about 20 years ago. The built-in light burned out about 10 years ago. Yet the old girl continued to heat promptly and perform as designed, with only a few tip replacements required over the decades.

I recently noticed that Weller sells replacement housings for this gun, as well as replacement bulbs. For about $15 I now have a refurbished gun ready for another 60 years of service -- in the hands of my grandson....

de k0myw