Comparison HandsKit 908S vs ZHONGDI ZD-931

— Contact. It is customary to call contact soldering irons not all soldering irons, in which the tip touches the material during operation, but only models in which the operating temperature is maintained constantly (unlike impulse ones — see below). This format is suitable for most soldering jobs, and contact soldering irons themselves are available in a wide variety of capacities — from a few watts (for soldering microcircuits) to several hundred watts (for soldering dishes, etc.). Also, the advantages of such a tool are the simplicity of design and low cost. On the other hand, continuous heating can create problems when soldering heat sensitive components.

— Pulse. The name of this type comes from the format of operation: heating does not occur constantly, but in pulses, at the user's command. The classic pulse soldering iron has a pistol grip and a start button for the index finger. When you press this button, the sting very quickly warms up to operating temperature, and when released, it cools down. Pulse soldering irons are indispensable for delicate work, where you need to accurately dose the amount of heat supplied to the soldering point. At the same time, high power (required for fast heating) allows them to be used for larger tasks. The main disadvantage of such instruments, in comparison with classical contact instruments, is their higher cost.

— Contactless. Soldering irons capable of working without direct contact with the material. This method of operation is found exclusively in gas models. For more information about them, see "Nutrition"; here we note that non-contact soldering is characterized by high operating temperatures and provides some features that are not available for a contact tool. For example, it allows you to warm up and melt a rubber tube attached to a wire for insulation (whereas rubber would stick to a regular tip). At the same time, many non-contact models are equipped with nozzles that allow you to work in a contact way.

— Soldering Station . The most advanced version, consisting of the soldering iron itself and an additional unit through which the tool is connected to the network. The additional unit has various advanced control options — smooth temperature control, a digital display for controlling operating modes, etc.; in addition, it houses a stand for a soldering iron and other additional accessories such as a cleaning sponge, trays for consumables, etc. This greatly expands the possibilities of soldering and simplifies the work, allowing you to cope even with professional tasks. The type of the soldering iron itself in the station can be anything, however, classic contact tools are most often used. At the same time, they are often made low-voltage, which reduces the level of electromagnetic interference and makes it easier to work with sensitive radio components.

— For plastic pipes. A specialized type of soldering iron, designed, in accordance with the name, for welding pipes made of polypropylene and other similar plastics. Such models are noticeably different in design from other types described above: they do not use a thin sting, but cylindrical nozzles of different diameters, for different pipe sizes (for more details, see "Nozzles included"). In addition, "pipe" soldering irons have high power — otherwise it would be impossible to ensure efficient heating of the pipe, especially of large diameter. Note that a technically similar tool can also be used for soldering thick wires.

— Plastic. Plastic holders are quite light, but they get very hot during long intense loads, which interferes with the further soldering process. Soldering irons with a plastic handle are usually used in household and small cycle work.

— Wood. Devices with a wooden handle have excellent thermal insulation properties and are sharpened for any task. Effective protection against overheating is the main strong point of soldering irons with wooden holders.

Rated power of the soldering iron; in models with adjustments (see below) — the maximum rated power. The more powerful the tool, the more intense the heat it provides, the better it is for working with large objects, such as soldering thick wires, repairing radiators, etc. However, excess power is just as undesirable as insufficient: a tool that is too “weak” will not achieve normal soldering quality, and a tool that is too “strong” will overheat the parts to be joined and may damage them (not to mention excessive power consumption). Therefore, you need to choose a soldering iron in terms of power, taking into account the work for which it is planned to be used.

So, low-power models up to 10 W are intended mainly for miniature parts and delicate work — like soldering microcircuits. The best option for domestic use is 25 – 35 W; for large elements, you can use more powerful models, up to 50 W ; these same indicators will suit most radio amateurs. Soldering irons for 50 – 100 W are designed mainly for thick wires, found, for example, in the on-board networks of cars; and high power is typical for a tool designed for large structures: metal containers (pots, buckets, etc.), radiators of the same cars, etc.

A separate case are models for soldering plastic pipes (see "Type"): they give out at least 700 W, and in the most powerful models, the figures can exceed 2 kW. Here, the more powerful the...tool is, the larger the pipes with which it can work: for example, 700 – 800 W is enough for parts with a diameter of 20 – 25 mm, and for 63 mm pipes it will take no less than the mentioned 2 kW.

Some soldering irons have power controls (see below) that allow you to adjust them to a particular situation and expand the possibilities of application.

Note that high power in itself does not mean a high operating temperature — it only facilitates and accelerates heating.

The minimum bar for operating temperature for models with the function of adjusting the "degree" of heating of the executive body. This ranges from a modest 50°C in plastic pipe soldering irons to over 200°C in advanced soldering stations.

The highest temperature to which the soldering iron can heat the material being processed. This temperature should be high enough to melt the solder or other workpiece material (such as polypropylene in soldered pipes), but not too high so as not to overheat the joint. Therefore, the choice for this indicator depends on the features of the planned work.

Note that in most household soldering irons for 20 – 60 W, the maximum temperature varies between 300 – 400 °C — this is enough to work with most solders used in radio engineering. In more powerful contact models, as well as soldering stations (see "Type"), there are indicators of the order of 700 – 800 °C — this allows you to work without problems with refractory solders, the melting point of which starts from 450 °C. For models designed for plastic pipes, the standard indicator is 300 °C — it is this temperature (or slightly lower, about 280 °C) that is considered optimal for soldering polypropylene. And the highest temperatures — 1300 °C and more — are able to provide gas soldering irons (see "Power")

- The number of nozzles. The total number of working attachments supplied with the tool. The abundance of nozzles allows you to use the soldering iron for various types of work. At the same time, the more nozzles in the kit, the more noticeable this parameter affects the cost of the kit. When choosing, you need to proceed from how important the variety of possibilities is - so as not to overpay for extra attachments that turned out to be useless in practice.

- Nozzle diameter. It is customary to indicate the working diameter of complete nozzles for soldering irons of plastic pipes. This parameter corresponds to the diameter of the pipes. For the installation of domestic heating and water supply systems, nozzles with a diameter of 16, 20 and 25 mm are usually used, for risers - 32, 40 or 50 mm, for heating systems without forced circulation of the coolant - 63 or 75 mm, for sewerage and the construction of industrial highways - 90, 110 or 125 mm.

- Stand. Traditionally, they are made of heat-resistant materials - so that they can safely hold a heated soldering iron. You can also assemble a similar design yourself (or adapt some more or less suitable object under the stand); however, regular coasters are usually more convenient and safer than improvised ones.

- Pipe cutter. As the name suggests, a pipe cutter is a tool for cutting plastic pipes and other similar parts. Accord...ingly, only soldering irons designed for plastic pipes are equipped with such a tool. A pipe cutter can be purchased separately, but buying it together with a soldering iron is often more convenient, if not cheaper.

- Cap. Protective cap for the soldering iron tip or its entire heating rod. It is put on for the period of storage or transportation of the device in order to avoid damage to the working body or heater.

- Flux (rosin). The general purpose of all fluxes is to improve the efficiency of solder "setting" when soldering. Such compositions perform several functions at once: they remove oxides and slags from the surface of the parts to be joined, prevent the formation of new oxidations, promote the spreading of liquid solder and more dense wetting of parts with it.

As for rosin, this is one of the most famous and common fluxes used in hand soldering. Rosin is extracted from the resin of coniferous trees, it is quite easy to obtain, and also safe to use. This type of flux can be used in both solid and liquid form. Molten rosin removes oxide films well on the surface of most metals, but it is poorly suited for heavily contaminated surfaces.

- Solder. The main "consumable" for soldering, which is responsible for the direct connection of parts to each other. The molten solder adheres tightly to the parts, fills the gap between them and, when solidified, creates a strong connection. The composition and specialization of the solder can be different: there are solders from a low-melting alloy based on lead and / or tin for manual work with metals, from all kinds of oxides for soldering metals and non-metals, etc. Solder is available in various forms - thin wire, rods, pastes, powders, suspensions. Some formulations immediately include rosin, so working with them does not require the use of separate fluxes.

- Sponge. The presence in the delivery set of the soldering iron of a special sponge for cleaning the tip from all kinds of deposits: flux residues, solder, etc. Cellulose sponges are widely used, porous viscose sponges and metal shavings are slightly less common. However, the last option is already the item of a completely different conversation (see the “Tip Cleaner” paragraph).

- Desoldering pump. A separate device in addition to a soldering iron for removing molten solder from the legs of radio components and the surface of printed circuit boards. The desoldering pump is almost indispensable when dismantling multi-output elements, its use ensures accurate soldering due to the quick removal of excess consumables, at the same time, the tool eliminates short circuits between adjacent outputs of discrete radio components when they are heaped on the board. According to the principle of operation, most desoldering pumps resemble a standard syringe with a cylindrical body, a piston and a spring - the solder is sucked through the nozzle due to the vacuum created inside the body when the spring is charged.

- Tip cleaner. As a rule, non-abrasive brass shavings are used as a tip cleaner from solder residues, fluxes and oxides, which is suitable for most types of soldering irons. The cleaning of the working body from all kinds of deposits occurs without a significant drop in the temperature of the tip, which is what sponges do (see the corresponding paragraph).

- Screwdriver. Some sets of equipment for soldering propylene pipes are equipped with a screwdriver. The tool is provided as an auxiliary device for performing soldering work.

- Roulette. “Measure seven times, cut once” - to measure the parameters of plastic pipes being connected, advanced sets of appropriate soldering irons often include a tape measure from 2 to 5 m long. This is quite enough for most cases, while the weight and dimensions of the tape measure body remain small and allow convenient to take measurements.

- Gloves. Gloves made of heat-resistant material are used to protect the user's hands when performing work related to soldering polypropylene pipes. Other types of soldering equipment are not supplied with gloves.

- Bubble level. In the expanded configuration, separate copies of soldering irons for plastic pipes are supplied with a bubble level. This fixture is designed to check the horizontal or vertical position of pipes and other profiles.

- Battery. The presence of a battery in the delivery of battery-powered soldering irons. Eliminates the need to purchase batteries separately.

- Without battery. Battery models that do not come with a rechargeable battery. This solution is beneficial when buying a soldering iron in addition to existing devices of the same brand on a similar battery platform.

- Case (bag). The case in this case is a hard case-container designed for storing and transporting the tool. This case performs two main tasks. The first is the protection of the contents from contact with surrounding objects (in the case of soldering irons, it is primarily about protecting external objects from damage and contamination, and not the contents of the case). The second task of the cases is to keep the tool and all the accessories for it in one place. For all this, improvised cases can also be used, however regular cases are often more convenient and practical. For example, some of these containers are made of heat-resistant and heat-dissipating materials and allow even a hot soldering iron to be placed in them - this can come in handy in case of lack of time. And so that the contents do not hang around the internal volume, the case often provides “seats” for all items placed in it - cells or fasteners. Bags are a rag option for storing tools. Naturally, it is less reliable, but cheaper.