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Appreciation post: the old soldering iron I nearly threw away
Last week I was cleaning out my workbench and found a Weller iron from 1987 that I had buried under a pile of cables. I almost tossed it, but decided to test it first. After a quick tip clean and some new solder, it works better than the two cheap ones I bought last year. It just holds heat steady and doesn't blink out on heavy joints. Anyone else have an old tool they rescued from the trash that turned out to be a gem?
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ninas6727d ago
Respectfully, you might be giving up on those old tools too quick. A little patience with tip cleaning goes a long way - those older irons have better heating elements than most of the cheap stuff you can buy now. That Hakko from the 90s you mentioned, if its ceramic element is still intact, its probably worth a proper restoration. My Weller from 87 sat for years with a black tip, but once I took some fine sandpaper and flux to it, the thing heats up like new. Older tools were built to be fixed, not tossed.
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jamesroberts27d ago
Ah geez, this whole debate reminds me of the time I found my grandpa's old Weller from the 70s in his garage. Thing had a tip that looked like it survived a fire. I spent a whole Saturday with vinegar, baking soda, and some steel wool trying to bring it back. Got it working for like an hour before the element just gave up and the whole thing went cold. @ninas67 I respect the optimism, but sometimes old tools are just old tools. Like that Hakko from the 90s you mentioned, I bet the ceramic element is a beast, but if the heater coil itself is shot, no amount of tip cleaning is bringing that thing back. I keep a few vintage irons around for the nostalgia, but for actual soldering I just grab whatever cheap iron I can replace for twenty bucks.
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Man, I don't know. I've got a drawer full of old tools that "just need a little love" and they usually end up right back in the same drawer. Pretty sure I've got a 90s Hakko in there that worked fine for five minutes before the tip started oxidizing again. Glad yours held up, but most of the time you're just delaying the inevitable trip to the recycling center.
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