Lately I have started doing lot of electronics projects which involve repeated soldering work. I currently own three different brands of soldering irons Goot 30W(KS-30R), Soldron 25W & Dremel VersaTip , unfortunately none of them have temperature control due to this could not get consistent results, also the Goot 30W(KS-30R) soldering iron that I have got gets very hot and it becomes uncomfortable to hold it after some time. The Soldron 25W has its own problems the tip does not last on this iron and requires frequent replacement even though I use the premium Soldoron tips which do last longer than the regular tips. Also replacing the tips on Soldoron 25W iron is not easy as the tips often get stuck to the element due to this I had lost one iron recently as the heater got damaged while replacing the tip. Goot irons has one of the best tips. The tip on my Goot 30W still looks like new even after heavy usage. The heating element on the Goot 30W is made of Nicrome and that on Soldron 25W is Ceramic. Theoretically the Ceramic heater is supposed to be superior than the Nicrome heater but it this case it is the other way around. Goot has a better heating element than Soldron in terms of quality.
My third soldering iron is Dremel VersaTip which is a gas powered soldering iron , this is avery powerful iron and can handle the tough soldering work. Its a portable iron as does not need to be connected to an electric socket at the time of functioning. Very suitable if you need to work outdoors. Having said that its not suitable for precision work as it is very powerful and can easily damage components if care is not taken during soldering.
As I spend lot of time soldering in my projects so I thought of investing in a professional temperature controlled soldering station. I tried looking for Hakko and Weller brand soldering stations but could not find them locally. Goot was available locally so I decided to invest in it as I have good experience with my earlier Goot 30W iron also, I could easily source all the accessories ( iron tips ) and spares locally. Goot is a Japanese brand manufactured by Taiyo Electric Ind. Co. Ltd. In my opinion Goot is on par with Hakko and Weller in terms of quality. The "AS" in the model number RX-711AS stands for anti static, Heating element in this model is completely separated from the input power by a isolation transformer. The base unit has a black transparent lid inside which all the controls and display are located. This lid can be locked by a screw so that the temperature of the unit cannot be changed. This feature is very useful for assembly lines to prevent the tampering with the temperature.
There is a red LED on the base unit which indicate the heater power status. When LED is glowing the heater is ON, This LED will flicker as the power to the heater is switched rapidly when the unit is trying to stabilise the temperature of the tip.
The unit can be calibrated through the calibration knob.
Model number of the soldering iron is RX-72GAS it is rated for 24V with a 60W heater. This iron is very comfortable to hold and I just love to work with it. The build quality and feel of the iron is premium. Distance from the handle to the tip is short which helps when working for long time also the handle has a rubber like coating which provides a better grip.
There are wide variety of iron tips available for this soldering iron and are available locally. The tips are expensive though for the price of one tip you can buy Goot 30W soldering iron or multiple Soldron 25W soldering irons. But these tips are super premium they will last for very long if you use them properly. The heater element RX-72H on this iron is replaceable. Before buying this soldering station I made sure that all the accessories are available locally.
The soldering iron comes with ST-27 soldering iron stand which is also of good quality. The sides of the stand are made of powder coated sheet metal and the holder is made of plastic. This plastic is a temperature resistant plastic and will not get easily damaged by the soldering iron heat. There is a brass wool and cleaning sponge also included with this stand. Both of these come very handy for cleaning the tip. The cleaning sponge is of very good quality and unlike the other cleaning sponges that I had used in past is quite resistant to high temperature. It still looks like new no matter how much I clean the tip it does not burn. This sponge holds lot of water and will not dry easily, there is a small water reservoir under the sponge to store excess water.
Inside the unit you can see the big transformer with 24V, 10V and 8V output. The brain of the unit is a micro-controller, there were no markings on this chip so I was not able to identify the manufacturer and model. This base unit does not heat up even after using for hours.
There are two TO-220 component with marking BCR5LM-12L and 7805A located inside the case they have a aluminium heatsink attached. BCR5LM-12L is a Triac and 7805A is a 5V 1.5A voltage regulator.
The main power switch of the unit is on the side and it has a lid on top of it to prevent accidental switching of the device. Inside the case next to the switch there is a input fuse. This fuse is fixed on PCB and will require desoldering of joints to be replaced.
There will be times when the soldering iron tip will not clean properly with the brass wool and cleaning sponge and will loose the tinning ability. These iron tips are made of multiple layers and you should never try to clean the tip with a abrasive file as it will destroy the tip. For times like these you should use Tip refresher it will completely rejuvenates your soldering tip. I use Goot tip refresher it costed me around Rs.600 but is worth it.
These are some of the consumables that I use. For all my soldering work I am using 63/37 flux cored solder right now this is a 500g soldering wire roll which is heavy thats why I have also bought a stand for it. It is very important to buy good quality soldering wire and it took me some time to realise it. You can literally feel the difference and soldering job will become easy if you have the right solder. Do not buy the cheap soldering roll from the corner electronic shops they are of very poor quality. In the below image I have that cheap Tecwood 60/40 soldering wire which is complete useless. I was working on a project and ran out of soldering wire so had to buy this cheap brand. But I strongly recommend against it.
This Goot soldering station RX-711AS costed me Rs.14,000. It might sound a little on a higher side but as user I feel if you are working on projects where soldering is required frequently trust me this is worth it.
specification
| Model | RX-711AS | |
|---|---|---|
| Voltage | 110V,120V,130V,220V,230V,240V AC 50/60Hz | |
| Power Consumption | 65W | |
| Power Cord Length | 1.2m | |
| Temperature Setting Range | 200–480°C | |
| Ripple temperature | ±5˚C (unloaded) | |
| Insulation Resistance | Over 100MΩ (500V DC) | |
| Accessories | Soldering Iron Stand (ST-27 ),Soldering Iron Tip (PX-60RT-B) | |
| Output Voltage | 24V AC |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 115(W) × 98(H) × 146(D)mm |
| Weight | 1.5kg |
| Voltage / Consumption | 24V AC / 60W |
|---|---|
| Ground Resistance | Less than 2Ω |
| Leak Voltage | Less than 2mV |
| Heater | Ceramic heater |
| Cord Length | 1.2m |
| Length | 197mm (with PX-60RT-B) |
| Weight | 44g (with PX-60RT-B) |
