Soldering station

Soldering station with temperature control and a smaller soldering iron

A soldering station is a special version of a soldering iron . It usually consists of a special power supply unit, a soldering iron rest and an exchangeable soldering iron. There are also stations with hot air operation for processing SMD components.

Compared to soldering irons operated directly with mains voltage , soldering stations have a number of advantages:

Operation with a low voltage that is galvanically isolated from the mains reduces the risk of damage to electronic components, especially semiconductors , for example due to static charges or leakage currents . High-quality soldering stations also have an earthing option .
The soldering iron of soldering stations is usually much more handy with the same heating power, also because the cable for the power supply does not have to be voltage-proof and therefore very flexible lines can be used.
A large number of soldering tips and inserts are available for high-quality soldering stations for a wide variety of tasks.
Soldering stations are usually equipped with a temperature control, mains-operated soldering irons are not, with a few exceptions. The temperature control allows very fast heating-up times with a comparatively high output of typically 50 to 80 watts and nevertheless the use of very fine soldering tips. Due to the temperature control, the soldering tip remains largely in the optimal temperature range, both during work breaks and at high soldering frequencies, which protects both the soldering tip and the workpiece and a significantly better quality of the soldering points can be achieved than with unregulated soldering devices.

Disadvantages are the unwieldiness of mobile service and the higher purchase price, which is put into perspective when you consider that spare parts for soldering stations from well-known manufacturers are often available even after decades.

literature

Reinard J. Klein Wassink: Soft soldering in electronics . 2nd Edition. Eugen G. Leuze, Saulgau 1991, ISBN 3-87480-066-0 .
Wolfgang Scheel (Hrsg.): Assembly technology of electronics . Verlag Technik et al., Berlin et al. 1997, ISBN 3-341-01100-5 .