Originally Posted by
Drew Manzella
My point is that a gun cools as soon as you release the trigger - then heats back up as soon as you pull the trigger. I get it - cold gun vs cold iron the gun heats up quicker.
My point is you turn an iron on, let it heat up and then leave it on until you are done your work. Already hot is gonna be quicker than 6 seconds to heat up every time.
My Hakko doesn't lose heat between solders - because I'm not holding the iron on my workpiece long enough. Like I said I run my irons hot and I flow a small amount of solder before I make the connection to "pre-heat" the connection. I've also been soldering RC stuff for 30 years (I went through a gun phase when I was 12 so I get why people think they are better). The only time I have ever had an issue with irons losing heat was when soldering up NiCD/NiMH batteries. Guns lost heat just the same. In the end I found a 70W Weller with the big fat tip and 10 minutes to warm up was the solution for soldering batteries effectively.
P.S. I'm not arguing - just curious. You are the first person I have ever heard (who clearly has a clue) say they prefer a gun so I am intrigued as to why.
Quite the contrary, I prefer the iron over the gun but guns are more efficient in several regards. The biggest mistake people make with irons is that they do leave them on constantly and it is the main reason tips go bad and irons themselves wear out and die. I learned the hard way myself and had the good fortune of having one of the coolest teachers in high school for electrical engineering class and he taught me so much. Since then however, technology allowed irons to become what they are today and are light years better than they were.
Guns cooling off is actually one of their greatest advantages because they end up lasting years and even decades as a result of not being constantly ON while in use. I'm waiting to receive my new station to see how it compares to the track power 955 which costs almost 4x as much. If it performs just as good or better I'll be sure to post up the info for everyone's benefit.