[revolink24]

I've been looking around at various soldering stations, and from what I've heard the 936 is a great iron, but I would prefer something around $50, if possible. Is the Hakko worth the extra cost over, say, a $50 Weller station, or a chinese clone, like this one? or this: http://smtmax.com/detail.php?id=34

 

[Spacehead]

That Aoyue is supposed to be good! I haven't yet bought one myself but I should.

 

[Juaquin]

The Hakko clones aren't bad for the price. I have a CSI Station 1 (Digital) and love it. Definitely better than anything else you can buy for less than $50. Arguments can be made for spending the extra money for a real 936, but if you want to keep the budget down it's great.

 

[revolink24]

Are the 936 clones generally compatible with Hakko tips?

 

[Ntropic]

The Weller WLC100 has an ungrounded iron, mind. It'll take a standard Weller iron as well (grounded plug, grounded receptacle), but you'll have to pay for that too, and the cost would be about the same as a 936.
 
You can get a 936 on eBay (canada) for $80.
 
What other clones are there?

 

[revolink24]

Well, I ended up getting the Hakko after all. The shipping charges on the smtmax one were too high, and the Hakko has free shipping on Amazon, as well as greater corporate backing. Hopefully it was $80 well spent.

 

[ShinyFalcon]

You'll love it. I visited a Fry's recently and they had the 936 for $79.99... I spent $100 on mines last year.

 

[Paul J.]

Do you really need a station?  I can solder most anything with my Weller SP23 or SP40.  Both are available at Home Depot for $16 and $18, respectively.  I use the 23 for most things, but I get out the 40 for big stuff like large binding posts, big star grounds and desoldering point to point tube amps.  I have used a few other cheap irons (Parts Express, Radio Shack, Sears) and have absolutely despised them (hot handles, bad balance, lack of thermal stability, burned out elements, etc).  I suspect that many folks get sick of one of those pieces of junk and move up to the Hakko.  If you are on a budget, I can't recommend the Weller irons strongly enough.  I just wish HD (or digikey) sold replacement tips.  Granted, I don't do a ton of SMT (I've never ruined a part though), but there is a great deal of test gear on my list ahead of a Hakko (and I've already got an iso transformer, variac, 'scope, signal generator, tube tester, etc).  Whatever you do, it is far better to buy a quality simple tool rather than a cheap fancy one.
 
Paul