Customer Reviews

Weller SP23LK 25-Watt Soldering Iron

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This basic Weller 25 Watt Soldering Iron Kit does exactly what it should: it solders, and for a basic soldering iron, it does its job well. It's an essential tool for a beginner, basic hobbyist or for the toolkit of a seasoned pro to replace an older version (and yes, have owned a few over the years). It heats up to about the recommended temperature of 750 degrees F, and has a heat-resistant handle that has been a trademark of this tool for years.

It includes three nickel-plated tips: a familiar chisel point, a pencil point, and a flat screwdriver tip. It has a stainless steel barrel, an improvement of the much older models that Weller used to make. And yes, they do last for years.

Wish that I could say the same about the ColdHeat Cordless Soldering Tool, but I can't due to some serious flaws in that product. See my review on it for further details.

If the small Weller soldering iron seems too basic for your needs, take a serious look at the Weller WLC100 Soldering Station, an excellent 5-star product for the hobbyist and the do-it-yourselfer alike. Must admit that this is the next one on my shopping list.

This is a good, inexpensive, consumer-oriented general purpose soldering iron for tasks such as automotive and household wiring and medium-sized electronic component work such as that antique Grundig reel-to-reel tape player you picked up at a yard sale. The included "soldering aid" tool is handy for straightening or bending wires and component leads. If you can, I suggest you pick this up at Wally-World - you'll pay local sales tax but, you'll save shipping costs and time.

The Weller brand from Cooper Handtools is outstanding. [...] But, make sure you understand that this particular kit - the SP23LK - is a consumer-grade item. For finer electronics work and somewhat advanced tasks such as "through-hole" and "surface mount technology" soldering and desoldering, the operating temperature of this iron is much too high and the included and available tips are much too large.) If you're just starting out in electronics and are even just somewhat serious about it, the SP23 is NOT the iron to start out on - you'll probably become quickly frustrated, burn up some components, not learn good soldering techniques, and wind up tossing the iron and your new hobby or profession. If your budget can afford it and you think you'll be spending a fair amount of time working with electronics, consider a "soldering station" such as the Weller WES51 Analog Soldering Station, Power Unit, Soldering Pencil, Stand and Sponge (outstanding price on Amazon, even with shipping!).

Otherwise, the Weller SP23LK is a good consumer-grade general purpose kit not intended for serious electronics work. I rate it 4-out-of-5-stars only because there are several other equally capable general purpose irons out there.

A cheap solder is a cheap solder. It does its job. I bought it to fix an emerald bracelet and I was successful. I saved a lot of money fixing it myself than paying a jeweler...

Great light duty iron that performs well on DIY projects, small repair etc. The "kit" idea I'm not sold on - just buy the iron alone where possible since you'll be needing a sturdy stand and perhaps some "helping hands" anyway for safety. If you do go with this kit then toss out the tired little piece of solder it comes with and get yourself some 60/40 with flux.

THIS PRODUCT WAS A EXCELLENT PURCHASE I BOUGHT IT TO MOD A XBOX 360 CONTROLLER THAT HAD VERY TINY SPOTS TO BE SOLDERED IT WAS EASY WITH THE TIPS THEY GIVE YOU AND THE SOLDER IS GOOD TO WOULDENT THING TWICE ABOUT ORDERING WELLER PRODUCTS AGAIN

I was very excited to try this soldering iron for jewelry work. But, within 1-2 hours, the tip would no longer solder. I followed the instructions on how to tin the tip, and cleaned with wet sponge after each use.. But the tip turned black anyway and would not melt the solder anymore. I tried sanding the tip to remove the black, and that did not really work either. And, there is no way to find replacement tips. I went to Lowe's and Home Depot-- and nothing. But i liked it for the first hour or so it was working. :)

I bought this because I had a project involving modding a video game console and needed to solder on the board. I've used it for maybe two or three hours, then I had to replace the standard tip with another, because the tip of it would no longer get hot enough to melt the solder. I made sure to wipe it off with a wet sponge while I was using it, but it didn't seem to help. I switched out to another tip, but the same happened within two or three hours as well. Even tinning the tip doesn't seem to help.

Now I have to buy another one, but will make sure to buy a more expensive version with iron tips instead of nickel-plated.

This kit is a great deal.

The iron heats up fairly quickly, and unlike most bargain irons (*cough*, RadioShack, *cough*), the handle does't heat up ridiculously. The kit comes with a little stand, a small length of solder, and two other different kinds of tips (the pencil tip is installed in the iron by default; so the kit really comes with 3 tips total). As an aside, I would recommend the angled "coil" stands over the one that comes with the kit.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, that black double-tipped pencil-looking thing (that seems to come with every soldering kit on the market) is actually quite helpful. When working on boards, you can use it to poke out excess solder from through-holes. You can also use it to hold down components while working on them.

Exceptional performance as Weller is known for, but for some odd reason; it unscrews itself - which is can be dangerous for the sensitive component board or for anything for that matter. I found that rubbing the end with a bar of soap (the screw on end) before screwing the tip on (the one you are going to use) has eliminated this loosening of the screw tips.

I had a Soldering Iron (SI) and a Desoldering Iron team that I got from Radio Shack, and anyone I used them around recommended I get a better iron, usually a soldering station. I lost the SI and decided to replace it with this iron after (unsuccessfully) attempting to solder with the desoldering tool...

and WOW! Now I see what all the people recommending me a better soldering iron were talking about. This guy is great, but it makes me wonder what could be gained from spending a bit more. Chances are, though, I will be going with Weller again in the future because this product is great. Packaging is a little "old school" to say the least but that's irrelevant months down the road, which I feel strongly this SI will last.

I've personally used this on mostly electronics-- creating my own cables, soldering to circuit/mother boards, etc. Most recently I used the iron on an Xbox 360-- again it was perfect. These jobs would have been non-ideal at best with my old SI.

Very, very, very highly recommended product. High quality and at a very reasonable price.