<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Jul 2, 2011 at 10:39 AM, Lee Sonko <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:lee@lee.org">lee@lee.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<div class="gmail_quote">The Kinetics & Electronics department at the Crucible has several <a href="http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=374-100" target="_blank">$12 Stahl soldering irons</a>, some still new in the box, but they sure wear out quick. Kids take their toll on an iron pretty quick. Do you think we'd get 4 times the value out of the new <a href="http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9672" target="_blank">$40 Hakko 936 knockoff from Sparkfun</a>? Better temperature control might keep the tips and units alive longer. Might you have any other suggested irons?<div>
<br></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>I'm afraid that if you end up buying the more expensive irons and people overheat them it won't make much of a difference as they will wear out just the same.�Perhaps your adjustable irons are running too hot and wearing the element and the tips out faster. �Are you seeing too much tip wear or are the elments burning out? ��</div>
<div><br></div><div>The Xytronic irons from Jameco have an slot adjuster built into the handle that most people don't/can't mess with without a standard screwdriver handy. �Noisebridge has a handful of those. �They still work after 2.5 years of abuses. We also have a bunch of 1-3mm wide chisel tips installed on these irons that have a decent sized mass compared to smaller tips that can cycle excessively when used by beginners.</div>
<div><br></div><div>The tips on these Xytronic irons at Noisebridge aren't in great shape, they are corroding from too much water (see the sponge discussion on a new thread created in response to your original post), but they can be rehabilitated or replaced and should continue to solder on.</div>
<div><br></div><div>-rma</div><div><br></div></div>