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soldering iron help

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atarihomestar:
I ordered a KeyWiz Eco 2 from GroovyGameGear yesterday.  I got the version where I need to do some soldering.  Thing is, I don’t have a soldering iron.  So the question is, which one should I get, and why?  I read where one guy got one for about 5 bucks from Radio Shack.  What are the downsides to a cheap soldering iron like that?  I saved 15 bucks by getting the version of KeyWiz that I have to solder, so I would love it if I could spend about 15, and then figure that I got a soldering iron out of the deal, but not if it’s a piece of junk.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

HaRuMaN:

--- Quote from: atarihomestar on October 17, 2007, 02:21:53 pm ---I ordered a KeyWiz Eco 2 from GroovyGameGear yesterday.  I got the version where I need to do some soldering.  Thing is, I don’t have a soldering iron.  So the question is, which one should I get, and why?  I read where one guy got one for about 5 bucks from Radio Shack.  What are the downsides to a cheap soldering iron like that?  I saved 15 bucks by getting the version of KeyWiz that I have to solder, so I would love it if I could spend about 15, and then figure that I got a soldering iron out of the deal, but not if it’s a piece of junk.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

--- End quote ---

I use the 30-Watt soldering iron from Radio Shack, it works perfectly fine, and I use it for some detail work (like Xbox 360 controller hacks).  I'm going to buy a soldering station everntually, but the one I have now has served me well (I've hacked A LOT of controllers for people here).

shardian:
You can do what you need to do with a simple pencil iron, but you have to work fast and be very careful. I also always hit the wet sponge with the tip before going to work to cool things off a bit. Also, at least get a stand for your iron.

And lastly, do not wire your controls directly to the encoder. Solder in 6" pieces of wire with shielded quick disconnects on the end to the encoder. In reality though, it is worth the extra 2 or 3 bucks to get the encoder with headers already installed.

atarihomestar:
Thanks for the replies, guys.

You have convinced me to just get some cheap soldering iron.  I found a 15-Watt Soldering Iron with Grounded Tip from Radio Shack for $8.99 (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062728&cp=&parentPage=search) I think I'll probably go with that one.  It sounds like the stand that comes with it blows, so I'm going to get a holder (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062740&cp) for $7.99 so it will end up being just a little more expensive than getting the non-solder version.  But that's okay, I figure I'll need to solder something else sometime.

shardian:  I'm quite new to all this, so sorry if this makes me sound pretty stupid.  Is the whole "Solder in 6" pieces of wire with shielded quick disconnects on the end to the encoder" business so that if I ever need to change a joystick or something, I don't have to un-solder the wire? 

I've googled shielded quick disconnect, and I'm not seeing much relevant info.  Where can I get those?

Thanks again!

More Cowbell:
I've used those Eco Wizzes numerous times and I think they're great. Once you get the hang of soldering them, it takes about 5 minutes to do and you have it wired exactly as you need it. I have a cheap Radio Shaq iron as well and it works just fine for that small job.

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