Draper 230v Soldering Station | 40 W Multipurpose Soldering-iron Stand | Overheat Protection | Tip Sponge | Heat Output Dial | 61478

Very quick delivery from Bamford Trading...full marks for that. This Soldering Station is certainly OK for the money. It took longer to heat up than my previous solder station (a cheap Lidl item that has served me well for 2 years and which I have now fixed by replacing the Triac). When it came to temperature however, it did the job and certainly seems fit for purpose. The sponge (I prefer to use the wire shaving tip cleaners anyway) is not well placed and there is a likelihood that the plastic moulding will soon be damaged by misplaced hot irons. My only complaint is that it is only supplied with one tip and there is no clear instruction on where replacements can be purchased (other than "from Draper"). I took a look at the Draper site and it appeared that there was only one (conical) tip that 'may' fit this iron and that was circa £5 (which I personally feel is too expensive). I did not find any other type of tip variety (such as chisel) for this model. I would say this item is OK for occasional use (so that you get a good lifetime from the tip).LATEST UPDATEI reported the problem I had experience (detailed below ) to Draper and what a fantastic company it turns out to be! The company undertook a extensive tests and were unable to re-produce the problem. Additionally they were mystified by the issue I have experienced as they have not, it seems, had ANY previous comment or complaint of this nature from thousands of units sold. It seems therefore that my problem was a one-off. Nevertheless, despite not being able to accept there was an issue, they sent me a replacement soldering station, without prejudice, free of charge. First rate customer service.!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Since reviewing this item (shortly after receipt) I have been using it more extensively and have found what I consider to be a SERIOUS design issue. When the iron is left in the holder at a reasonably high temperature (about 3/4 on the scale), the metal coil which forms the holder obviously expands and the plastic top is then released along with the inner sleeve. This means that when you attempt to lift the iron for use the whole, very hot, (iron temperature) inner assembly comes with it. ! PLEASE SEE ABOVE FOR LATEST UPDATE

Had no problems using the sodlering station to do the 12v electrics for my campervan. The temperature adjuster is just from low to high, rather than indicting the actual temperature. I used a setting in the middle, which was fine for the rosin core sodler I was using.The stand to hold the hot iron is adequate, and a very useful safety feature, and the dish and foam pad are convenient.At the budget price it is very good for the occasional hobby user.

Easy to use, great set up. The temperature control is really useful. Just having a little difficulty buying a spade bit, will keep trying.

Great value and quality for working on basic electronics. Highly recommended for guitar electronics.

Originally purchased the Draper soldering iron station to swap the pickups on my bass however the temperature wasn't high enough to melt the original solder and the tip was poor quality out of the pack, no amount of cleaning or sanding was allowing me to tin it which meant the small amount of heat it was producing wasn't enough to heat up the correct locations.Positives are, it's lightweight and small footprint however this is countered by the heavy duty cable for the soldering iron which means when you try use it you end up moving the station at the same time. I ended up clamping it to the desk out of frustration.Overall really not impressed with this and ended up buying Preciva one instead which allowed me to get the work done in 20 minutes (including unboxing). Normally Draper are fine for the price but not this time.

Really good solder station with fairly fine point for small joints

I"ve now had two of these units. Generally good quality and good for quick jobs. I'm generally using it for guitar repairs & instrument cables.However Have had both units go bad with the same fault. When using it for extended sessions, soldering lots of cable for a rack build, eventually the iron goes cold. Called Drapers Tech support and they reckoned a best guess is that the element burnt out during a hour long session. Despite no instruction on a recommended run time before letting the iron cool down. So word of caution for that.Other than that. Decent value for money for the odd soldering job. Not the worst not the best

I bought this to put together a Christmas PCB kit and it was perfect for the job. Far better than the ones we used in school!After researching lots I decided I really didn’t need the more expensive temperature controlled stations recommended by Amazon around the £40 mark - they looked fairly poor quality to me.This has a good sturdy stand and there’s no risk of the iron coming loose. The temperature control works fine for me. I’m really no expert but have managed to solder some resistors onto a PCB with the knob turned to just under half way. I used a 0.8mm lead free rosin cored solder and had consumed precisely one beer for before I commenced. No dry joints. Not too shabby considering I haven’t soldered anything since GCSE electronics 22 years ago!I can highly recommend it for folks like me, just wanting to dabble a little with putting together PCBs and small projects without forking out loads of money but wanting something fairly decent. I do not foresee ever having to replace this and am extremely pleased with my purchase!