MPJA has a $15 soldering station which I could not resist to try out. I already have a Weller station but for the price I figured why not get a spare. In this article I compare the low cost $15 station to the $120 professional grade Weller. I highly recommend the Weller station but if you can accept compromise, this low cost station is a good option.
In case you are wondering, uCHobby does not get paid to do reviews like this. We like to play with things and share what we learn. This is our first review, if you want to see more like it, leave a comment. Maybe we can make this a regular feature at uCHobby.
Summary
No doubt about the Weller as the obvious winner in every important area but for $15 the MPJA station is an obvious choice for the electronics hobbyist on a budget. I don’t recommend that a serious business go for a low cost iron. It’s good for hobbyist but I would not burden an electronics production line with the lower cost version of any equipment.
The major area where the lower cost unit compromises is the pencil and the connecting cable. The MPJA pencil is larger and heaver and so is the attached cable. The cable restricts movement and makes delicate soldering work more difficult. While this is a major compromise, I believe the iron operates well and would be a lot better then the low cost soldering irons that do not have real temperature control or a base with a power switch and stand. In my opinion at $15 it is a great deal.
Here is a blow by blow comparison of the two irons.
Weller WES51
- Startup: 45 seconds
- Soldering pencil
- Smaller in diameter, easier to hold
- Cord is very flexible, no twisting or resistance
- Cord is heat resistant, does not melt when touched with tip
- Pencil stays cool during operation
- Base:
- LED heat indicator, easy to tell when it’s hot.
- Control Knob graduated in temperature
- Auto power off if left on without use
- Heavy
- Pencil Stand:
- Separate from Base
- Made of metal
- Ceramic heat shield
- Station Cost $127 ($95 at HMC Electronics)
- Tips Cost: about $5/each, huge selection available
MPJA Mini Solder Station- Startup: 1 minute, 30 seconds.
- Soldering Pencil
- Larger in diameter, heavier, harder to hold
- Cord is larger and stiffer, twist and does provide resistance to free tip movement
- Cord is PVC or similar insulation, quickly melts if touched with tip
- Base:
- No heating element indicator
- Temp control Know not graduated. Actually listed as a wattage knob so may not actually control temperature.
- Light but not flimsy
- Pencil Stand
- Integrated into base
- Bakelite plastic heat shield
- Pencil stays cool during operation
- Includes a shield that reduces heat loss from iron
- Station Cost: $15
- Tips Cost: about $2/each, 1/32 and 1/16 tips
Comments Please
- Did we miss something important?
- Do you have another soldering station to consider?
- Want to see more reviews like this?
- What should we review?
13 Responses
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Do some more articles on portable butane and battery powered ones.
Had a nasty shock once when I touched a melted cord, wasn’t particularly fun.
How does the Weller know that it’s not being used?
I think the biggest flaw with the low cost iron is the pencil cord. It is really not good for it to be so easialy damaged with the iron itself.
The Weller has a temp sensor and turns on and off the heating element as necessary. When you solder more heat is needed so it can detect that it’s not being used and will shut down after a while. I really like this feature as it keeps me from ruining tips and wasting power.
I’d not burden any production facility with a Weller. They have lousy tip life and the elements in the end burn out. They like to weld the tip to the heating element. We had boxes and boxes of burned out base units. The company switched to Metcal and tip life went from two weeks to 3-6 months. Metcal’s also heat up faster and are superior in regulating tip temperature.
Meval,
Wow, I have not had that kind of experience with Weller. Have been using them for about 20 years and have never seen a element burn out or a bad base. I have not been using them extensively in the last 8 years or so, maybe things have changed.
I have an old weller WTCP series (circa 1990s) with the original tip. I’ve installed numerous sound stages and built studios with this unit. Thats apart from the 1000s of hours of electronics. And the tip is still like new, but I do coat the tip with solder (as recommended) before I turn mt iron off.
If you use them sporadically and are meticulous about caring for them they last longer but I still had issues with a tip lasting less than a month in many cases. I used it 12 or more hours a day every day except Sunday until we finally got fed up with the cost and bought one of the cheap ones that costs less than the element and tip for a weller.
The worst problem I had was with the tips welding themselves to the element. The element would be destroyed before the tip would come out. My fix for that was to use cheap zinc oxide heat sink grease on a cold tip and iron and then allow the iron to cook off the grease. I didn’t have the weld problem again and the tips came out easily. Heat transfer was a little better as well.
BTW, I appreciate the review and the articles here very much.
Nice review, I look forward to reading more.
I wish I had been as lucky as those guys that say they have never had the infamous welded tip on a weller Iron before. I’ve worked as a R&D tech for many big name contractors and weller Irons are a problem.
But for 15 bucks I could change the cord out. HA HA I’d take one of the welded Weller irons and steal the nice silicone cord and swap it out
great review,i liked the blow by blow comparison
also a video would be cool. i’ll be going HMC Electronics and possibly ordering the weller.
I’m surprised to read they don’t pay you for advertising there products.
Jim,
Thanks. The only income I have from this site is with the google ads and I spend that on the giveaways… Maybe some day uCHobby will be big enough to receive items to review. Would be cool to have that stuff to give away as well.
Just found and bookmarked your site through google and thought the review/comparison was very informative. I am sure this probably not the right forum to ask for help but you seem to be very knowledgable about Weller Equipment so I am hoping that you may be able to help me out with my weller wtcp series with a tc201 pencil. I have had it about 15 or so years and the tip finally fried. I got a replacement at Fry’s and all was good until yesterday, I was working on a project and the light was still on on the base unit but the pencil had gone cold. I opened up the base and saw that the 3 amp fuse was blown. I replaced it with one from Radio Shack and it would still not heat up. So after scouring the web for info I know have 3 questions: 1) What voltages should I see at the connectors 3 pins on the base unit to determine if all is well there? 2) Is it common to replace just the heating element for $20. + versus the $70-$90 for the entire replacement pencil? and 3) What exactly is the capacitor and other mystery components attached below the heating element and are those subject to failure and replacement as well? Thanks for your interest and time regarding my problem. BTW you have a great site, keep those cards and letters coming!!
Tony,
I can measure the voltages on the model I have if that will help. I have not had to disasemble the units in the past so I dont know what the parts you are asking about are.
It seems like you are on the right track, posibly your base is bad and checking the voltages output there is a good step.
This looks just like a Weller WLC100 with a blue box instead of red. I wonder if they are the same or if it is just a knock off?