Weller Soldering Station With ZeroSmog Shield Mobile Filtration Unit | WE1010NAS

Pros: - Quality Weller product as expected - Heats up quick - Adjustable temp - Mini filtration Cons: - Filtration range is kinda small, so not the best working on large items

I remember the first "gun" style soldering iron I used back in the 80's to work on my RC cars. Those were terrible for precision work. Then I got my first cheapo soldering iron with a fine point tip and I thought WOW, this is way easier to use. Then I was taught that being able to control temperature was critical to the success of the solder joint. And then I learned having a high quality solder station really is a luxury. After almost 35 years of soldering I've finally achieved what I believe to be the perfect little station for my hobby builds and repairs. I've owned Weller products in the past as well as Hakko (and others) and I no longer have patience to deal with the unknown quality of lessor known brands. Stick with the premium GO-TO brands and you won't be disappointed. So what's different about this combo is the filtration unit. Aka Smoke Sucker. With the filtration fan running I can solder inside the house without filling the room with smoke and fumes. That's really nice because before I'd normally only solder out in the garage. And that's not always ideal. So for me the filtration box is worth the additional cord and the small amount of space required on the work bench. I don't have these units STACKED like shown in most pictures. I've got the solder unit off to my right and place the filter in front of the piece I'm working on. Works great! The temp control seems to be very accurate and stable. Repeated joints all flow out the same and it really makes soldering more of a joy than a hassle. If you are not experienced with soldering I highly recommend spending a little more money on a high quality setup as you will receive better results than if you try to just make do with substandard, but cheap, equipment. There is a difference!

I got this soldering station because I do more projects now that require small pcb type of work to be done. The tip that comes with this is huge, I bought about 10 other tips of various sizes and it's much easier to solder SMD leds with the other tips than what's included. I have noticed that my unit will spike temps at time. I set it for 280'c and it gets to that temp very quickly but then seconds later it will shoot up to 310'c before dropping and staying at 280'c. I wonder if it's a loose wire inside the soldering station or wand? Speaking of the soldering station... it REALLY needs to be better quality. The plastic is so cheap feeling and mine came damage with a broke tab on the inside. I was able to fix it, but after reading the reviews I can see why people's are broken. It's extremely cheap. The filtration box is big and silly. You have to have the soldering wand right up to it before it sucks up the smoke... on the stuff I am soldering it doesn't do anything. It just takes up space and is loud. I'd 100% do without that and just use the soldering station without the filtration device. I like the soldering station. Seems to be an upgrade to what I have so I will continue using it.

To get the annoyances out of the way first - Weller, why haven’t you switched away from tip destroying water sponges yet? This kit still includes the squished foam sponge with the slits and I stopped using those two decades ago. If nothing else at least provide a spot for the brass wool, or include a brass wool wiper. Beyond that, aside from the high price of name brand, I really like this soldering iron. I’ve been a fan of weller since I first used one in high school - they simply work. No struggling with a tiny high frequency tip that just can’t put the heat out, these are real soldering irons that will always get the job done. The fume filter is a fairly simple fan and filter assembly. The light helps define the area where the fumes will be drawn from, and it works reasonably well. No need to continue to breath flux fumes! The flat spot on top is a reasonable place for the iron, and having the switch on the front is good - it means I’ll actually use it. The soldering iron is a standard 70W weller, and uses the same tips I have on my other soldering irons, including the one all the way back to high school. They are very easy to control and use, and always get the job done. I typically add solder to the tip before turning it off and between that and switching to the brass tip cleaners I’ve never had to tin a tip or replace one. I’m still using tips I had 30 years ago. Big ones for ground plane soldering, tiny ones for 0201 parts (though the hot air soldering works better for those) and everything in between. The temperature control also makes the iron useful for plastic inserts into 3D pens or even plastic welding on the rare occasion that is needed. At this price I would expect the iron and fume extractor to work together, but they don’t. No big deal but it’s something that would make the price a little more reasonable. The filters are square so can be inserted without fiddling with orientation. I haven’t looked for replacement filters yet, but expect to be able to find thirty party filters in a year or so. I complain about price, but the reality is I have yet to be as happy with any other soldering iron I’ve used as I have with the weller irons. They always work and they last forever. I rarely take out the one I got 30 years ago but it still works, and the one I got 20 years ago was my main iron until this one. I don’t doubt that this will last forever as well.

Both the fume extractor and the soldering iron are top quality, work and look great on my workstation. The only reason I'm knocking off a star is.. - The fume extractor needs to be very close to whatever you are working on. In some cases in can be obstructive and get in the way. - Maybe I'm spoiled by the TS80 soldering iron, but the standby feature on this soldering iron is just a timer. It's not aware if you're using the soldering iron and will just cool down while you're in the middle of something. Lastly, in case you're wondering what the differences are between the Pro and non-Pro models is. The Pro has a variable speed slider and a connection for certain Weller soldering stations which I believe is to control it as one unit. This non-Pro model only has an on-off switch which makes it 0 or 100%. I don't think the variable speed thing is a big deal in this case.