Soldering Iron Suggestion

[ojmanyeah]

So I am going to attempt to fix my friend's broken ds. The top lcd is busted from him throwing it across the room so it looks like a somewhat simple fix. The only problem that I have come to is the 4 contact points I will have to desolder and then resolder for the speakers. I'm not going to be doing a ton of soldering in the future, but I want to get an iron that I can use on future modding projects. What is going to be a good choice on the cheap? I had a few picked out last night but I can't remember what they were. Also, what is the best site to get the top lcd's from? I looked at http://nintendorepairshop.com/ and that seemed pretty cheap but I'm sure there's another supplier that's even cheaper. Thanks

 

[ttsgeb]

Bud said something about some $5 irons at walmart in the car section or something. Then he left one at my house. I can vouch for its awesomeness. Especially compared to the 30 year old rat-shack iron I'd been using before.

I think the brand is 3M.
Like... No joke. 3M. The tape people.

 

[ojmanyeah]

http://www.acehardware.com/product/inde ... Id=1340443

I think this was one I was looking at, how does it look? I don't really want to spend more than 30 bucks on this btw

 

[Joeyjoe9876]

I have that same iron, it isn't bad at all. plus it has a light to let you know when it's on.

 

[grossaffe]

I was just hearing about dollar-store irons today that are supposed to be not exactly terrible.

 

[Hermaphroditus]

I can also attest for the 3M irons. They're pretty darn adequate for most solder jobs. I normally would suggest getting a metcal station, but considering you've already said 30 bucks is your ceiling (and Metcal stations are hard to find at 300 bucks), I'd suggest just running to Walmart in the Automotive section and buying a 5 dollar iron.

Alternatively, I believe there're a few variable temperature ones for around 30 or so. But some of those can be sketchy.

 

[bud]

The 3M irons are amazing. Cheap and dependable. I've been using the same one for well over a year.

 

[ojmanyeah]

Also: What kind of stand should I get? Are they generally all the same, or even necessary?

 

[Abyss]

I have a helping hands with iron holder from Radio Shack and I love the thing. I'd recommended it.

 

[vskid3]

They're all pretty much the same, I don't see why one would be better than the other except maybe being able to take a metal spring one apart. I would recommend one so you don't have a soldering iron just laying on your desk, waiting to roll into something or countless other scenarios that would result in pain or property damage.