I did a review of the iron on a forum, so I figured I'd share it: It's a Weller WE1010 70W Solder Station. It comes with the WEP70 pencil iron and uses the rather common ETA type tips. Firstly, the unit is designed and engineering Germany. However, it was built in Mexico. I have to give Weller some credit, at least they didn't ship it from overseas. I did open it up, and the build quality is the same as my WES51. The unit is distributed in North America as the Apex Tool Group, in Apex, NC. Being that it uses the ETA tips, there are tons of custom aftermarket tips out there, especially for SMT and THT soldering rework. I've had a Weller WES51 for well over a decade, and wanted to upgrade to a digital interface. I could've went to the WESD51, but it's the same one I got, just digital. It was either Weller WE1010 or a Hakko FX888 or a FX951. I didn't like the Hakko, only because it seemed rather cheap. Even though it's got great reviews, something about it, I didn't like. Then the FX951's tips were stupid expensive. Then I had the problem: Oh my, I got a boat load of ETA tips. Hmm... well, the WE1010 it is. No brainer in my case. If I didn't have the WES51, I would have probably went to the FX951. Who knows... the tip availability is what curved me to stay with the Weller. I always had good luck finding a certain tip. Hence, why I got so many tips on hand. Anyhow, I've been using it almost every day. It heats up to 700F in less than 20 seconds, meaning I don't need to worry about running my iron excessively, has customization for auto power off, security password, and 3 presets. Which is awesome if you are working with different grades of solder (lead/no lead/silver bearing, etc). It is also ESD safe (when properly grounded). It also has a temperature calibration option as well. I tested the tip temperature, and it was only ~2F off. Which for me, is perfectly fine right out of the box. I am quite impressed with it. Since using it, I don't know how I did it with my old setup. It is very nice having the fine tuned control of the digital interface. It also has much better temperature control when doing large flow jobs or high speed repetitive tasks. Now mind you, after getting familiar with soldering for years and years, those numbers really don't mean much because you typically do it by feel and experience. However, it is very good to know what the temperature is. I know on my WES51, I always wanted to know about exactly what my tip temp was. I know the dial has it, but it was hard to tell. For example, I get a block of 100 THT LEDs on a PCB, and that is 200 solder joints. I can go from next to next to next, without worrying about a bad solder joint or needing to slow down for my iron to keep up. If I went too fast with my WES51, I'd have to wait 20-30 seconds for the tip temp to stabilize, between sets of 8-12 joints. Now mind you, the WES51 is only 50W, and the WE1010 is 70W. So it has the ability to keep a stable tip temperature. This sucker I can go as fast as my hands will allow and no messing around. It even shows when the heating element is active on the LCD, which is awesome! The WEP70 iron is very comfortable in the hands. The burn-resistant silicon cable is barely noticeable, and has good burn resistance (first thing I tried). One of the biggest complaints I had with the PES51 iron on the WES51, was the fact the grip wasn't comfortable after hours of use. The material they used (kind of like a foam) was irritating at best after a few hours. The WEP70 iron on the WE1010 is a somewhat squishy silicon. It feels very nice in the hand, and is almost like a writing instrument style. Has a curve to it and just has a much nicer feeling. Once picking it up, it feels like an extension to my body, giving me precise control. I really like the feeling of it, much more of a refined iron to the PES51. Removing the tips is the same as the PES51. However, the screw on the WEP70 is a larger plastic screw. It does make it easier to remove, but when I first saw it, I was kind of surprised. But it does make it a lot easier to swap tips, being it is bigger. One thing to note, like all pencil soldering stations, this isn't really meant for chassis work. I recommend a high powered soldering gun using some copper wire as the element and lots of flux. The Weller WE1010 is great at THT/SMT soldering. Now to the only things I don't like about it. For one, the fact the LCD isn't backlighted. It would've been a nice touch for it to be blue or white backlighted. Maybe I'll mod it. lol Second, I wish it had a sleep mode where it ramps the power down after a set amount of time. The Hakko FX951 has this feature. The last thing I don't like about it, is the fact that it doesn't have a rotary knob for temperature control. It has up/down buttons for temperature control. However, Weller did do a good job at controlling the way those up/down buttons work. If you press and hold, the increments goes fast. If you stop and press the button one at a time, it is fine-tuned control. The first time I did it, I got the iron all the way at it's max temp in like 3 seconds. After playing with it, I learned how sensitive it is. At least it isn't slow. Otherwise, it's a very neat unit, and if you are a serious EE major, enthusiast or do production grade PCB assembly or rework, I highly recommend the Weller WE1010. It is also a very professional looking unit too. Compared to the clown-colored Hakko. Not sure why Hakko went with that color scheme. I still have my WES51, and plan on keeping that as a backup unit, in case this one ever gives trouble, or I need to run 2 irons (never had the need to, but you never know!). I also have a Weller WLC100 out in my garage/shop, which is a great beginners/light duty iron. Some tech tips: I recommend using a brass type tip cleaner, versus a water-sponge. The tips will last a lot longer. The reason I don't recommend the water-sponge method is that the rapid temperature change can pit the tips, making them harder to properly wet with solder. Avoid using lead-free solder -- you will get much better joints with 60/40 or 63/37 with RMA. For SMT, use RMA solder with plenty of RA liquid or paste, and of course watch your dwell time. Lastly, keep your tip well-tinned after use. When you are done with your iron for the day, clean the tip well in your brass sponge, and then load the tip up with fresh solder then turn your iron off. This will seal the tip and help keep it from oxidizing while sitting on the bench. Overall, the Weller WE1010 is a phenomenal unit and would highly recommend it.
