Weller ST7 TIP,CONICAL,1/32",FOR WP25/40

I purchased this tip for a project to repair a speedometer circuit board in my vehicle. I have used Radio Shack irons at home for years, however, my labs in high school, college, and industry all used Weller. There's really no comparison. As for the tip itself, it has some heft to it for being as small as it is. That probably contributes to evening out the heat. The metal easily takes a tin, which is very important for good results. The fine tip ST7 was perfect for small component leads on the PCB. The only thing about it was that it didn't come in the package with the soldering iron. As for longevity, I expect it to last a long time. I haven't known Weller products to fail unless damaged. I'll update if that changes.

I love my Weller WLC100 iron and the variety of tips they offer. I'm a major electronics hobbyist and work in the tech industry. I started off soldering on a rework line, so I've worked with everything from Weller to Metcal professionally and Radio Shack to Weller at home. For the price, the Weller products are far superior to anything I've worked with. Would I love to have an $800 Metcal digital instant-on station at my house? Sure, but I'd much prefer to have $760 to put towards other purchases. These tips are perfect for working with smaller components and pads. They transfer heat fast, even on ground plane pads that seem to take other irons forever. I keep my iron on 3/5 for nearly everything. If I'm removing smaller metal transmitter/receiver covers, I bump it up to 4/5. But, during all my soldering, I do not change tips. I can solder wire joins, smt parts, wave solder legs of SMT chips (with a good amount of flux), and large RC connectors (XT60s), all with the same tip on my iron. The smaller size also allows me to get in between wires and other components easily, without that "Oh crap, I guess I'll be replacing that connector/wire/plastic bit also" feeling.

I ordered this tip Jan 30, 2010... it arrived today, Feb 4, 2010. Very reasonable shipping time! As soon as I discovered it was in my mailbox, I rushed out to try it out... the old one easily came out, and the new one slid right now. Tightened it down.. then tried it out. With the bigger tip that the WLC100 came with, I had to use a heat setting of about 4, and it was a little bulky for soldering connections on circuit boards, etc. This new tip is absolutely fantastic... DAY AND NIGHT DIFFERENCE in the ease of use. If you need a more precise tip for circuit boards, etc... I highly recommend this tip, it makes soldering those delicate, tighter connections much, much easier. I was hesitant to order this tip because of another reviewer saying it did not fit his WLC100 station... but it does indeed fit perfectly and works great. I used a heat setting of 3 instead of 4 with this new tip, and it works perfectly.

Very fine point for soldering the leads on tiny semiconductors. Holds solder well. Quality Weller soldering tip, as expected.

It can be tricky to use, but it's much more precise than the stock tip that came with my weller station. If you're used to another tip, just start at a lower temperature, and work your way up to figure out the best position for your device. On the Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station: 1- Be sure your new tip is installed 2- To heat up the tip, turn on the station, and turn the knob to 2.5 If you want to quick-heat the tip, you can set the knob to maximum for 10 seconds, and then turn to 2.5 3- I find 2.5 to be a good resting temperature, since it's below the temperature required to actually melt the solder. 4- Once I'm ready to solder, I turn the knob up to 3.2-3.4. If I want to be precise, and melt very little solder, I'll set it to 3.2. If I have larger surface areas to heat up, I generally turn it up a little higher. Great tip. Before using, be sure to tin the tip. This is done by melting solder onto the tip, completely covering it. This prevents corrosion of the tip, and assists in heat transfer (trust me, it's a noticeable effect). I tin the tip a few times an hour (generally, when I'm resting it in its holder).

Used to un-solder and replace the light bulbs and stepper motors in my Silverado instrument cluster. The tip had a fine enough point to do the job. It was much better than the tip that came with the Weller WLC 100 -40 watt soldering iron. Both made the job easier with no damage to the circuit board if you have some experience. Since this is the only job I have done with the tip so far I can't say how long it will last, but I can say this is the tip to use on that specific task.

You can find cheaper tips, but why when these are so good?

I accidentally bought this thinking it was the right size to slide onto my soldering guns heating element, had to drill it to make it fit, but after it id, it works amazingly, i probably have about 20-30 minutes total time with the heat up and still no sign of any wear, all the solder and tinner i have used so far stuck to the tip without having to wrestle it around on the solder pad like some junker tips ive bought before. I would say lesson learned is make sure you read the product description carefully before buying, but then again, i ended up with a tip that works better than the ones i was previously buying!