good soldering iron?

[Daak12]

I have 2 cheap soldering irons with pencil tips:
1 generic 45watt
1 radioshack 15watt

I flux the wire, pretin wire, then add more flux to the pretinned end. Then I apply the iron on top of the wire which is on the point to be soldered.

This works great when it does work but I notice if I use the last quarter inch of the tip, it takes forever to melt the solder, if at all. Most of the time I have to try and use the shaft of the tip to get enough heat, which gives me far less dexterity. I do clean the tip but my suspicion is that they are bad irons for such detailed work. It seems solder should be melting in under 5 sec after contacting the tip.

Any suggestions for soldering iron wattage / brand? I need something that will pump reliable heat into a fine tip. Thanks

 

[JMSlate23]

I have an xtronic reflow station. My suggestion is an adjustable iron. I hear the hakko ones are good too. Xconsoles carries them but are sold out right now.

 

[xzanox]

Search for something like this, not too expensive but still very good and reliable for the job: AOYUE-937-Digital-Soldering-Station-

Edit: myself I got the ZD 937 digital solder station and I love it, works great.

 

[2615863]

Hakko FX-888 best iron I have used ever, although I hear that more expensive one is the bomb

 

[jery911]

Hakko FX-888 best iron I have used ever, although I hear that more expensive one is the bomb

i too recommend this one, i use this personally