Hey guys in the pi land, my weller TC202D soldering iron is almost dead or the tips are just not hot as they should be.
So what is a good iron to use these days, LOL i haven’t even started on the Pico 2W’s headers yet!!
Hi Peter
I see you answered in a past post. It is Lawrie who wanted the tips. I had some which I gave to him.
Regarding your request. I have a Hakko FX888D which controls the power supply to control the heating. As far as I am aware it is only Weller that uses the heat sensitive magnetic tip. Could be vastly wrong here.
The Hakko seems pretty good so far. There is a good range of shapes and size tips readily available and is pretty easy to use.
Tip. The guide available to download on the Hakko web site is a lot more informative than the one supplied with the unit, like getting back to factory defaults if you get into a mess.
Cheers Bob
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Thanks Bob 
Hi @Peter293256
Welcome to the forum!
For years I rocked a Bunnings soldering iron, it worked well enough for the work that I was doing with it and it also had a convenient LED on it to illuminate the work. It was cheap, but did the job that i needed it to do.
Having temperature control though is really nice feature though and makes life a lot easier, we use Hakko FX888DX Soldering Station | Buy in Australia | HFX888DX-61BY | Core Electronics in our production area and they are rock solid in terms of performance.
We also stock Hakko RED Soldering Iron 60W | Buy in Australia | CE04585 | Core Electronics that are way more budget friendly but will be a barebones option in comparison to a temperature controlled station.
Hey there Dan, yes the Hakko irons are the done thing today so may buy one, the Weller were the iron of the day as the Temperature regulation that’s controlled by a magnetic sensor just behind the hot tip seams to fail.
I have found a 800°F tip just today and it’s a Conical shape not Chisel. What’s worce is the fact i am all New to all this Digital tech too but familiar to genral electonics 
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Hi Peter
When working full time we used this model Weller almost exclusively.
We found that next to replacing tips the actual switch that was operated by the magnet failed regularly. This was the main fault we found.
Usually found with a listening test. The switch operation is audible when operating correctly.
Cheers Bob
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Yes Bob, i can feel it switching while holding the iron in my hand!! So i assume this is practically normal
Hi Peter
Yes. Unless the tip is getting extremely hot (switch permanently closed) or stays cold switch permanently open) this is normal, you may be able to hear it too.
In my experience feeling or hearing the switch action would indicate normal operation. When either open or closed permanently has happened (fault condition) no action can be heard or felt.
Cheers Bob
