This little soldering iron is just perfect for me. It's hot enough to solder in about a minute, which is a lot faster than my old one. I use it for soldering 18 gauge wire for the most part and it's perfect. It can solder wire up to 16 gauge. Any more than that and it doesn't work very well, which is what's expected of a 30-watt iron. The quality and fast heat-up time at this price makes it the best soldering iron you will ever use. I'm a mobile mechanic in Haiti and I use it on a 12v plug that I plugged into my motorcycle. The only small issue I can find is that the handle gets very hot when left upside down for a while.