Review on Weller WE1010NA Digital Soldering Station by Ryan Hart

I reviewed the iron on the forum so I decided to share: This is a Weller WE1010 70W Soldering Station. It comes with a WEP70 iron and uses fairly standard ETA type tips. Firstly, the device is developed and constructed in Germany. However, it was built in Mexico. One has to agree with Weller, at least they didn't ship it overseas. I opened it up and the build quality is the same as my WES51. The device is sold in North America as Apex Tool Group in Apex, North Carolina. Because ETA tips are used, there are many aftermarket custom tips available, particularly for refining SMT and THT soldering. I've had a Weller WES51 for over a decade and wanted to go digital. I could go for WESD51, but it's the same, just digital. It was either Weller WE1010 or Hakko FX888 or FX951. I didn't like the Hakko just because it looked pretty cheap. Despite the fact that it has excellent reviews, there was one thing I didn't like. Then the FX951 tips were insanely expensive. Then I had a problem: oh my god, I got a whole boatload of ETA tips. Hm. Well, WE1010 is. In my case, a no brainer. If I didn't have the WES51 I would probably choose the FX951. Who knows. a tip made me stay with Weller. I've always been lucky enough to find advice. That's why I have so many tips on hand. Anyway, I use it almost every day. It heats up to 700F in less than 20 seconds which means I don't have to worry about overloading the iron, there is an auto off setting, a security password and 3 presets. This is great when working with different solder qualities (lead/lead-free/silver bearing, etc.). It is also ESD protected (when properly grounded). It also has a temperature calibration option. I checked the peak temp and it was only 2F lower. Which is completely normal for me from the start. I'm very impressed with it. Since using it I don't know how I did it with my old setup. It's nice to have finely tuned digital interface controls. It also has much better temperature control for high volume work or high speed repetitive tasks. Keep in mind that these numbers don't really tell much after years of soldering as you usually do it by feel and experience. However, it is very good to know what the temperature is. I know I've always wanted to know exactly what my peak temperature is with my WES51. I know it says it on the dial, but it's hard to tell. For example, I get a block of 100 THT LEDs on a board, that's 200 solder points. I can switch from one to the other without worrying about bad soldering or having to slow down my hardware to keep up. If I worked my WES51 too fast, I would have to wait 20-30 seconds for the peak temperature to stabilize between sets of 8-12 joints. Mind you, WES51 is only 50W while WE1010 is 70W. Thus, it has the ability to maintain a stable peak temperature. On this suction cup I can ride as fast as my hands will allow and not fumble around. It even shows on the LCD when the heating element is active, which is great! The WEP70 iron is very comfortable to hold. The fade-resistant silicone cable is barely visible and has good fade resistance (the first one I tried). One of the biggest complaints I had with the PES51 iron on the WES51 was that the handle wasn't comfortable after a few hours of use. The material used (something like foam) was irritating at best after a few hours. The WE1010's WEP70 hardware is somewhat soft silicone. It feels very good in the hand and resembles the style of a writing instrument. Has a curve and just feels a lot nicer. As soon as I pick it up, it feels like an extension of my body and gives me precise control. Really like the feel, much more advanced hardware than the PES51. Removing the tip is the same as PES51. However, the screw on the WEP70 is a larger plastic screw. This makes it easier to remove, but when I first saw it I was a bit surprised. But it makes changing tips a lot easier because it's bigger. One thing to note, like all pencil soldering stations, this one is not really designed to work with a case. I recommend a powerful soldering iron with copper wire as the element and plenty of flux. Weller WE1010 is ideal for THT/SMT soldering. Now for what I don't like about it. First, the fact that the LCD has no backlight. It would be nice if it had a blue or white backlight. Maybe I'll modify it. lol Second, I wish it had a sleep mode where after a certain amount of time it reduces power. Hakko FX951 has this function. The last thing I don't like is that it doesn't have a dial to adjust the temperature. There are up/down buttons to adjust the temperature. However, Weller has done a good job of managing those up/down buttons. If you hold down, the steps are fast. Pausing and pressing the buttons one by one will fine-tune the controls. The first time I used it, I preheated the iron to maximum temperature in about 3 seconds. After playing with him, I realized how sensitive he is. At least it's not slow. Otherwise it's a very decent unit and if you're a serious electrical engineer or enthusiast, or interested in production quality PCB assembly or post-processing, I'd highly recommend the Weller WE1010. It's also a very professional looking device. The color of a clown compared to Hakko. I don't know why Hakko chose this color scheme. I still have my WES51 and plan on keeping it as a backup in case there's ever a problem or I need to run 2 irons (never needed but you never know!). I also have a Weller WLC100 iron in my garage/shop which is a great beginner/lightweight iron. Some technical advice: I recommend using a brass tip cleaner instead of a water sponge. Tips will take much longer. The reason I don't recommend the sponge method is that a rapid change in temperature can attack the tips, making it difficult for the solder to properly wet them. Avoid using lead-free solder - you'll get much better connections with 60/40 or 63/37 with RMA. For SMT use RMA solder with plenty of liquid or RA paste and of course pay attention to the dwell time. Finally, keep the tip well after use. When you're done ironing for the day, give the tip a good clean with a brass sponge and then fill with fresh solder and turn the iron off. This will seal the tip and prevent it from oxidizing while you sit on the table. All in all the Weller WE1010 is a phenomenal device and we highly recommend it.