(almost) everything you wanted to know about… Soldering

Q. What’s a good soldering iron for electronics? A: From 8-watt pencil to 150-watt “poker”, it depends on your goal. If you occasionally have a bit of soldering to do and do not expect to embark on large jobs, it’s sufficient to use a cheap mains operated soldering iron with a power from 25 to about 40 watts. At these lower power levels, the solder tip is usually small enough for electronics; at power levels above 40 watts roughly, the solder tip is usually unwieldy.