Bench Multimeter for £30

**Robin Hewitt** · 15-08-2016

My £30 multimeter has arrived from Maplins and it's freaking enormous...

Compared it to my Fluke on the thing I am fixing...

Fluke 1.888V UNI-T 1.887V
Fluke 1.792V UNI-T 1.794V

Close enough, possibly true

**Boyan Silyavski** · 23-08-2016

Guys, could you help me a bit with sth else please? Now that i learned about Fluke and Maplin

, could sb point me to a soldering gun? I have about 4 crappy ones, and i am still not happy. Most welding that i do is CNC wiring and similar. Fine stuff i bring downtown to repair shop.

I have currently:
-German made 40W straight simple one, its a bit shaky and the cable is old and hardened. Otherwise its a wonderfully working but now tip also is hacked
-Same as above 80w from Lidl. Good one but cable is hard again, and i hate that.

the above 2 are ok for electronics but i always forget them on and could not find good new tips.

- have 2 Guns. One smaller and 1 bigger. Aldi and Lidl. In my childhood my father had one like these / Russian maybe/ and was doing all with it. It was such nice and easy to use. Problem is that the smaller is not heating enough and the bigger is heating too much and tips burned faster of the big one. The smaller has tips that do not attract well the solder flow..

So having all that in mind, i am not happy. Today i had to solder all day. So i went to repair shop and asked for advice, my friend was not there, his wife said she could order one JBC, like the simple one they use. I looked at it , nice, but 50euro. Ok , not that i am cheap but it again will be forgotten and will not be usefull for connecting together 3 thick cables, for example.

I was browsing now ebay and saw that baby: JBC2100

So the question is :
-will that cover my needs? at least to me it seems that it will
-this or a clone. leaning towards the original, though clone is mere 12 euro here localy

Anybody uses this one?

**Clive S** · 24-08-2016

Boyan If you are serious about soldering you need a temperature controlled one I have two of these type http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Profession...-/252506802608
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Profession...-/282136153280
They can be left on all day without problems the bits are replaceable with different temperatures and automatically switch the current on and off.

I more modern one has the temp. control on the box. But will cost about £200 + The lead is made of silicone and flexible
I have had mine more than 30 years and still going strong they heat up in seconds.

**cropwell** · 24-08-2016

I have used an Antex TCS50 for years* and if it gives up before me I would replace it with this https://www.rapidonline.com/antex-t4...d-iron-85-0555
For big joints I use a large tip to transfer heat quickly, but the tips go down to needle point, 2.3mm is the tip supplied, but I find this one useful https://www.rapidonline.com/antex-b1...s-iron-85-0511

I have a dislike of the rapid heat guns, I used to have a Russian one with a bakelite case - it was downright dangeroos.

Cheers,

Rob

*Held together with cable ties and superglue now

**Boyan Silyavski** · 24-08-2016

Thanks guys, i think it will be either the Antex TCS50W with the digital control integrated /wow/ , either both / JBC2100/

**Neale** · 24-08-2016

I used one of the earlier model Antex irons (with analogue temperature control in the handle) for quite a while and with a range of different size bits, it worked quite well. However, it does suffer from "stiff cable" problems - it's a lightweight iron and it's difficult to put it on the bench without it moving - you need a heavy stand to hold it when it is not in use. I now use a (probably more than 30 year old) Weller temperature-controlled iron which came from a scrap bin at work. I had to design and build a new temperature controller for it (Arduino-based) but it works very well, feels good in the hand, and has a very flexible silicone cable that is also heatproof. I don't know if there are any second-hand irons like this still around, but mine is the best iron I have used. You can still buy new bits for it as well. I don't know what the cheap soldering stations from Maplin are like - haven't used one.

**cropwell** · 24-08-2016

With all this talk, I got hankering for a new brandin' iron. When I read the Antex TCS50 has a silicone burn proof lead, I just had to get me one ! YeeHar !!!

Rob

**m_c** · 24-08-2016

I've got to admit, my Hakko FX-888 is probably one of the best investments I've made.

**Neale** · 24-08-2016

Originally Posted by cropwell

silicone burn proof lead,

All soldering irons should come with this as standard!

**Boyan Silyavski** · 24-08-2016

Originally Posted by cropwell

With all this talk, I got hankering for a new brandin' iron. When I read the Antex TCS50 has a silicone burn proof lead, I just had to get me one ! YeeHar !!!

Rob

You are a lucky one. When i started adding things to basket i saw a nice heavy stand for it, then i remembered i need servo cables, then shielded cables for sensors. Then i see now they have pneumatic tools. Maybe i will leave that for tomorrow, with a fresher mind ...