When the magnet in
the holder makes contact with the iron, the
sleep and auto-shutoff
timer starts.
f
The tips are easy to
change. Just pull one
out and slide the other
in.
Soldering ConneCtor AdApterS
So with a great new soldering station to use, we had to come up with a quick
project to test the equipment. A natural addition to anyone’s boat supply box is
a collection of connector adapters to mix and match your battery packs, ESCs
and battery chargers. Though switching over to a single type of wire connector
to standardize all your battery recharging needs is the best approach, adapters are very useful especially when you are far from home at a regatta, race or
some other competition. Here’s what you need to to do.
Assemble the necessary connectors to match your equipment and use the
same or larger gauge wire that your equipment comes with. Keep all the wire
lengths as short as practical and make clean, solder joints. Avoid soldering the
wire leads together, solder the metal connectors to the wire and then install
them in their connector housings. Now you’ll be able to handle any charging
task you’re likely to need. Saving a trip back home is priceless!
is placed in the holder. Once the connection between the iron and holder is made,
the sleep timer starts. Incredibly, if the iron
is in sleep mode, it will reach its set operating temperature in a matter of seconds
when you pull it out of the holder—and the
sleep timer is reset. The electromagnetic
heating element makes this possible.
Easy-to-replace tips
The LRP High Power Soldering Station
includes two tips: a wide tip for soldering
battery bars and other large objects, and a
narrow tip for intricate work. When you
switch between the tips, you can select
from two menu settings. The different
settings alter the wattage to extend the life
of the tips. You can easily change a tip in
seconds and without any tools; simply pull
it out (after it has cooled, of course), and
slide the new one in. The iron handle has
a rubber grip with a removable cord that
is 4. 6 feet long, so you don’t have to stay
super close to the soldering station.
Solid base
The holder for the soldering iron is wide
and made of metal to give it extra stability to prevent it from accidentally tipping
over. It also has cutouts that hold replacement tips and a square recess up front to
hold a sponge.
teSting This solder station is simply great. The first thing I did was enter the
setup mode to see the stock settings and make some tweaks. To enter the
setup mode, hold down both the up and down buttons on the station while you
turn it on. Since the soldering station heats up almost instantly, I set the sleep
mode to kick in as soon as I place the iron in the holder, and I set the temp on
the low side. I also set up the auto shutoff timer for a few minutes, so I didn’t
have to wait a long time to see if it works. Once I exited the setup mode, the
iron quickly reached its set sleep mode temp. I pulled the iron out, and within
14 seconds, it was at my set soldering temperature—too cool! Changing the
soldering temp is easy and quick to do, thanks to the easy-to-use buttons on
the front of the iron, and the display is very easy to read. I put the iron back into
the holder, and it immediately went into the sleep mode. I left the iron in the
holder to see if the auto shutoff worked, and as promised, it shut the iron off
after my set prescribed time. I turned on the iron and used the wide tip to solder wires on a motor and battery bars on a battery pack, and it had no trouble
making the connections. After I had shut the soldering station off and let it cool,
I changed to the smaller tip and tweaked the setting in the soldering station
menu. The tips are very secure in the iron and require a good grip and muscle
to remove them. Sliding the new one in place is a no-brainer; just line up the tab
and push it in. I used the smaller tip to make some connections on some circuit
boards, and I had plenty of control over my soldering.
the verdiCt This is the nicest soldering station I’ve ever used. LRP went the
extra mile to give us modelers a high-quality product that is very user-friendly
and more importantly, very safe to use. The price is a bit on high side, but you
definitely get what you paid for with this unit. You will love this iron thanks to its
small footprint, tip-saving feature and that it heats quicker than any soldering
iron out there.
