Cheap soldering station - Worth it or waste - Weller WLC100 KNOCKOFF Review

WLC100 KNOCK-OFF REVIEW

For a soldering station, the WLC100 is a steal at only $50, but alas, I couldn't get my hands on one. So I bought a knock off :). See how it stacks up against my previous iron in my review. 

Hey Everyone! This is really my first actual post, so I thought I'd make it something interesting.

As I'm sure you can understand, being the student I am, my budget is slightly limited, so many of the tools I work with are knockoffs of, well, actual brands, so you might find the subject of knockoffs resurface in the future :). 

So, you see, being the electronics hobbyist I am, my soldering iron is one of my most used tools. Alas, being the moneyless student I am, it also happened to be one of the lowest quality products I own... as in, crappy $10 wall wart iron... yeah. So one day, a few weeks before Christmas, I thought - you know what, I need an upgrade! I hunted around for a while and was overjoyed to find - the Weller WLC100!!

Weller WLC100

A temperature controlled station (well, kinda - about that in the review), from an ACTUAL BRAND!!! For under $50 dollars! No way! ... There really was no way. 

Weller WLC100 KNOCKOFF

Alas, Amazon wouldn't ship it to Australia (it was almost definitely a 120V model anyway). I kept looking but wasn't able to find a 240V model. And then I stumbled upon - A knockoff!!! Yay! This particular unit I ordered from Radioparts for a pretty amazing price of $30 AUD! While not the greatest station by anyone's standards, anything is an upgrade over my last iron :). And without further ado - the review!

THE REVIEW!!!
But first, a mini unboxing! :)

• Out with the old -

  

  My old $10 iron
  
  

• And in with the new!

  

  My brand new knockoff!!! Yay! :)

• Everything is packaged nicely - there was other stuff in there, to stop things moving around, but I removed it, so I could show you the inside.

  

  It's very red! 

• The very small form factor of the iron means that it takes up minimal space on a desk or workbench, which is great. 

  

  All in all, a very nice fit.

The Actual Review!

Off the bat, I can definitely say that this is an upgrade from my cheapo iron. The actual iron part of the station has a nice grippy grip, something that I've longed for the past few years :). The station comes with a 1.5mm conical tip, which is... Ok, I suppose. The thermal capacity of the tip isn't very good though, so I will have to get a larger tip soon. The station is obviously very cheap - an all plastic construction leaves a lot to be desired, although this could very well win an award for the lightest soldering station. Here's my pro's and con's for this station - 

Pro's - Very affordable, Selection of different tips, Temperature adjustment, Short warm up time ( less than 3 minutes ).

Con's - Not true temperature control, Non-flexible cord for the iron, No replaceable iron, Quite a temperature variation (~30 degrees C +/- range around set temperature), So "heating up" indicator. 

BREAKDOWN

Pro's - 

• Affordable - Well duh, it's a $30 soldering station :).
• Selection of different tips - The retailer sells 4 different tips for the iron (including the one included with the station), meaning there is at least a variety of tips. I'm not sure if this iron is compatible with WLC100 tips (Or any other genuine Weller tips). 
• Temperature adjustment - The station features an adjustable temperature iron (bear in mind, it's not temperature control)
• Short warm up time - I don't know if short is the right word, but the heat up time is definitely faster than my previous iron. Around about the 3 minute mark. 

Con's - 

• No true temperature control - As you would expect from a station this cheap, it is missing a few things, possibly most importantly being a temperature feedback circuit. Instead of regulating the temperature of the tip of the iron like on more expensive stations, the "temperature control" circuit inside acts just like a light dimmer, meaning that the station doesn't regulate the tip temperature. This means that the temperature of the tip can variate a bit from the actual setting. Basically, this isn't an iron for use around extremely heat sensitive components. I don't have any sort of test equipment to measure the temperature of the iron, so I can't say for sure exactly how well it holds its temperature. 
• Non-flexible cord - If you're new to soldering and soldering irons, this might be new to you - some soldering stations have irons with these super flexible cords, which mean they just kind of flop everywhere and don't get annoying. It isn't the case with this iron. It features just a standard cord, which can get in the way a bit. Possibly not suitable for very small workspaces.
• No replaceable iron - Be careful of the attached iron, because unlike on the genuine WLC100, the iron on this unit is soldered directly onto the mainboard. You could probably replace the iron, but it would involve opening the unit, and manually replacing it, and really it would probably end up being too much of a hassle, especially for a simple $30 station.
• Temperature variation - As I've said, around a 30 degree(C, +/-) variation between the set temperature and actual temperature. 
• No "Heating up" indicator - By this, I mean there isn't a way to tell if the station is heating up or not. This leaves a bit of either waiting or guesswork to try and get the iron to a suitable temperature. 

Overall, I think that for the price, this is a pretty great buy. If you've got more money, then defiantly get something better, but for beginners on a budget, or places like schools who need cheap soldering stations, this is a great purchase. While there are a few con's to this station, I think that at this price point, your going to have to make some sacrifices. I definitely recommend either a genuine WLC100 or a knockoff like mine, to any beginner electronics enthusiast.