Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes
Reviews Home

Reviews For: Weller WES50/WES51 Soldering Station

Category: Tools & Test Equipment for the amateur radio work bench

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Weller WES50/WES51 Soldering Station
Reviews: 17MSRP: 139.99
Description:
Introducing the WES50 – an innovative and powerful electronically controlled soldering station. Ideal for continuous production soldering or occasional use, this new Weller station features a new heater and sensor design that allows for quick heat-up and recovery. Temperature lockout and tip temperature offset ability come standard, as does
an automatic shut off feature that extends tip, iron, and station life. An economical soldering station with high-end performance -
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brands/electronic_applications/Manuals/WES50_OI_PL.pdf
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00174.8
WD4ELG Rating: 2018-02-24
Go with the best Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Feature-rich, powerful even in unsteady/inexperienced hands like mine. I love it; re-ignited the building part of the hobby for me and I am happy I have it.
KA5IPF Rating: 2015-02-11
Works fine but cuts off Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've been using Weller soldering stations for over 30 years and always had good luck with them. Excellent tip life and easy to fix. I finally decided to upgrade and get new stations and the WES51 fit the bill as all of my spare tips would fit it. It works well and heats up fast. Seems well made. The downside. It's not compatible with the way I work. It has an automatic shut off that turns it off after 2 hours of non use (their words). I normally turn on the soldering stations in the AM and off when I quit. It seems that every time I grab one it's turned off. There are times it may sit for over 2 hours but most of the time it's being used. I guess just not enough to reset the timer. A repair bench is not production soldering. I e-mailed Cooper to find out how to disable the Auto turnoff and have not gotten a reply (over 2 weeks).

Other than the timer I'm happy but it gets a little old to have to turn it off and back on and wait for warmup several times a day.
VE3LNY Rating: 2012-04-04
Best tool I ever bought Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I struggled with cheap soldering irons for years, then my local electronics store offered this on sale. I was amazed at how well it works and how much easier it made bench work.

It heats up fast. Its able to generate more heat into a large item then you'd expect. It holds its temperature well. Its easy to swap tips for different jobs. Tips last forever. The iron is comfortable to hold, and the cord is very flexible. I use a cotton shoe-shine cloth from a hotel room to clean the tip.

If you do any amount of soldering, get one of these.
KG5IF Rating: 2011-10-05
Great product works as advertised Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the Weller WES51 soldering station as an upgrade to an older Weller station that I’ve had since the 70s. I checked the product out at Weller’s website and looked at the manual which is well written and any questions I had before purchase were answered. The soldering station arrived in good shape and after hooking the cable up to the iron and setting the temperature at 600 degrees I found that the tip came up to temperature quickly. Soldering is a pleasure and the front panel led gives you feedback on temperature recovery of the tip which is very fast. The handle of the iron is comfortable to hold and there are many tips available for it at a good price. I chose between the WESD51 and the WES51 which is the analog version. The analog version suits me well and I’m very happy with my purchase. The WES51 is also ESD safe and made in the US. I highly recommend it.
WB2VSJ Rating: 2009-12-22
Best one around for the price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had my share of irons over the years. Hamfest Specials for $24 & Radio Shack "Digital" Soldering irons for $80. For an extra $10 and some change get the Weller. USA Made/Assembled right here in my home QTH of Apex, NC (I wish Weller/Cooper Tools would would have a public store front here!)

Heats up quickly and maintains temp very, very well.
W8AAZ Rating: 2009-03-19
My world standard Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am writing up this model but my feelings apply to all their soldering stations. First, do not buy the cheap Chinese junk stations if you are serious. I have always used these Weller stations with complete satisfaction, professionally. My latest job was at a place that started buying Chinese junk stations to save money. They did not know what Weller was. I was ignored despite my pleas. Finally I bought a Weller on my nickel and used that as my personal work station. They are that good. Treat yourself to the best, as they say. It does not cost that much in the end.
AB0RE Rating: 2009-01-02
WES51 - Great Soldering Station! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
"dont bother with any weller product
throw it away and buy hako period
ive been doing this for 20 years"

Is that a review?

I've owned a Weller WES51 for several years and have been VERY happy with it.

The best feature of the Wellers are the various tips that are available. The standard tip (p/n "ETA", I believe), has just enough thermal mass to permit the soldering of PL259s. (Before I had the Weller I could never do a good job.)
A variety of other tips are available, down to 1/64" wide for VERY fine work, for a reasonable cost (~$5). The low cost doesn't break the bank if you need to replace an oxidized tip or get a tip for a different kind of work.

I also like the variable temperature feature of the WES51. I leave mine set at 700-750 degrees for normal soldering but crank it all the way up for the outer shell of PL259s or when soldering connectors on very thick wire. Holding a magnet to the case, you can also lock in a desired temperature (and de-activate the front-panel temperature control). The LED turns a different color when this is done.

The included stand for the solder iron is of great quality. The solder iron stand separates from the electronic base. Additionally, the cord for the solder iron can unplug from the base to make for easier transport/storage, if desired.

I've used my WES51 to solder umpteen DC and RF connectors and do a variety of projects, including an Elecraft K1, which probably has 1000s of solder joints. It's performed flawlessly every time (make sure you wet the included sponge and us it to clean the tip, then tin the tip, for best results).

Parts Express still carries the WES51 and replacement tips for a reasonable cost.

Purchasing the WES51 is some of the best money I've spent on the hobby to date.
N6NKN Rating: 2008-12-13
Why Did I Wait So Long Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Throughout my career I always had access to the finest soldering equipment available at my place of work. So, what did I have at home. Some piece of junk from my local "cell phone shack". But, no longer. I recently purchased a WES51 and a wide assortment of tips. The cheap irons I had around the shack are now in the trash, this is the only one I'll ever need. ( Unless I really get serious with SMT.)

Rick N6NKN
KL2JE Rating: 2008-10-16
This soldering station is great! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm not an expert when it comes to soldering, but I have built 5 or 6 small kits. In the past I've always made due with a cheap radioshack soldering iron and it always seemed to serve my needs. My cheap iron stopped working (second one to do so over the years) and I decided I wanted to try something a bit better. I probably could have been happy with the Weller WLC100, but figured I'd spring for the WES51. I don't regret it one bit. It's amazing how much easier soldering is when you have the right equipment for the job. This thing heats up fast, maintains its temperature and makes soldering a lot more enjoyable than it ever was with my cheap $15 radioshack 15w/30w irons. It's a lot more money, but if you plan to build more than 1 or 2 kits, it's well worth the price.

I'm sure someone with a lot more soldering experience could find some flaws with this station, but I suspect it's still a lot of soldering station for the money. As a beginning to intermediate user this is a very nice station and I hope to get a lot of use out of it in the future.
WA7PRC Rating: 2008-04-22
Perfect! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
In 38+ years as both professionally and as a ham, I've soldered with just about everything from a torch to a 4-zone reflow oven. This series of units has to be just about the best of its type. Weller is long- and widely-known for making top quality soldering equipment for a reasonable price, and the WES-5x series is no exception.

The WES-50/51 has no digital display of actual temperature, while the WESD-50/51 does. The WES(D)-51 is said to have a different connector than the -50. However, I also noticed that the LED on my WES-51 will flash on/off as it cycles about the set temperature, while the WES-50 at my current gig is only a power-on indicator. That was a nice subtle touch for those of us who don't need any fancy digital temperature display (+/- 10° per the WES-5x's dial is fine). It keeps the cost down as well.

All in all, this unit should give the "industry standard" Metcal a run for its money. I've used both and 99.9% of the time, the Weller does the job fine.

Bryan WA7PRC