Soldering Iron HP100 from Antex, Blue

I wanted a soldering iron for stained glass work. Other 100 watt irons that are recommended are up to £100 each, and this one is so much cheaper I thought I should give it a go. It works well. This one has a big soldering tip, which is good for the larger amounts of solder that are needed. Many reviews criticised the tool for being too hot. Yes, it does get very hot - so hot that the solder starts to drip off the tip as it becomes too liquid, and yo need to be quick. Love the tip on the lead for any length of time at all, and the lead melts. But there is a solution. You CAN control the temperature. See the screw that holds the tip in place? Loosen it when the iron is cold and not connected to a power supply. Withdraw it so that about half the tip is in the core of the iron and half is out. Now try it. The further you pull the tip out, the 'cooler' it gets. So you can experiment with it and adjust it to just the right level for your work and personal preference. Simple. Now, why don't they say that in the packaging?

This it gets so hot, I mean glowing red so around 600 deg. C, that solder instantly oxides as soon as it comes in contact with the tip. You cannot solder with it because the solder lasts literally seconds before it's turned into grey oxide.Trying to add solder to the tip I could actually see flashes of light as the rosin flux catches fire on contact. There is no way, ever, a soldering iron should be hot enough to set fire to flux!Just to see, I touched a piece of paper against the element, and it burst into flames!My guess is this is actually fitted with a 120V element and is therefore dangerous!BEWARE!!!!!

I purchased this item based on a review from a lady that said you could adjust the temperature by moving the tip in further. I followed her instructions but the tip was already fully in. Temperature was far too extreme for copper foiling. Waste of money from my perspective.

I think it's about time I wrote a review on this.This is more than likely going to be the only soldering Iron I'll need for ever job I'll come up to.I had a cheap 60 watt iron from eBay, of which was used for about 5 wires until it was badly corroded and couldn't hold enough heat to solder any joints.I also have a butane soldering iron/blow torch, which to be fair is a great buy, but it takes a long time to heat up and struggles with 1mm upwards.This one heats up quickly, and once you get a bit of practice in, can be used on any (Within reason)thickness of cable.I have been using it on both 1.5mm house cable, and 0.6mm/0.3mm car cable, of which there have been no problems.It did take a while to get used to, but I had plenty of spare cable to practice on.Tl;dr I would highly recommend this soldering iron, as it's more than likely the last one you'll ever need.Thanks.

I chose the Antex iron as they have suppled irons for many years.Unfortunately, this 100W version (made in China) made a hissing noise after a couple of minutes then exploded tripping off the electrical ring main in the house. The packing box and iron were dry despite all the rain we had so assume it was not damp and that the fault was caused by the electrical insulation breaking down.I have returned it as faulty.