Is it better to heat the soldering iron internally or externally?

We all know that when we choose to buy a soldering iron, we know that many of us find it difficult to choose whether to buy internal heating or external heating. This is what we have to consider and know. So do you know what kind of soldering iron we should buy for our own use? The reason is that everyone has different choices and their own approaches are different. Below we will introduce to you about internal heating soldering irons and external heating soldering irons.

(1) Internal heating soldering iron: As the name suggests, "internal heating" means "heating from the inside", so the relative position of the heating element and the copper head should be "the heating element is inside the solder copper head", or it can be explained as "the soldering iron tip is covered on the outside of the heating element", so that heat is transferred from the inside to the soldering iron tip. It has the advantages of fast heating, high heating efficiency, small size, light weight, low power consumption, and easy use. Suitable for welding small components. However, due to the high temperature of the soldering iron tip, it is easy to oxidize and turn black, the soldering iron core is easy to break, and the power is small, with only a few specifications such as 20W, 35W, and 50W. From the above explanation, it is very clear what kind of electric soldering iron is an internal heating electric soldering iron. Here is a picture to illustrate:

The soldering iron tip used in the internal heating type soldering iron is in the shape of a hollow cylinder, and the heating element is covered by the soldering iron tip, so that its heat is not easily dissipated into the air, so the heat utilization efficiency is higher, the preheating time is shorter, and the power generally does not need to be too large to meet the requirements. Generally, the internal heating power is below 50W, and the common internal heating type soldering iron is around 20W~30W.

(2) External heating soldering iron: As the name suggests, "external heating" means "generating heat on the outside", and it is named because the heating resistor is on the outside of the soldering iron. It is suitable for welding large components as well as small components. Since the heating resistor wire is outside the soldering iron tip, most of the heat is dissipated to the external space, so the heating efficiency is low and the heating speed is slow. Generally, it takes 6 to 7 minutes to preheat before welding. It is large in size and inconvenient to solder small devices. But it has the advantages of longer use time and higher power of the soldering iron tip. It has various specifications such as 25W, 30W, 50W, 75W, 100W, 150W, 300W, etc. From the above explanation, it is very clear what kind of soldering iron is an external heating soldering iron.

Well, the above is some basic introduction about whether internal heat or external heat is better for soldering irons. What do you think after reading it? Are you still wondering whether internal or external heat is better for a soldering iron? It doesn’t matter. Our main goal is to distinguish their advantages and disadvantages, so that we know whether to buy a soldering iron with internal heating or external heating.