[G0HZU_JMR]

Looks like there will be a mix of opinions on this one...

I have three of these Weller irons although mine have the digital display for temperature and the up/down buttons to adjust it. They have WSD81 written on the base unit.

Many years ago at work we (thankfully) got rid of all the classic old Weller TCP irons and replaced them with the Weller WSD81 model. A few years later Farnell sold off their WSD81 stock really cheaply and I bought one for something like £130 new. I think Farnell sold them cheap because this model had a fragile stand for the iron that could easily come apart. The price rocketed back up to normal once they had cleared stock of the units with the dodgy stand.

I've since bought another WSD81 on ebay and the other one is ex-works. I do like these irons although there are better options nowadays. At work nearly everyone now uses Metcal or JBC irons although we still have a few WSD81 models.

The good points for the WSD81 are:

The iron handle and tip section is slimmer and shorter than the TCP and it is clearly designed for fine electronics work. By contrast, the TCP iron is much chunkier and optimal for people who have large hands and who mostly solder larger components.

The tip life is hugely improved compared to the TCP iron and the quality of the soldering is much more consistent with the WSD81 as it does a much better job at regulating the tip temperature in my opinion.

However, the WSD81 is outclassed by modern opposition like Metcal and JBC. These irons are even slimmer and the tip temperature is controlled even better. The tip section is even shorter than the WSD81 and this makes them better for fine SMD rework etc.

It's fairly easy and reliable to change the tips for the WSD81 as long as you have somewhere suitable to drop the discarded (hot) tip safely. You can also select the tip saver option (ON/OFF) and this will turn off the heat to the tip after a period of inactivity. This saves tip life but it can be annoying if you you are in a hurry to reuse the iron. The reheat time is about 15-20 seconds from cold.

There's an extensive range of tips and they are fairly cheap to buy. I guess one area it might not be able to compete with a TCP is if you want to fit a huge tip and use it for soldering metal screens together. With a 4mm chisel tip the WSD81 does surprisingly well here but a JBC iron will outclass it easily for heavy duty stuff like this.