Ben joins Karen to discuss soldering. Soldering is used in electronics to m The main soldering tools you have as options are your soldering pencils and soldering stations. If you’re just getting started soldering or if you’re on a budget, you can start with a cheap handheld soldering iron. Ben cautions going to cheap on a soldering iron. They start at around 15 watts and go up to 80 watts which is bigger than you’d want to use for electronics. According to Ben, 20 to 40 watts is probably the sweet spot. Wattage refers to the current it draws, which lets you know how much power it has in order to melt solder. The higher the wattage, the more solder it can melt or the faster it will melt it. One thing you need to check for is that the plug for your soldering iron has a ground pin. If a device has exposed metal then it’s good for it to have a grounded plug because that allows static to discharge into the earth instead of building up on your tool. Reasons you’d want to get a soldering pencil is that they are cheaper, they are easier to store, and they come with a stand which you want to be sure to use. You don’t want to set a soldering pencil on the table. Some of the drawbacks include the fact that they don’t have a variable temperature control. Ben and Karen take a look at three different models of soldering stations. If you’re using a soldering station, you always have a place to store your soldering iron, and many of them come with a place to put a sponge or a brass pad. Each station has some sort of temperature control, how fine that is will depend on the model. The 21-7945 Tenma Soldering Station uses knob control that goes from yellow up to red, so you don’t get the exact temperature. The 21-10115 Tenma Soldering Station has a digital display. Karen likes it because it gives you three preset temperatures but also allows you to fine-tuning of the temperature. Ben notices that it has a transformer in it. This is good because