Rating of the best soldering irons for pipes

The Czech pipe welding machine looks at first glance more interesting than the German one — the price is lower, and the mention of microprocessor temperature control will find its supporters. But there is one important nuance here — “solo” in the name indicates that we are talking about a “bare” soldering iron without nozzles and a case, that is, the initial cheapness in comparison with a fully equipped Rothenberger is not so cheap. With a suitcase and a set of nozzles, it will already cost more.

The Teflon-coated tips for this machine are available in a wide range of diameters, from 16 to 125 mm. Thanks to the powerful heater with thick-walled pipes, he copes quickly. Temperature control — in the range from 180 to 280 degrees. The regulator itself, however, is inconvenient — for a screwdriver. The “solo” package is minimal — the soldering iron itself, a stand and a hexagon for tightening the nozzles on the heater disk. The stand, by the way, is less convenient due to the short «legs» than the Rothenberger — so in total the «Czech» gets only the second place.

Replenishes our rating of the best soldering irons for welding plastic pipes CANDAN CM-04. The Turkish company entered the market later than its eminent colleagues from Europe, but it has established itself well. The two-kilowatt soldering iron CM-04 is designed to work with pipes with a diameter of 50 to 110 mm. The heater is made of two sections, with independent switching on of two «halves», that is, it can operate at a power of 1 kW if necessary.

The thermostat regulator is quite convenient, has a large knob. The temperature is maintained quite stably, the device is not prone to accidental overheating or underheating of pipes, if the heating time is maintained by the owner stably. The complete stand is multifunctional — it can be used both simply on the floor and as a clamp for mounting on a workbench. But there are only three nozzles in the kit, the rest will have to be bought in addition.

The soldering iron looks, which is logical for such a price, rather rude, but in practice it proved to be worthy. So he fully deserved popularity — a good welder for polypropylene pipes for sane money will find his buyer.

Among the best inexpensive pipe soldering irons in 2022 is the Denzel DWP-2000 model. Five plus for ergonomics — working on weight with this soldering iron is very convenient. The handle fits perfectly in the palm of your hand, so for work mostly without a stand, we can safely recommend it. But the stand, on the contrary, is unsuccessful — on it the soldering iron outweighs forward, when removing pipes and fittings from the nozzles, it strives to fall, it needs to be definitely finalized.

The nozzles themselves have a high-quality Teflon coating; heated plastic is easily removed. The power of the heater is already clear from the marking — two kilowatts, and the heater is not «half», but constantly operates at full power. Immediately check the accuracy of the thermostat with a pyrometer — it can quickly overheat pipes of small diameter. A set of nozzles is traditional — six pairs, for diameters from 20 to 63 mm.

If not for the extremely unfortunate stand, this soldering iron for polypropylene pipes could count on a higher rating. Alas, at least in something, but still a budget tool will require the application of hands.

A simple soldering iron for pipes with a universal clamp stand, very similar to the one used on Candan. When working on weight, it is not very convenient due to the weight and the rigid handle, which is also far back from the heater, it is better to use it on the floor or on a workbench. The heater power is one and a half kilowatts, which is quite sufficient for quick warm-up and confident work with pipes up to 63 mm.

The suitcase, unfortunately, is frankly unsuccessful — it is made of too thin metal, which quickly wrinkles and warps. The pipe cutter included in the kit … remember what we wrote above about Diold, and do the same with it. It was amused that they even put a bubble level in the suitcase — but, frankly, it would be better if the suitcase itself was made stronger.

This two-kilowatt soldering iron is made extremely brutally — for example, just a piece of a square pipe was used to install the stand, the body is a rectangular box, the stand is again welded from pipes. But, whatever one may say, it came out durable and cheap, and it stands on a stand much more reliably than the same Diold.

There are six pairs of nozzles in the set, for diameters from 20 to 63 mm. They have quite a decent non-stick coating, pipes and couplings can be easily removed from them. Warming up at this power, of course, fast. The heater is two-section, with the usual for such a design independent switching on of each «half».

Due to the design, the soldering iron is quite weighty, when working by hand (for example, when laying pipes along the wall), it tires faster than lighter models, and the handle should be made more ergonomic. But we will not find fault with such and such a price. But we still find fault with the build quality — even in the photos from the official site (!) You can see the switches that were not inserted into the case, and the curvature of the case itself. Of course, it is clear that the device is practically nowhere cheaper, and this does not prevent it from working, but still it is completely unpleasant.

The Sturm cylindrical soldering iron is designed for small pipe diameters from 16 to 32 mm, all nozzles for this range are included in the kit. At the same time, despite its small dimensions, its power is very solid — 1.8 kW, so it warms up to operating temperature very quickly.

Naturally, for cheapness (and this is for a case complete set with nozzles) you have to pay with something. First of all, a rough temperature controller — in a good way it is worth checking the real heating in different positions with a pyrometer. In addition, the manufacturer saved on the stand, and the soldering iron is unstable on the “leg” plate sticking down. So you will have to make the stand yourself, and at the same time modify the suitcase — the nozzles are not fixed in it, the non-stick coating is scratched over time because of this.

On the other hand, there is nothing fatal in the do-it-yourself list; for a Chinese instrument, this is quite tolerable. And the low price, you see, can be an important factor when choosing.

Hmm, what would that be like? That’s right, on the «E» series of Rothenberger sword-shaped soldering irons. Even in the stand, the case is attached in the same way, and the aluminum radiator of the electronic thermostat sticks out in the same way at the bottom. But at the same time, for a “suitcase” package with six nozzles from 20 to 63 mm, they ask us six times less (or five, when compared with Rotenbergers without electronics).

A kilowatt heater is not bad in terms of heating speed, it is quite possible to solder pipes with it. But then why buy a Rothenberger if there is a Wester? Alas, cheapness, even taking into account the absence of a possible “overpayment for the brand”, is not taken from scratch. The sore point of the soldering iron is expected in electronics — there are complaints about the operation of the regulator. In principle, it can be repaired under warranty, and if you have repair skills, you can “revive” it yourself, but professional use, of course, is out of the question: the soldering iron is definitely “amateur”.

One of the cheapest soldering irons for pipes on our market is so clumsy that, perhaps, we should apologize to the Bison. But «Resanta» can be bought literally for a couple of times and then put aside on the mezzanine — and, in general, it copes with its task of soldering pipes.

Despite the fact that the xiphoid heater has three holes for installing nozzles, it will not work to fix several pairs at the same time: the holes are too close to each other. Power — 1 kilowatt, not so much for quick warm-up, but acceptable considering the price of the device. In general, the soldering iron proved to be quite reliable, but the author, to be honest, would prefer to buy a better assembled model.