Soldering & Electronics as a hobby

Many people have gone through the hassle of having a phone charger cable give out, or their tv remote stop working suddenly. However not that many people would choose to fix it themselves. Most would just go to the store and buy a replacement product.

It's actually not as hard as you might be inclined to think to fix it for yourself. Simply look at some instructions on youtube or google and you will find tons of instructional how-to's teaching you how to use your soldering iron to fix all sorts of things around your house.

Some of the benefits of doing this is that you will save money, and time! You'll also be looking after the environment by not being wasteful. And who knows, you might actually enjoy soldering. When I first started soldering it was just to fix my own electronics, wires etc that I had lying around waiting to be repaired. But it actually grew on me, and now it's one of my favorite hobbies.

You can buy a starter kit online and get into it right away if you're interested. I would personally go for anything made by weller, as they seem to make good electrical tools (and well priced). If you're just starting out, when you buy a soldering iron you probably won't need one with all of the bells and whistles. Just think about what basic features you will need in your use, and do not over spend until you've decided that you want to pursue this further. For basic use a "pencil type iron" will be more than enough, however they do not have the same temperature control that a soldering station will have. It's not too bad of a disadvantage though if you're new to electronics, another option is the cordless iron, if you want it to be portable, but these don't have as good reliability.