I was big into bramd na,e soldering stations like weller because thats what was used in comercial environments. I went through two of them before realizing that good old China made some damn good ones at a fraction of the cost. Wellers were well over 100 clams wereas you can pick up a No Name station for less than 30, and so far outlived the weller. One good habit with a soldering station is too always have solder on the tip. So, if you are working on something, before you put the wand back on the stand, clean the tip on the sponge or brillo, melt some solder on the tip, and then let it rest on the stand. This will prolong the life of the tip and inner somponents. Look on ebay and save some money.