Hi there,
have to support Dave my Weller Magnastat has been going for twenty plus years, one new element, one new mag switch, several barrels
and plenty of tips...
Temperature controlled is the only way to go, any iron with enuf power to do a heavy job is when sitting idle going to overheat and the first
touch of such a hot iron on any semiconductor/circuit board/other heat sensitive gismo and you wreck it.
The Magnastat tips have a little magnet on the end of them and when the tip reaches the Curie temperature the magnetic field collapses and the
reed switch opens, when it cools the magnetic field re-establishes, the switch makes and the heater powers up. Really simple and reliable.
If you want a hotter iron just buy the tip with the next hotter range. I usually have one or two hotter tips where I need the thermal mass to
hook into something a bit larger. It has a 50W element and with a little patience can tackle quite large jobs and yet not overdo surface mount
components.
Simplicity means that they are reasonably cheap, I saw an ad for one at $290NZ, about $180 US. My experience says that great value.
Craig