YouTube is littered with short how to videos. Check a few out.

LTG : )™

I have a Weller Portasol. It's gas powered, no cord to drag around. It heats up fast, and has a lot of different tips you can buy. It is around $100. Not cheap, but I have had great results.

Budget corded iron, 60Watt like Radio Shack Model: J-060 | Catalog #: 55048001 $14 should be fine for any coil type work. Not an iron to do any type of board work, just for coil lug / wire attachment. They have a few different kinds. Duel power ect.. I would think 40-60Watt OK. NO BOARD repair. Use electronics solder 60/40 tin/lead with rosin core. Pre tin wire Pre tin coil lug. Attach. Coil lug may take 5 sec to heat. But not a lot of time.

watch this video to get some inspiration.

Soldering is easy, if just takes practice and the right equipment.

You can get either a Hakko N454JN-V12 or a Weller Professional 25 WP25 for $30 to $35 dollars (Amazon). Both are 25 watt, which is all you'll need, and come with much better tips than the less expensive alternatives. You'll be glad you spent the few extra dollars. Do yourself a big favor and buy some quality flux, it will make life about ten times easier as you are learning how to solder.

Article on soldering specific to pinball.

http://pinballrehab.com/1-articles/solid-state-repair/tutorials/161-basic-soldering-tutorial

totally agree, flux makes a huge difference be sure to get some specific for electronic work not plumbing.

25Watt? soldering coil lugs and lamp sockets? i don't think so imo. the pf large thermal mass components will pull the heat away to fast and you will be trying to heat up way to long and or making cold solder joints. Yes you get what you pay for, but he wanted budget. Make sure it has a chisel tip(best all around imo), the pointed cone tips are crap, bent tips are gimmicky.

I bought an Aoyue 937 for around $60 shipped a couple of years ago. Uses Hakko style tips. Has worked perfectly fine other than a cold solder connection in the handle assembly which was an easy fix. I have other soldering irons to do this repair though.

Ed

+1 on the chisel tip recommendation. Also, I would opt for a pencil style iron rather than a gun. The pencil allows for greater maneuverability in tight quarters. I know that cost is a factor, but you owe it to yourself to get an iron that has variable temperature control (and not just a high/low wattage selector). If you go with a cheap Radio Shack model and end up doing much soldering at all, you will likely end up buying a decent soldering station anyway. Save the aggravation and go with the better tool to begin with. I'm happy with the Weller WES51 as a decent compromise between cost and features.

Another happy WES51 user. For around $100 you have a tool you can use as your experience grows.

Get a Weller GT with the detachable head. You will never go back

Yeah Weller, Hakko, JBC, Pace lots of choices. But a couple coil lugs, lamp sockets, wire. I find that type of work is a pain the the arse with a station.

I went with this (and it's been working beautifully):

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/just-got-a-new-and-first-soldering-station

For $80 or so I don't think you can beat it.

Once again, way off base for doing coil, lamp socket wires. yeah great for on your bench.

If you're referring to my suggestion it's great for everything. I use it for any job you could imagine. (Pinball related).

I bought a very inexpensive soldering iron at Radio Shack and it's been great for rebuilding flippers. I'd never use it for board work, but for the bigger stuff it has served me well. Just rebuilt the flips on my Creature this past weekend with very satisfying results. Don't forget to buy new bushings- they're typically not included in rebuild kits for some reason.

Terry has some great soldering information there! I'm completely self-taught, and I learned a couple things going through his tutorials that I didn't know.

yeah sort of, i too use an extra weller station for PF remote soldering but i HATE it. Moving the base the holder finding a place to set it down. The reach of the iron to the station is not that long. ETC..

I really think the pencil iron is the way to go. Much cheaper, and well just the better tool for the job.

Noticed though that almost any soldering question seem to derail and eventually sway folks from the cheap which is fine, to spending way more than needed. I have always been dollar wise.