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| Decent soldering tools...? |
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| Zebidee:
--- Quote from: Vocalitus on March 28, 2021, 08:09:43 am ---On some youtube videos I see a lot of flux being used and not sure if I should get some flux paste or a flux pen. --- End quote --- Flux always leaves a bit of mess so I try to avoid using it, but sometimes you just need to. Get both kinds. Get some of the clear stuff Vigo mentioned above too, put it in a cheap plastic dropper bottle. --- Quote ---I bought some .6mm lead free solder and it works very well, but I see some people soldering trace connections with a extremely small tip with solder already on it. --- End quote --- The small amount of solder is there to greatly increase the surface connection between solder tip and pad/trace, increasing the speed of heat transfer. The heat quickly dissipates through other components in the circuit. Therefore you want to heat the solder and joining parts quickly so that they melt/weld together before heat builds up too much in the components, possibly damaging them. You'll see this effect more when using a small solder tip to solder points to ground, as a large ground plane will suck heat away very fast. That tends to make the solder "blob" on your solder tip or component leads rather than welding to the grounding point. So you tin your iron and leave a small blob of solder on, and turn your tip sideways (along the ground surface) to maximise connection for heat transfer. Add extra solder and flux as required. --- Quote ---The hardest thing I found is the desoldering gun/pump. I could never get it to work properly so there must be a technique associated. --- End quote --- For the spring-powered solderpult kind there is a knack. I once got a TV tech to show me how. The trick is to do a quick and neat swap from soldering iron to solderpult and press the button. Set up your hands so you can move the iron & pump by simple wrist rotation. Practice. You might melt the tip a little as you get used to it. You need to clean/empty solderpults quite often. Some have a very thin screw thread and it it easy to accidentally strip it if you aren't careful. However I've got one of those that I've been using for 10 years and is still going strong, and the tip is barely even melted! --- Quote ---I have some solder wick and that is another mystery on why I would use it as the stuff I solder uses small amounts as you are not supposed to tin the iron. --- End quote --- What are you soldering? You need to tin the iron with some solder as that maintains the surface and helps with heat transfer. The solder just coats the tip. That isn't the same as having a little blob of extra solder on the end (like I described above), if that is what you mean. --- Quote ---Any advice on the wick and the desolder pump would be appreciated. --- End quote --- Hakko desoldering gun mentioned above seems worth a try, but really I just wish I could get the desoldering pump on my Aoyue Int701A++ repairing station working a bit better. The suction not working like it should. Probably just something I'm not doing right with it, but I even read the manual and everything seems right :dunno |
| jennifer:
:) |
| Ond:
Seems like good advice on the 'must have' soldering gear. I've never actually owned a low voltage soldering iron. ;D I know folks will tell me just how much better they are and all ... Good equipment always makes the job more enjoyable and easier. I use a magnifier a lot for fiddly small work as below: That piece was from a cell phone battery I was re-purposing. Recently I went next level in my soldering ambition and cut and soldered a micro harness from a laptop's screen to an extension cable. Beyond chip soldering level, that effort required my cell phone and a magnifier app. The wires so fine I couldn't see them with naked eye, so many of them ...it seemed hopeless. Nearly jumped out of of my seat with joy when the screen fired up OK. I don't have pics...guess it didn't happen. :angel: |
| Gilrock:
I bought this for desoldering and its worked great. I've recapped a CRT and replaced connectors on a Falcon lighting controller that needed a ton of heat for the 30amp pads. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07542D82F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 For soldering I like this simple digital Weller iron: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ARU9PO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 |
| bobbyb13:
--- Quote from: Gilrock on March 29, 2021, 02:18:42 pm ---I bought this for desoldering and its worked great. I've recapped a CRT and replaced connectors on a Falcon lighting controller that needed a ton of heat for the 30amp pads. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07542D82F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 For soldering I like this simple digital Weller iron: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ARU9PO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 --- End quote --- Thanks everybody (once again!) for all the replies. Sorry it has been a bit for me to chime in again. I actually bought that very same soldering station a few weeks ago Gilrock. Impulse buy when I was at the only real electronics place in "Town" (read Honolulu...) trying to find stuff locally. Seems to work fine but I have NO idea what temps I should have the thing set for to start with in any given situation. Any suggestions from those experienced are welcome! I really need to get one of those octopus looking clamp units. I may get away with these cool bifocals my sister got me but a magnifying glass may be in my near future too. A lot of fun soldering projects in my near future I hope. |
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