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| shardian:
The simple soldering irons are useful for quick and dirty board work - reflowing, and soldering wires not near any components. Having had experience now with a true soldering station, I will never get my pencil iron anywhere near my pin boards. You can ruin a board in a hurry with an uncontrolled iron. It doesn't take much to lift a trace or pad with too much heat. |
| Kaytrim:
One other thing about soldering irons. DO NOT GET the COLDHEAT iron. You could fry the sensitive components and not even be near them. This iron uses electricity to heat up the metal you touch. That current could go through the entire circuit and short out anything. I have actually lit a LED with this thing. The tips are fragile and expensive, not worth the time or money. TTFN Kaytrim |
| atarihomestar:
So what is the difference between a 15 watt soldering iron and a 30 watt? And don't say "15 watts" :-) Does the 30 watt heat up faster? Does it get hotter? It seems like I've read that you don't want much more than 30 watts for doing this sort of work. Kaytrim - Yeah, I've read that about the ColdHeat iron. Too bad, it sounds pretty cool. So do you use the flux everytime you solder a connection? |
| HaRuMaN:
--- Quote from: atarihomestar on October 18, 2007, 11:23:06 am ---So what is the difference between a 15 watt soldering iron and a 30 watt? And don't say "15 watts" :-) Does the 30 watt heat up faster? Does it get hotter? It seems like I've read that you don't want much more than 30 watts for doing this sort of work. Kaytrim - Yeah, I've read that about the ColdHeat iron. Too bad, it sounds pretty cool. So do you use the flux everytime you solder a connection? --- End quote --- 30 W = more power = more heat Just buy solder with a flux core, you won't need to buy separate flux. |
| shardian:
--- Quote from: atarihomestar on October 18, 2007, 11:23:06 am ---So what is the difference between a 15 watt soldering iron and a 30 watt? And don't say "15 watts" :-) Does the 30 watt heat up faster? Does it get hotter? It seems like I've read that you don't want much more than 30 watts for doing this sort of work. Kaytrim - Yeah, I've read that about the ColdHeat iron. Too bad, it sounds pretty cool. So do you use the flux everytime you solder a connection? --- End quote --- A watt is a measure power. P=IV . The voltage is set, so the 30 watt iron will draw more current than a 15 watt iron. All of that power is turned directly into heat. And to be fair about flux, I do most of my soldering on dirty old boards. The flux cleans the pads right up and makes it super easy to get a good bond, and the solder flows WAY better - oh and heat conducts better from the iron too. I've gotten to where I use it on all connections now regardless. |
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