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I finally got a Metcal

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MaximRecoil:

--- Quote from: RandyT on March 13, 2008, 02:56:45 am ---
--- Quote from: MaximRecoil on March 13, 2008, 01:40:58 am ---And I'm not sure what you mean by "beefy", but the STTC-126 tips we used for most everything are quite small (you can see a picture of it in one of my earlier posts). Metcal irons can do relatively big jobs with relatively small tips, due to their fast recovery time. With a conventional iron, the bigger joints pull the heat out of a small tip faster than the iron can recover.

--- End quote ---

Take a look at the attached image.  Your tip on the top and mine below.  The tip on the 002 is much larger and farther from the heater, so the metal is probably thinner and the shaft hollow to keep response times high.  The tip you are using is shorter and narrower, so it's probably a solid tip.  And because it's so close to the large conical base, it looks like you could use it directly to heat larger pins, whereas one couldn't really do that on the 002.

But I''m just guessing at this point :)

RandyT

--- End quote ---

I would say you're right about everything you typed there.

BTW, I wouldn't like the tip you are using at all, I can see that from here.

With the tip I use, you have the fine point at an angle attached to the thicker straight area and it is very versatile. For small surface-mount soldering you can just use the small .016" part on the end and because of its angle it can easily lay right across a whole pad and butt up against the whole solderable edge of the SMD component at the same time; something not so easy to do with straight pointed tips. For larger through-hole work, the larger area of the tip presses against the post of the component while the smaller angled part lies flat across one side of the pad.

It is really a great tip; you should give one a try (or the 026 if you prefer a 600 degree tip). Even though there were other styles available at work, I would say about 95% of us swore by the 126 for everything (aside from when a specialty IC removal tip cartridge was called for).

RandyT:

--- Quote from: MaximRecoil on March 13, 2008, 03:19:57 am ---With the tip I use, you have the fine point at an angle attached to the thicker straight area and it is very versatile. For small surface-mount soldering you can just use the small .016" part on the end and because of its angle it can easily lay right across a whole pad and butt up against the whole solderable edge of the SMD component at the same time; something not so easy to do with straight pointed tips. For larger through-hole work, the larger area of the tip presses against the post of the component while the smaller angled part lies flat across one side of the pad.

It is really a great tip; you should give one a try (or the 026 if you prefer a 600 degree tip). Even though there were other styles available at work, I would say about 95% of us swore by the 126 for everything (aside from when a specialty IC removal tip cartridge was called for).

--- End quote ---

I got an assortment as part of the deal, and I gravitated to "what I knew".  A lot of the time, it boils down to using what you learn to be expedient with.  But I tried all of the ones I had on the 48-pin SSOP's (pins are .020" on center) and ended up at the "hoof" tip, which is way bigger.  It turns out that the large surface area allows one to lay down the proper amount of solder, while the surface tension of the "blob" on the tip tends to retain the reserve.  It took a little practice, but I can now say that soldering these is much more expedient than the larger through hole packages.

But I'll check out the tip you use.  Knowing how something is used by others in actual practice is more useful info than theory when selecting these things.

RandyT

DeLuSioNal29:
MaximRecoil,

I just tried the link and it says that the listing was removed?  Is that right?

~ DeLuSioNaL

Level42:
He bought it in may 2007, so E-bay has removed it by now I guess :D

MaximRecoil:

--- Quote from: DeLuSioNal29 on March 13, 2008, 04:31:25 pm ---MaximRecoil,

I just tried the link and it says that the listing was removed?  Is that right?

~ DeLuSioNaL

--- End quote ---

Like Level42 mentioned, I started this thread nearly a year ago, so the eBay link is dead by now.

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