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Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ. |
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Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ. |
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In Reply to: How to Learn to Solder & What to Buy? posted by Uncle Hippie on May 16, 2012 at 12:27:52:
Uncle Hippie,
If you are not going to be doing a lot of soldering like for a business or repair work, then I would just get something that is in the 40watt range with a adjustable temperature for the soldering iron. Also make sure you are grounded with a proper ESD wrist strap and cord. This will go a long way that you don't damage you parts like Mosfets, Transistors, or I.C.'s before you even put them in. A grounding work mat is good also.The Hakko, Metcal, and Wellers are expensive but are good units. But it's the technique you use that is most Important. Good soldering and Desoldering irons/station do help a lot but if you don't know what you're doing and your technique is not good it doesn't matter cause you will end up damaging traces, part, and board. You can use less expensive tools that will work just as good if you know what you are doing correctly like the brand Aoyue it's cheap and works well. This is what I use now after I went through two Hakko desoldering irons and two Wellers soldering irons really fast. Remember to use a heat sink clamp to avoid over heating the transistor or other heat sensitive part.
Like for example there is a certain time limit you want to have the iron or desoldering iron on a trace/part. beyond that the damage starts. I do what you call the count to 3. and then start adding solder. The sold should flow nice and easy and spread with a shinny finish. Please flux too. If it takes longer than that for the solder to start to flow then the temperature is not hot enough. Slowly bring the temperature up until the solder starts to flow at the count of "One Thousand and three"
For resistors and caps please pretin the leads and this will go a long way to help you solder better and get better contact between parts a PCB traces. I usually clean the leads with alcolhol and slightly scrap the leads, add flux and a little solder to pre-tin them.
Always make sute to have the proper tip for the job whether its soldering and desoldering. This will go a long way to making adding or removing parts very easy that with proper temperature.
Now if you are working on a thick trace usually associated with power supply caps, this can get a little tricky. Sometimes you have to use one hand to slightly pull on the cap while heating the bottom trace, this will help lift it out but usually with correct temperature/tip on the desoldering you would have to do this. Now if its a resistor or transistor that you are not going to use again you can just simply cut the leads and use a plyers to put the lead out while heating it.
This just a few of the techniques to help you out and not damage things while learning how to solder or work on your own gear.
Also read up on Milspec soldering techniques and Safety tips for electronics. There is a difference between Solid State and High Voltage for Tubes electronic safety rule.
Hope this helps!
Edits: 03/17/16
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Follow Ups
- RE: How to Learn to Solder & What to Buy? - Cougar 12:15:08 03/17/16 (0)
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