Papa-LF Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Built my first Heath Kit at age 11, 1967.. Still remember that radio. http://www.heathkit-museum.com/other/hvmcr-1.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubado Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 It's rewarding doing it yourself, besides if you screw up LOR has great customer service and will ship parts out to you quick.PS. My Kirby vac makes an awesome solder sucker! :dude: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris mashburn Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 What size soldering tip do you recemmend for the pc kits? Do you normally use one tip or are there different tips for different jobs?Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Wont be able to give you an actual number just some guide lines. First needs to be said is that the bigger the tip, the more heat is available to be transferred to the joint quickly. But at the same time. You do not want a tip so big that it heats up two adjoining pads. Also in the case of the PC board. There are those quick connector males that need to be soldered to the board. They require a lot of wattage where as the IC pins do not need much wattage. If you use to low of wattage while trying to solder in the male connectors. You can start to burn up the board or lift a trace. Or create a cold solder joint that will fail you later.I recommend a 40 watt pencil iron for everything except for the male connectors and the fuse holders. For these a 80 - 100 watt pencil is my recommended iron. See it works like this. You go in with a wetted tip (just a drop of solder on the iron before touching anything) that will help transfer the heat to the wire and pad. So you go in hot and fast and then get off of it quickly. The surrounding area is still cool and will help lower the temperature to the joint. Thus you do not destroy the IC that is connected to the wire/pin. The copper trace will not try to de-laminate from the board.Been soldering for years and when it comes to the big stuff I just pull out a soldering gun and hit them real fast. But I do not recommend the solder gun to newbies. You can destroy a board real fast with that kind of heat if you linger on the joint to long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubado Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I used Radio Shacks cheap 30W iron without any problem on the small or big solder joints. The thing that bugs me is the tips. Tips wear quickly. If you keep grinding the tip, you won't be able to put in a new tip because the threads will corrode and won't unscrew therefore having to buy a new iron. New tips run about $2, so it's a catch-22. Some irons have a screw that locks the tip in instead of threaded tips, this would be a better iron, but finding replacement tips after grinding them down might be a challenge.If you find an iron that uses a lock screw for the tip, be sure to buy replacement tips right away and remember where you store them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 This is what I use. Have an extra handle that I keep a larger tip on, as well as an assortment of various replacement tips.MPJA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa-LF Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 The pencil that I use is a variable temp Radio Shack that I have had for a good while. It holds its heat well giving me a solid joint at whatever temp I am at including the bigger joints like the blade lugs.I used a friends pencil at one of the classes I taught, and although it was a nice setup it had no mass to it and cooled very very quickly which caused me troubles. I clean my tip quite often with a moist rag I keep on the bench. When I cleaned my friends pencil it cooled so fast that the solder didn't clean off, it just stuck there. Things to keep in mind when you shop.Happy Trails Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I understand what you are saying, Lowell. I've had some like that.That's why I didn't mind spending a few extra $$ for one with the digital readout of the tip temperature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Papa-LF wrote: Built my first Heath Kit at age 11, 1967.. Still remember that radio. http://www.heathkit-museum.com/other/hvmcr-1.shtmlthat site is very cool..need to bookmark it and spend some time going thru it.All of my ham gear was heathkit...HW-16...HW-101..et al...built lots of their stuff.But the first real kit I remember was a 9.95 Eico FM Transmitter..circa 1970 (9 years old..:shock:)...spent days trying to get it to work and finally realized my parent's 20 year old tube type FM radio was broken.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Hvasta Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 My kits (abt 10 of them) were the HW202's, HA201 and 202 amps (10w, 40w), and HW-18's used for CAP.. I built one of the 2036A's (synthisized 2M rigs) but it wouldnt work with the big splits we used (6+ mhz), so it got turned into a repeater..Bottom line:1) pencils w/adequate heating (switchable 20w-30w-40w-60w or the like)2) replaceable (inexpensive) tips3) bright enough lighting (to distinguish resistor color code)4) magnifier (light) to see small areas, traces, pads..buying kits allows you to save money, to buy more kits, which saves more money, to buy more kits, which... you get the idea.. =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 this is what I purchased earlier this year:http://www.hakkousa.com/detail.asp?CID=49&PID=2434&Page=1My wahl cordless had some serious battery issues, and overall, just not a good iron. It now sits collecting dust.Had never heard of hakko, gambled a bit, glad I did. Definitely would recommend it.I have been using standard AA batteries, have not bothered to see how well it does with NiMHs, but I can easily get thru a complete LOR controller, or a couple rainbow flood boards, with one set of fresh batterries, using an 40W corded pencil for the bigger stuff like fuse clips and barrier strips on the LOR kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gt6974a Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 I'm new and I'll probably get the kit as well, but I have the advantage of access to all the tools and a wave solder at no cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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