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Solder iron question


RoboticBrad

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Newbie here looking to go big this coming Christmas and want to start planning now... I'm trying to keep the cost down as much as possible so I figure I have time to solder my controller boards (even though I've never soldered in my life). My question is about the soldering iron, does it need to be a certain watt or type? I see my local Fry's electronic store has a 60 watt iron on sale this week and I thought about picking it up. I don't want to waste the money if it's the wrong kind, or if there's something better for not much more. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Can't wait to get started! Thanks

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Well you get what you pay for is a term that can have some influence on things.

 

But you can get away with a fairly cheap 40 watt soldering iron for doing boards but you will need some higher wattage to do the terminal lugs as they do take more heat to solder.

Personally I would say a fairly good adjustable soldering station would be a good investment if you plan to do more than just boards as then you would have something that can crank up the heat for wires and lugs as well as be turned down for soldering the little parts on boards.

Otherwise get your 60 watt iron and make sure that you can get some different tips for it.  Personally I think that 60 watts is a little too hot for the board especially if you have not soldered before.  You run the risk of lifting the traces off the board with a big iron. 

You also will want a good conical tip (pencil tip) for doing parts on the boards and a good chisel tip for bigger things.  Or get a 40 watt iron with a conical tip and also buy a 100 watt gun type iron for larger stuff.  They are cheap on eBay and easy to find.  The bigger gun will also work great for wires for tinning and applying lugs.

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Beeiill is right, you do get what you pay for.  When looking try to get something that has adjustable wattage as well changable tips.   The more tip types the better.  A pencil tip will come in handy with smd and tight components, where a chisel or flat tip will help with the larger jobs like power supply or triacs.   Also again as Beeiill said, take your time.  Do not crank up the heat becuase its faster, you will (not maybe but will) lift the traces from the board.  

 

 

That being said I personally bought the soldering station from Radio Shack.  Its not great but its worked 2 years without an issue.  Thousands and thousands of solders so far.  I havent replaced the one tip it came with yet, but I will not be able to use it again until I do.   If you go that route, start slow with your soldering.  Youtube all you can on poper technique.  If you buy the kits from LOR they actaully give you advice in the manual on how to do it.   At Radioshack they have little $5 kits that you can practice on.  Id rather tear up a $5 kit that just strobes a few LED's than a $250 kit that my house is plugged into.   My experience vas virtually 0 as well when I got my first kit 2 years ago, since then Ive reparied a few TV's with advice online, a few radios, even an Iron.

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I guess I forgot to say in my post - must be the old age thing  LOL.

I use a Hako FX888 soldering station for my soldering.  A great station that is easy to use, adjustable temp as well as adjustable tips, and easy to hold (you can work for a longtime without strain).

I used to use Weller stations all the time and got this Hako from a contest.  Now I am hooked on the Hako as it is better than my Weller was.  But there are many good stations available for less if you just look around and search some out.  Watch out for the really inexpensive ones though as you will get one that may crap out very quickly on you.

 

You will also want to get some good tools to use if you are serious and want to solder and work on this stuff.  Pay a little more and get a GOOD pari of side cutters and needle nose pliers to hold and work on parts.  A pair of hemostats comes in very handy as well as a "third hand" device which is available from most electronic  stores.  It is a jig with a couple of arms with clips on them to hold things and a magnifying glass to help see small stuff.  Very handy to have.

 

Don't forget to get a good solder sucker and/or sodler wick as you will want to remove solder at some point along the way as well.  LOR includes the solder with their kits so that won't be a problem with the kits but you will want to learn about different sizes and types of solder as there are many for different uses as well as flux paste and liquid for preparing solder joints and wires.

 

Take some time to practice and read up on some of this and you will get great results with very little agravation and trouble.  It is a fun part of the hobby as well as saving yourself some money in the long run too.

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+1 on the Hako FX888. By far the best soldering station I have ever owned or used.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888-FX-888-Soldering-Station/dp/B004M3U0VU

 

Oh and I almost forgot one of the most important things, solder. You will be shocked by the difference in quality solder. Radio shack stuff bubbles, burns, and doesnt flow worth a crap.

 

Kester 44 makes your solder joints easy.

http://www.amazon.com/Kester-Rosin-Core-Solder-Spool/dp/B00068IJPO/ref=pd_cp_hi_1

Edited by harrison0550
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Thanks for all the great info... I didn't know I had any responses to my question until I logged in today. Since it was my first post, I think it had to be approved or something (like I said, I'm a newbie). I will take the advice on the Hako and hopefully start adding to my collection of tools in preparation for this coming Christmas. Thanks again! 

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Using to big an iron can easily destroy the board 60 watts is larger than you need.

 

The LOR site reccomends a 25 watt iron for most of the work and a 40 for large objects such as the triacs, transformer and the strips to connect wires. Since you haven't soldered before it might not be a bad idea to go to someplace like Radio Shack and buy a small circuit board and a couple cheap resistors to practice with. When you get the feel of how the solder flows and how to desolder a component then you can move on to the LOR board with more confidence

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  • 4 weeks later...

I used to modify car ECUs, but always did it with a Radio Shack 40 Watt and a solder sucker. However even at 40 watts I had to take my sweat time because it was very easy to overheat the boards and burn out a trace. Took a lot of practice and a couple of fried boards to get the process correct.

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I just acquired a X-tronic Model 4040, from number 1 son. I haven't tried it, don't know anything about it. All I know, is that the heat is adjustable and it has some type of hot air blower on it, with adjustable heat and air speed. I guess I can solder with the iron and use the hot air thing to sink the sink wrap. Guess, when it get warm, I play around with it. Maybe burn up a few things in the process. LOL. But the rig looks impressive. 

 
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I just acquired a X-tronic Model 4040, from number 1 son. I haven't tried it, don't know anything about it. All I know, is that the heat is adjustable and it has some type of hot air blower on it, with adjustable heat and air speed. I guess I can solder with the iron and use the hot air thing to sink the sink wrap. Guess, when it get warm, I play around with it. Maybe burn up a few things in the process. LOL. But the rig looks impressive. 

 

That's pretty cool station. And the price works too.

 

I was curious to see a demonstration of it and found this video (part 2 of two parts). it shows the hot air attachment at work. But in this video pay attention to the moment around 3:30 into the video. It made me crack up. Reason being I've done that but would never show it to the world. LOL

 

Have fun.

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