MikeA Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I am going to buy my 1st kit to solder together. What tools do you recommend I get?What type of solder do I use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul M Krupa Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I think solder comes with the kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamS Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Solder comes with a kit, get a multi heat capable soldering iron. If you havent soldering something before practice on cheap stuff, they make little 3 dollar kits for practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Who they, Willis? AKA Goofy Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeiilll Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 The kits from LOR will include the solder.You will need a good solder iron, although I would personally recommend that you invest in a fair quality soldering station that has temperature control if you are thinking of doing more than one kit. http://www.kimcodistributing.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=2943&DEPARTMENT_ID=439 is one such station(Hako are very nice ones) but you can find relatively cheap ones on eBay as well. You will get what you pay for but you can find very reasonable stations for under $50 if you look around. It really makes a difference to have a good iron/station to work with though as it makes soldering fun and easy if you have one that works well and you don't have to fight with things to get them soldered.Also get yourself a small desk fan to blow air away so that you are not breathing the fumes from soldering. You won't want a lot but just enough air to make the fumes go away from you.A nice station will make the job much easier as well as you will be able to adjust the heat for the larger lugs that take more to solder and then lower it for the components.If you don't want to get a station then at least get a decent iron that is 40 watts with a pencil tip to it for the components and a larger chisel tip for the spade lugs and larger things.You also want to pick up a good pair of side cutters to trim the leads off after soldering and a good pair of needle nose pliers for bending leads.A magnifying work light is very handy to inspect things as well as just to help in general with all sorts of tasks.An item which is not really required but is also nice is a desk top item called a helping hand:http://www.circuitspecialists.com/solder-stations.htmlOf course the standard fare of hand tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches, etc. but this should get you going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeiilll Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Hmmm, got the link for the helping hand wrong. Sorry, try this link. It has some other things you may like as well.http://www.circuitspecialists.com/miscellaneous-tools.htmlThe link in my first post for circuit specialists will give you a look at some soldering stations to check out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeiilll Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Ah here is the one I was looking for for you.The CSI-1A station is one that quite a few people have and say it is a very good station.For only $30 I would say it is a nice deal.http://www.circuitspecialists.com/soldering-stations-csi-station1a.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamS Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Max-Paul wrote: Who they, Willis? AKA Goofy GuyMy bad, you can get small soldering kits on ebay, amazon, and radio shack. Sorry Max for not being more specific. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdeditch Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 If you have a Radio Shack near you, go get this, it's a great dealhttp://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3928375 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdeditch Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 beeiilll wrote:Ah here is the one I was looking for for you.The CSI-1A station is one that quite a few people have and say it is a very good station.For only $30 I would say it is a nice deal.http://www.circuitspecialists.com/soldering-stations-csi-station1a.htmlEven the Digital one is a good price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeA Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VetteNut72 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Everyone here is right. Invest in a decent temperature controlled soldering station, IMHO, first tool on the required to assemble boards list Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan C Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I agree too. If you have never soldered anything before, don't let that hold you back.There is a great section at the beginning of the manual on how to solder properly. Also check out a few videos on youtube.Practice on a few pieces first too.Just make sure you heat the joint before you apply solder.if the solder does not "Wick" into the joint, then your not hot enough. -But don't use more heat than needed.You will find that the smaller the wire, the lower heat needed. The thicker the wire, the more heat is needed.the same goes for the area on the board that you are soldering. If its just a small hole with a small trace, then you don't need as much heat.If its a larger trace, like for the neutral connection spade tabs or hot tabs, you can see that the trace is much larger and will require a lot more heat to get the solder to "Wick". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamS Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Give you that last nudge, this was my first major soldering project over some basic 12v car audio application. Bought a few of the 3-4 dollar throw away toys that you solder yourself, and the 2 heat soldering station from Radio Shack. Is it the best, no. I soldered up the kits, and jumped in head first. I soldered both 16 channel PC controllers up in about 8 hours total, both worked without flaw.The directions they come with are clear as day, they dont skip steps, and they tell you what heat and solder to use the whole way in. If you solder it up and it does not work, guess what, you send it to LOR and they fix it up. They stand behind your work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdeditch Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Just thought I would let everyone know that Enco has a great Web Deal on 63/37 Solder. It's shipping out of Nevada, I got mine before I got the email that it was shipped.http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=317-0877 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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