Soldering irons or stations you use - Page 2

I use a chisel tip for most through hole parts, and it's good to have a biiig tip for use with soldering heatsinks down to boards.

But you can probably make do with the normal fine one it comes with, you just have to use it 'sideways' making sure you maximise contact of the tip to the parts. This might get a little tricky in tight spaces.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowei006 

Thank you, I'll take a look at the two and make my descision from there but this is a rather simple and what not! But thank you very very much for that in depth explanation of some pro's and con's.

Yeah. And after rewriting the post eleventy-seven times, I'm still not happy with the post.

Try them both and decide.

Just be careful with any other alloys. Almost all of the other non-eutectic formulations have a large plastic phase, so do your research or stick with eutectics for anything other than 60:40.

I posted a list of some solders in my soldering station collection thread, along with some other related information.

The plastic phase is so small (8C) that there's only a very small difference. If I had to pick, I'd say go with the 63:37 eutectic so there won't be any surprises if you pick up some cardas quad, silver bearing, or unleaded. But get a small spool (10' to 50') of 60:40 somewhere down the line just so there won't be any surprises in some emergency at a meet or something.

There's no significant difference in a lab setting. In the field, where you might be holding parts by hand, that little bit of plastic phase is useful. But it only helps by giving you half a second to stabilize the part--in other words, if you can't hold the parts steady for some reason, it might give you half a second to hold still and still make a useable joint.

Best I can do.

That 5C and half second for the plastic phase also gives you an extra half second when desoldering to pull the part off before the solder hardens again. But that implies you melted it at 5C higher, so you have the same time either way. (Give or take any heat of solidifi... err... plastification.)

60:40 is just fine. Probably most people use it.

Aw yeah, Cardas quad rules!  But it does not seem to flow as easily as Ratshack 2% silver solder.

I wonder if that has to do with the fact that I use Ratshack paste flux instead of Cardas paste flux?  =p

That's interesting info regarding 63/37.  Thanks!

I use a JBC 25W pro soldering iron, it's been perfect for every soldering joint exept for the big neutrik cinch ground metal body.

I've taught soldering for 4 years at university and have encountered many soldering irons (I was also the lab technician so I repaired them)... I'd have to say the best choice for consumer use would be the Hakko 936. Extremely durable and reliable. You wont regret it. But make sure you buy a genuine Hakko... there are a lot of fakes floating around on ebay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ix912 

I've taught soldering for 4 years at university and have encountered many soldering irons (I was also the lab technician so I repaired them)... I'd have to say the best choice for consumer use would be the Hakko 936. Extremely durable and reliable. You wont regret it. But make sure you buy a genuine Hakko... there are a lot of fakes floating around on ebay.

+1 I just bought a 936 after using a POS Weller SP23L for a year. Got it for $14 and I still feel ripped off. Hopefully this new 936 will feel like a better investment. ($55)

Solder of choice - Kester Organic 331 ($20)