[souperman]

I'm just starting out on soldering because I want to solder some SOIC amps onto brown dog adapters. I have never soldered before, but I am willing to practice to get it perfect.

Right now for a soldering iron I am looking at:

http://www.mcminone.com/product.asp?...me=MCMProducts
http://www.mcminone.com/product.asp?...me=MCMProducts

I'm not sure which one would be better. Both of them look like they don't have the huge nail iron that some other cheap irons have like the Radio shack ones. Does the $4.99 price tag mean it's worse because it seems just as good as the $9.57 price tag. I watched Tangent's video on how to surface mount SOIC amps and it doesn't seem too terribly difficult. Again, right now I am only going to solder SOIC amps onto browndog adapters because I want to opamp roll in my D1. Thanks for helping me out on picking my first soldering iron!

Also, I have some cheap SOIC opamps I bought to practice with. What is the cheapest thing I can buy for me to practice soldering on some of these SOIC opamps that are similar to soldering onto browndog adapters?

 

[tot]

If your budget allows I would recommend a soldering station with temperature control. These cheap irons are difficult to use because the temperature seems to be quite random.

If the temperature is too high you easily burn things and if too low you easily burn the components because you have to apply the heat too long. Besides, if you want to solder something bigger like interconnects, they are underpowered.

You also have to take into account if you are going to use modern lead-free tin, it needs higher temperatures.

This is just my experience as relatively inexperienced solderer. I did quite a bit electronics long time ago, nowadays it is mostly electric or audio cable related (apart from copper pipes, but that is quite different).

 

[beerguy0]

Check out Surfboards, from Capital Industries. Available at Digikey. You want model 9081 for 8-pin SOIC. Only $1.60 each. I frequently use these at work for building small circuits.

Digikey catalog page:

http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T073/2069.pdf

 

[eddiewalker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by beerguy0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Check out Surfboards, from Capital Industries. Available at Digikey. You want model 9081 for 8-pin SOIC. Only $1.60 each. I frequently use these at work for building small circuits. Digikey catalog page: http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T073/2069.pdf

That's not an answer to his question at all.

 

[souperman]

In Tangent's tutorials he just uses a cheap 9 dollar one and it seems to be perfectly fine.

 

[souperman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eddiewalker /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's not an answer to his question at all.

I think he was answering the question on what I could use to practice soldering on SOIC amps.

 

[beerguy0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eddiewalker /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's not an answer to his question at all.

Read the original post. He wanted something on which to practice soldering SOIC chips. I had no opinion on the soldering iron.

 

[kpeezy]

I just had my first soldering experience and it was so fun! Resurrecting old headphones is so rewarding

 

[BrianDonegan]

I agree that a temp controlled station (well, variable temperature anyway) would be a better way to go, especially if you plan on doing more than one or two soldering jobs (one thing leads to another

).

This is a bit more $$ than you were talking about, but you can find them in the $40 range without much effort, maybe even less.

http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brand...c=037103059963 Search on "WLC100"

Not a super top of the line unit, but solid, reliable, and you figure out what temps you need to different tasks, you just dial it in. Plus, having a stand to put the iron down and a sponge (REQUIRED for soldering) right there makes the whole job less of a PITA.

I have much more expensive soldering tools, but I still use mine WLC quite often.

 

[XGJFilmsX]

it shouldn't be that hard to solder your amps and if you don't plan on soldering all the time you don't need to spend money on a nice iron. the five dollar ones are decent enough to do the job.

 

[nandi]

Does anyone have experience with this soldering station? Is it any good?

ML-932, 302-788 deg. F
Only 28 bucks plus shipping. Looks OK.

http://http://www.madelltech.com/m3-8.html

 

[nandi]

Does anyone have experience with this soldering station? Is it any good?

ML-932, 302-788 deg. F
Only 28 bucks plus shipping. Looks OK.

http://www.madelltech.com/m3-8.html

 

[ChickenGod]

You can try the Hakko Rush or something. I think thats the name.

 

[Low Fidelity]

weller WLC100 soldering station is a great unit for the price.

variable temp control. Switchable tips.

I love mine.

 

[tjohnusa]

Whatever you chose I would recommend a chisel tip because the pointed tips degrade fast and you have to hold the tip at the solder point to get enough heat to solder. In addition if you have to desolder with solder wick you need a good amount of heat so I always used at least a 25 watt iron.