Good soldering irons
- Thread starter Alex1nk
- Start date
ringolong
Well-Known Member
dragger201
If it ain't broke, don't fix it??? You kidding?
Hey Alex................as with anything there are many different ideas. For me........I use a 60watt pencil soldering iron. Two things it has is ........1. A long tapered fine point. 2. A heavy plug in cord. With a little patience and steady hands and solid holding system and a BIG magnifying glass, I was able to solder up the antenna upgrade on the Tx and Rx for my syma X8hg. And thats as tiny a soldering pad as you'll most likely ever see. About 1/16 inch.
OK I think I'll go with a good pencil soldering iron. I actually have a really good magnifying glass with lights and everything already. What do you think is the best wattage to go with when dealing with circuit boards?
Generally it is all preference, old timers like the pistol grip irons. I personally like pencil irons. I'd get 60 to 80 watt. 60 watt is good for most things, weller makes some good budget irons. I use a 4 in one SMD station that has lasted thousands of hours of use. Usually keep track of useage because I give them maintenance after so many hours depending on the iron. 1000 for my nicer one, and 200-500ish for the cheaper ones which can have parts that start to fail over time.
The wattage is not the only thing you want to look at, the tips are very important as good tips affect your experience significantly, and the size of the tip affect how quick it heats up, but also how well it retains heat when applied to a larger wire.
What type of budget do you have? Used irons aren't usually a bad buy if you can find nicer ones, as well. If you get a variable temperature station you want it to be able to get hot enough to do XT90 connectors, and then cool enough for eutectic solder on small devices.
Lower wattage is good for circuit boards. 40-60 watts depending on what you are soldering. I prefer to use higher heat and flux to avoid over heating components by reducing the HAZ (heat affected zone) with smaller time duration for heating.
Weller is a brand that is very popular i that range. I would get one of them.
dragger201
If it ain't broke, don't fix it??? You kidding?
Hey Alex..........yeah, in that price range you can get a Weller 60 watt soldering iron. I would say 60 watt is the minimum............you can solder most things quickly so that you don't get excess heat build up particularly when soldering to circuit boards. Do a google search for "soldering" and check out some tutorials on youtube. Then practice some before you actually start trying to solder to your boards.
Gyro Doctor
Electronics Tech for over 45 years
... Wellers ain't bad but I like the auto temp controlled adjustable irons from "GC Electronics" best of all.
As our mod points out, you NEED either adjustable temp (best) or an assortment of tips (at least).
There are several things to consider when approaching the fine art of soldering, such as:
A larger tip will lose less heat during the transfer to the solder point.
But a finer tip (at a higher temp) is needed for working on tight groups such as pins.
(And don't even think about soldering chips onto PCBs until you're good)
A finer point at a higher temp will do (roughly) the same heat transfer as a larger tip at a lower temp.
All my soldering is done with 80 watts at temps between 500-850 degrees Fahrenheit depending upon the application.
Lower temps heat up surrounding elements more (before solder melting point is reached) than a higher temp will.
(You want to "touch and go" NOT sit there heating up everything in the surrounding area) ....
Soldering Flux is your friend !!!!!
Always heat the wires and pads (simultaneously) and do NOT ever heat the solder directly with the iron when making connections.
Solder is melted when touching the heated elements (wire/pad or wire/wire) never by the iron.
Always clean your hot iron (on a wet sponge) and apply fresh solder to it before each and every solder joint is made !!!!!!
Always apply fresh solder directly to the iron's tip before shutting it off
Practice practice practice first before working on circuit boards. Too much heat for too long will make the traces raise up off the circuit boards, ruining them.
Trust me on these tips, I've been soldering for over 45 years and I'm also certified in soldering by NASA
As our mod points out, you NEED either adjustable temp (best) or an assortment of tips (at least).
There are several things to consider when approaching the fine art of soldering, such as:
A larger tip will lose less heat during the transfer to the solder point.
But a finer tip (at a higher temp) is needed for working on tight groups such as pins.
(And don't even think about soldering chips onto PCBs until you're good)
A finer point at a higher temp will do (roughly) the same heat transfer as a larger tip at a lower temp.
All my soldering is done with 80 watts at temps between 500-850 degrees Fahrenheit depending upon the application.
Lower temps heat up surrounding elements more (before solder melting point is reached) than a higher temp will.
(You want to "touch and go" NOT sit there heating up everything in the surrounding area) ....
Soldering Flux is your friend !!!!!
Always heat the wires and pads (simultaneously) and do NOT ever heat the solder directly with the iron when making connections.
Solder is melted when touching the heated elements (wire/pad or wire/wire) never by the iron.
Always clean your hot iron (on a wet sponge) and apply fresh solder to it before each and every solder joint is made !!!!!!
Always apply fresh solder directly to the iron's tip before shutting it off
Practice practice practice first before working on circuit boards. Too much heat for too long will make the traces raise up off the circuit boards, ruining them.
Trust me on these tips, I've been soldering for over 45 years and I'm also certified in soldering by NASA
