Which soldering iron, folks? ***UPDATE: METCAL!***

I need help in finding a good yet moderate price soldering iron for electronics work, including replacing the LS on my MadMax sandwich. The soldering iron I own seems to be underpowered, in that it is finicky in melting solder -- sometimes it does so in a fraction of a second, other times I rub the solder against the tip for several seconds and it doesn't melt at all! -- and it is completely incapable of heating a joint to flow the solder into it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mecry.gif

Simply put, what do I need? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif

I'm not interested in setups costing $100+ because I'm just a hobbyist, and solder things only occassionally. Still, I've got to believe there is a good unit for me, no? After all, when you get right down to it, it's just a heating element in a metallic stick with an insulated handle! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I did see a $70 soldering station with digital temperature control over here at MPJA. Is this a good choice? Is there something cheaper that will do a good job for me? Questions, questions. Please help me make sense of this mess. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

I haven't seen that MPJA station but it looks like a good deal. You really want a temperature regulated soldering station to work on those tiny parts.

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

That looks like a pretty good bang for the bucks.

A cheaper alternative would be the Weller WLC100 Variable Output Soldering Station. It's $40 at Hosfelt and uses just a simple dial to adjust from 5 to 40 watts. Fairly good selection of tips for about $4. Not as nice as your find.

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

That looks like a great station for a reasonable price.

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

Looks ok. I'd recommend a Weller or Magnastat (either electronic or magnetic), though.
In any case:
- Minimum of 60 Watts
- temperature regulated (_not_ power regulated)
- exchangeable tips (and a good availability of both large and superfine tips - see Weller/Magnastat)
- a very nice feature is the possiblity to connect a (physically) smaller iron to the same base station

At home, I'm still using a simple base (kit built) with a regulated Weller iron, but I don't think I'd tackle a MadMax with it. At work, I have a Weller WSD 130 with two irons (big and small) connected[1]. The big one has 50 Watts, the small one 60 (yes! - the bigger one can keep the temperature by thermal mass, the smaller one needs to re-heat faster).

Bye
Markus

[1]At my desk - I'm "only" working as SW developer. For the really fine stuff, there are a few SMD rework stations in the next floor.

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

Id have to agree with Markus, Weller are very good,they are regulated

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

I'm no expert but here's my opinion from a pure hobbyist's point of view:
If you could find a better quality soldering station used from an auction or an acquaintance, try for that, it's worth it. I have an older Hexacon therm-o-trac without the digital display, and a set of about 6 tips for every situation. I never could have bought one new, but it was free! What a difference from the old cheap iron i had running off of a variac. To add to Marcus's good suggestions, the Magnstat irons are temperature controlled by changing tips (as far as I know, someone correct me if I'm wrong). I think you might not want to get into those, and stick with metered temp. control. The 'Solomon' station looks good, maybe save a buck or two ($15 actually) and get the cheaper model (SL-20). Use the savings to get a set of tips while you're at it, might not be able to find tips easily for this station. You only need to know your temp ±10°, so the digital readout is kind of a waste. Why is this station cheap? Maybe cause it can't deliver a whole lot of power. It ought to be enough for small re-work stuff.
Your problems may also arise from the solder itself. Most often, the flux core is not enough. You need a tube of 'water clean' or 'no clean' flux. I understand that temperature is your main problem, but flux is often overlooked. Discovering 'real' flux made my life a whole bunch easier. I melted a lot of insulation before trying to get solder to flow, but not anymore. If you wanna try some out, PM me and I'll fill a small 1cc syringe for ya. The 'shack' probably has the stuff though.

~ned

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

I use an Ungar. I also like to use a really small tip for most of my work. Learn how to use the damp sponge like it's meant to be used - keep your tip clean, well tinned, and never leave it on by mistake (easier said than done).

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

I also want to put in a plug for the "Solomon: stations. I recently upgraded my pencil type radio shack model with one from http://www.mpja.com/ and it's really nice. I haven't done a lot of smt work with it yet, but I've definitely made good use of the varying temperature settings. Doing fine soldering work and also at high temps forcing some solder to stick a larger piece of meta that I could never of done with the radio shack model. I also picked up a couple of sets of tips, they are about $2.50 each I think, and they change easily and work well and the fine ones are very fine indeed!

I got the little bit more expensive one, but the cheaper one should work just as well as it is identical except for the digital readout which is really not necessary.

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

My son, who is a professional car stereo and alarm installer, sent me an interesting birthday gift last week. It's a butane soldering stick. It's self igniting, (Piezo ignition), and of course does away with that dang cord! Lights every time. It came with a bunch of tips including a hot air tip. It's the neatest soldering gun of any type I've ever seen! So handy and so small. Works better than anything I've ever tried. It's distributed by Snap-On and it's called the "Blue-Point". I think it's fairly expensive but I just wanted to mention it.

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

Heh, i will also echo what flashlightlens said. Use the sponge! Before you solder and after you solder. It makes a huge difference in the quality and ease of work. And while you're at it don't forget to get a nice big pot of rosin and use it liberally. (I sais liberally, not smear it all over everything in the room /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif) this will also help a great deal to get good results.

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

Look for 'Kester UltraPure Tip Cleaner'. This is a little tin container with a paste of tin and fluxing materials. Cleans the tip _beautifully_ and then tins it. Great thermal conductivity.

I also _really_ like the Weller WES-50. This is either the top of the hobby range or the bottom of the professional range; on sale you will see it for $90. Temperature regulating, adjustable temperature, comfortable tool shape, and really hard to beat. I regularly solder 0.5mm lead pitch SMT chips (like the MadMax drive chip) with this soldering iron.

-Jon

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

Wow. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif In addition to all the specific info in your posts, I'm getting two concepts out of this: (1) the choice of the "right" soldering iron is at least partially a matter of personal taste (in other words, there's no such thing as the universally "best" soldering iron); and (2) even after I have all the right equipment, I'll need to study the technique! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Sounds like there are a lot of small things to know about soldering, which can make the difference between success and failure, or hard and easy.

On that latter point (#2), does anyone know of a decent online document, printed book, or similar such thing that I could study to learn how to use all the great stuff you're recommending? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif I'm just a hobbyist, really, but I still don't want to screw up all my stuff.

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

Weller,
I did the "keep the soldering iron on all weekend" test on Ungars and they smoked, my 15 year old Weller is purple (three-day weekend) it still works. Get some flux, good ole lead/tin solder, Weller soldering iron and the MOST IMPORTANT thing is the heatsink!
A hospital hemostat works great (I have around 8 different ones) If you keep your electronics cool, the better solder joints you can make. Have fun, I have to order some Elektrolumens stuff.

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

BentHeadTX, the point about heatsinking is well taken, and happily, our local smalltown hardware store has a box o' cheap hemostats next to the cash register! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Good tip.

I try to avoid the solders containing lead, and instead go for that lead-free (is it silver?) stuff. It's a bit more expensive, but I don't like the presence of lead in our home. Just a personal thing I guess. I assume this type of solder also works for soldering electronics?

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

[ QUOTE ]
milkyspit said:
I assume this type of solder also works for soldering electronics?

[/ QUOTE ]

It does, but 63/37 solder is the best for electronics because it doesn't have a eutectic state. That is fancy talk for it goes from a hot liquid to a solid instantly, all other forms of solder have this plastic state where post soldering movments can cause errors. 63/37 is dummy proof.

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

[ QUOTE ]
milkyspit said:
(2) even after I have all the right equipment, I'll need to study the technique! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Sounds like there are a lot of small things to know about soldering, which can make the difference between success and failure, or hard and easy.

On that latter point (#2), does anyone know of a decent online document, printed book, or similar such thing that I could study to learn how to use all the great stuff you're recommending? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif I'm just a hobbyist, really, but I still don't want to screw up all my stuff.


[/ QUOTE ]

Yup, ya broke the code. 'It's a poor craftsman that blames his tools'. We put men on the moon with 'old fashioned' soldering irons, the 'NASA Solderers' I knew in the day all used Ungar Imperials..... Cleanness, heat and flux. The rules don't change.

A quick note about sponges, yes they're the ticket *before* soldering, but if you use them, *immediately* melt some solder on the tip (put in back in the rack 'wet'). The tip needs protection from hot oxygen.

As far as URLs go, there's a bunch. A Google search on 'how to solder' got a couple of good looking ones:
How to Solder
How to solder

Doug Owen

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

I have tried using silver solders, I think they are considerably harder to work with. For pipe joints they are the way to go though!

I don't think the lead needs to be a concern if you take just a little bit of care with it. Obviously if you have children it needs to be out of reach. Don't handle the stuff with bare hands more than is necessary. I pull some out of the roll, but then handle it by the roll so I'm not continually messing with the stuff itself.

Most of the steam and smoke from soldering comes from the flux and not the solder, but a certain amount of lead is carried up in the fumes. Don't breath it directly. If you are really concerned you can get these fume hood things with a fan that draws the smoke in away from you. They are not all that expensive.

But then I know plumbers who work with soft lead sheeting every day to cover roof vents and the like, come home with their hands blackened with the stuff and never have any difficulty.

It's much more dangerous for children than adults to have a tiny bit of lead in their system. A soldering hobby will not expose you to enough to worry about unless you like to suck on the solder.

Oh, and there most certainly IS a single best and most wonderful soldering equipment. But the brand new Metcal or other such tools will run you enough money that you won't be able to afford anything to solder with it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif But just like buying the most expensive violin won't make you a musician, spending a couple of thousand bucks on a soldering iron won't make you good with that either. definitely read stuff, but the best thing to do is just to practice! Learn how the stuff flows and how to get heat where you need it and get out quickly before you burn the parts. Start out with simple things and get a feel for it. You need to know how to solder to build rockets, but you don't need to know how to build rockets to solder /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

James S is spot on. Don't even think of using anything but first grade *electroinc* solder, this means the eutectic alloy (mixture) of tin and lead of 63% to 37%. This has the *lowest* melting point (definition of eutectic mix), essential for both protecting parts and avoiding 'cold solder joints'.

However, there is for all practical purposes no lead in 'solder fumes'. Check out the vapor pressure of lead at soldering temperatures some time. If this urban legend was true, linotype operators and lead casters would all poison themselves. In fact very few do, and they do it through poor hygiene (they eat it off their hands, cuz they didn't wash up well). Lots of serious science and studies to support this. Metallic lead is not the issue, it's soluble lead salts. Oxides included. Don't eat old gel cells and you'll live longer. I avoid breathing the flux fumes, of course, but it's not a really serious health threat. I watch the ventilation or blow gently for the 20 seconds or so 'we're hot'.

Think in terms of the heat flow. Let the iron heat the work hot enough to melt the solder, never use the iron directly (except to tin the tip). Pull the solder away, let the iron heat it a second or so more (gives the flux full time to work and heats up the joint past the melting point), then pull the iron away and let it cool on it's own. Be sure your joint will be stable on it's own (won't move as it cools). Inspect for smooth finish, and proper whetting (adhesion of the solder to the surface at the edges). Always use fresh solder (adds flux) in every joint.

Get some practice. Like an old computer board. Go down the lines resoldering each connection. Just heat it a bit, add some solder from the other side, pull the solder, pause, pull the iron, move on. You'll figure it out.

Doug Owen

Re: Which soldering iron, folks?

Dumb question maybe, but what is flux, and is it incorporated into the solder or a separate item that I somehow add to the joint separately?