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FrozenGate by Avery

Soldering thread

Seoul_lasers

Seoul_lasers

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Hey, I am not new to soldering but I wanted to start a soldering thread, possibly to discuss new techniques, new low temp solders, heat shrinking etc...

I just got a new Hakko digital soldering station for Xmas. I gave it a go today and I was impressed with the preset temps. p1-p5 are selectable and modifiable.
My electronic solder PbSn (Eutectic Solder) 63:37 alloy melts at around 360F /182c and is best flowing at 400-410F (204c-210c). I get the best joins in this range.


Fooling around with the temps, my soldering iron is able to do Pb free as well, not that I intend to as it is far beyond being safe for electronic circuits.


Anyone else have soldering info they'd like to share on the thread?

I took an actual soldering class last year and love it.
I ended up being top in the class including doing an SMC reflow project above and beyond
the course curriculum. Anyways I've always wanted a professional setup to work on stuff at home.
My wish came true today. I really want to get into building more lasers and other things.

Today while waiting for Christmas lunch, I repaired an MMC made from 0.68uF 1600VDC CDE Pulse discharge caps.

* The intention is to get our 7.5KW SGTC back up and running with a RSPG. (we'll try a vacuum gap with a blower with NSTs) but go with our 14.4Kv PT, on a Variac
turned down to 12Kv.
The total tank cap is ~123nF @ 35.2Kvdc (~16,000Vac).
 

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Looks like a real nice soldering station. Was thinking about picking one up myself. Don't need one super elaborate just one that I could adjust the temperature on. Yours looks like a beauty! Santa was good to you, you must have done something real good this year? Heee :)
 
I picked up a hakko handheld unit because I needed something portable and I swear the damn thing works just as good as my Velleman station... Kinda making me want a hakko station. Do you have any gripes about yours?
 
ped said:
For all the Americans who pronounce it "soddering" .. Please note the large letter :)
Click to expand...

rofl.gif
 
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ped said:
For all the Americans who pronounce it "soddering" .. Please note the large letter :)
Click to expand...
Hey, it's not our fault that Noel Webster misspelled it in the dictionary! After all he was from Liverpool wasn't he ??? heeee heeee
 
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Euphonious Nonsense said:
I picked up a hakko handheld unit because I needed something portable and I swear the damn thing works just as good as my Velleman station... Kinda making me want a hakko station. Do you have any gripes about yours?
Click to expand...

One thing I discovered about the (Hakko FX-8801) ESD safe
is that is requires a password to change the temperature settings --AbC-- is the default. I'd like the operation to not have the password function as it is pointless.

Temperature range = 50°C - 480°C. presetting P1 is for InSn alloy and other lower temp solders. I am able to get a perfect solder joint with Eutectic solder at setting P2-P3 at 400F/ 204c ~410F/210c. I used a mixed flux 40% Oleic acid/H2O based and 60% low residue flux. I was introduced to this by our soldering instructor as a solder hack which works well. H2O shocks the oxide layer off, Oleic acid penetrates with the lower residue flux protecting the weld.

The total Wattage of the Hakko is 70W, but the tip runs 65W at max temp.

I tried the turret terminal test and a basic wire join yesterday before touching the caps...
Very very pleased.

An aside, We did about 15 terminals, 2 PCBs, and 10 SMC components, a for soldering class last year as a demonstration of our soldering skills.

 
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DashApple said:
Everything ive made was done with a simple 15 or 25W iron using lead free solder .
Click to expand...

Yea same with me, I don't do much soldering to start with but I've never needed more than one of the cheapy ones. Just gotta make sure to keep it clean!
 
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ElectricPlasma said:
Yea same with me, I don't do much soldering to start with but I've never needed more than one of the cheapy ones. Just gotta make sure to keep it clean!
Click to expand...


yeppers...

Keeping the tips clean is good idea (sponge pad soaked in distilled water) and leaving a touch of solder on the tip when putting it away prevents oxidation.
:angel:

I tried cheapy soldering irons. I have a cheaper 35W hakko that I used in S.Korea, but it was built for 230V. It was very good but another iron (Hakko with a quick heat function) i had would go from being too cold, to being red hot in a matter of minutes.
I lost more tips with the last one, and gave up on it. Never again.

A point about oxidation of soldering tips. etc... useful stuff.
 
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Good idea for this thread. I've seen more than my share
of crappy soldering. It certainly won't hurt to show how
it's done properly.


ped said:
For all the Americans who pronounce it "soddering" .. Please note the large letter :)
Click to expand...

Up here in Canada the "L" is silent. That makes it 2 to 1....:san:
BTW... how do you pronounce could, should, would,folk, salmon, talk, walk, could, should, would, folk, half, calf ??


Jerry
 
ped said:
For all the Americans who pronounce it "soddering" .. Please note the large letter :)
Click to expand...

It's funny because I've have adblock get rid of weird formatting to curtail certain ads, so what I see is:


attachment.php
 

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DashApple said:
Everything ive made was done with a simple 15 or 25W iron using lead free solder .
Click to expand...

Really?

I can solder with pretty crappy soldering irons no problem, unless it's really fine work that is just impossible for the equipment available (0502 components with a 5 mm spade bit for example).

The lead free stuff i really hate though. I usually solder things without resorting to 'helping hands', clips or clamps to keep stuff in place - i just do that with my own hands since a humand hand can actually manipulate more than one thing at a time (like the project board, the solder and even keeping a trough hole component in place with a pinky while soldering it in place with the iron in the other hand.

This technique really required eutectic solder though, 40/60 lead-tin stuff with rosin core. This solder melts and solidifies at an exact temperature, not over a temperature range. So even if there is a tiny bit of motion in the solder joint it will set solid as soon as the solder solidifies.

The lead free stuff tends to solidify over a temperature range, resulting in brittle and mechanically weak joints using this technique.

It's fine for things like wave soldering where you have the components mechanically glued to the circuit board, but for hand soldering not so much.

Then again i'm crazy enough to try anything including soldering wires to eachoter using a cigarette lighter and (luckily flux core) solder when required. You probably should not try doing that though ;)
 
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