Soldering Supplies Questions

XCVG · Post by **XCVG** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:09 pm

Well somewhat soon I'm going to buy some supplies, mostly soldering stuff.

Preferably I want to buy from this site: http://www.rpelectronics.com/

Basically I want your opinions. This includes alternatives and comments on the stuff below.

Here's what I (think) need:

1.Soldering Iron
The one I have is a piece of junk. The tip is loose and partially trashed. It was too big in the first place. And as a generic piece of junk I can't find tips.

I'm looking at two irons.

The first is the cheaper one. It's 25 watts and $23. However, it might be similar cheap crap and the tips don't look that good.

This one is the one I'm more likely to buy. It's $40, same wattage. It looks to be of far better quality and has a better variety of tips. Moreover, it seems to have a better tip-securing mechanism.

EDIT: The cheap iron is ruled out. I checked the Weller website and it turns out that it's not temperature controlled. Actually, I found out that the $40 one is.

2. Flux

This is pretty simple. I have three choices. Pen, bottle (liquid) or paste. I don't think I want the pen- it's only 50 cents less than the bottle which has 10 times as much in it. The paste is a little bit more money. Is it worth it?

Bottle
Pen
Paste

3. Desolder Braid

I think solder braid is the best stuff for desoldering small leads. Correct me if I'm wrong. I've already got a desolder pump and I'm too cheap to buy a desoldering iron. Now to the meat of the question.

Is standard braid fine, or should I pay a little more for the no-clean? What thickness is best- 1.5mm, 1.9mm, or 2.8mm?

Is there anything else I should get? Or do I need any of this?

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:34 pm

1) I have that first soldering iron, and I can't find tips for it for the life of me. Try to find one that has tips that slide in and are secured with a screw from the side, those are really easy to replace and won't cost you $10/tip. I can tell you, however, that Weller soldering irons are great. Out of the soldering irons I've gone through, the weller has outlasted all the others, which all lasted about 3 months before breaking.

Also, I suggest a slightly higher wattage. Some will say 25 is fine, but I feel it's not quite enough with a fine electronics tip. a 40 watt with a fine tip (0.5mm ish) would be what I would prefer, as it can heat up things like ground contacts enough to solder to (with a thicker tip, of course).

Temperature control doesn't matter a whole lot. If you're going to invest in an adjustable soldering iron, buy a weller soldering station.

2) Don't go for the paste. Either of the other two is perfect.

3) A desoldering iron is godly, if you use enough flux while desoldering. You'll mostly only use this for cartridge connector removal. In any other case (two-three prong through components, like capacitors, regulators, and resistors), a soldering iron works plenty good enough to remove them from the board.

4) Solder would be nice to have, too.

XCVG · Post by **XCVG** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:57 am

Doesn't anyone else have any opinions?

Joes2Silly · Post by **Joes2Silly** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:04 pm

I like the first soldering iron and personally I prefer to use paste flux, probably because I have nothing else

As for desoldering, you should be good with a pump for bigger leads and the braid for smaller desoldering jobs

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:28 pm

The problem with paste flux is it's often conductive. This is how I fried two SNES systems relocating the cartridge slot.

Buy No-clean stuff that vapourizes in a matter of minutes after application. Re-applying beats the hell our of cleaning paste flux off your board, believe me.

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:42 pm

or: don't use flux

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:48 pm

I used to use the WP25. I would go for that one over the other just because it has the ground pin for power. Electric Static Discharge (ESD) safe.

Also you can get more tips then that.

XCVG · Post by **XCVG** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:12 pm

Thanks for your input! Unfortunately this is going to have to wait a while. I don't actually have as much money as I thought I had

Blanka · Post by **Blanka** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:28 am

Don't use separate flux. Use rosin cored solder. And don't buy that modern ROHS compliant lead free stuff. It solders way harder.

For the iron, try to save some more for a solder station with temperature settings.
Allied electronics must have something like RS-online sells in Europe, but I cannot find it on their site:
http://nl.rs-online.com/web/search/sear ... &R=0186719

jleemero · Post by **jleemero** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:59 am

Blanka wrote:Don't use separate flux. Use rosin cored solder.

I can agree with that most of the time.

When soldering SMD components though, I absolutely recommend flux!
Different kinds for different packages. (QFP, SOIC, PLCC, QFN [the horror!])

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:01 am

jleemero wrote:
Blanka wrote:Don't use separate flux. Use rosin cored solder.
I can agree with that most of the time.

When soldering SMD components though, I absolutely recommend flux!
Different kinds for different packages. (QFP, SOIC, PLCC, QFN [the horror!])

AND when you desolder flux is awesome!

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:57 pm

it depends on whether you need the board afterwards. Flux is evil

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:48 pm

Kyo wrote:it depends on whether you need the board afterwards. Flux is evil

How is it evil? I use it on practically all my portables and electronic projects? I see no problem in using it.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:51 pm

It's because he's German. Germans think everything is evil that they didn't make. Here's proof:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cKNR3yLM0A

And everyone knows TV doesn't lie.

XCVG · Post by **XCVG** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:18 am

Ok, following the credit crunch (well actually because I spent my money) I'm thinking about cheaping out.

Is any of this stuff from DX usable?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6252

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6168

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6502

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4711

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4657