Damn, paywalled. Seems timely though, I was just about to start with an incredibly basic iron a friend game me that seems to have no temp control, unleaded solder, flux
How To Get Started In Soldering
121–130 of 281 posts
Re: How To Get Started In Soldering
#122see also whitequark's soldering mistakes troubleshooting guide: - beginner: not using flux - intermediate: not using enough flux - advanced: not using the right flux and visually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfIwHuGzUEk
I don't know, I use lead-free solder with a resin core and my joint looks much cleaner than most I see on /r/ErgoMechKeyboards , where people generally apply liberal amounts of flux.
Re: How To Get Started In Soldering
#123> It’s a metal alloy comprised of tin and lead (often 60 percent tin and 40 percent lead) used to bond items together. No more lead in the EU, with few exceptions.
Learning on lead-free nearly turned me off of soldering until a buddy gave some Kester eutectic, that is a freaking joy compared to lead-free
I have made quite a few keyboards (including handwired) and a few other electronics projects with lead-free solder and it has never been an issue. I use lead-free solder with a resin core, set the iron to the recommended temperature, and make sure to tin the tip.
Re: How To Get Started In Soldering
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
A wet sponge doesn't cause rust, it's occasionally blamed for cracking plating when you use a high temperature. If you use a moderate temperature (650°F/340°C) it's a gentler way to clean flux residue off the tip. Brass wool I reserve for scrubbing oxidation off the tip, but this eventually wears through the plating so I don't do this often. Leaded solder is both toxic and completely unnecessary for hobbyist use. I l…
Sponges - if you have a decent iron, you should be using a clean, damp-not-wet, sulfur-free, cellulose sponge. This means: buy the type sold for use with a soldering iron, squeeze the water out of it after wetting it, and switch to a fresh one when it gets cruddy. I have never had an issue. Flux - hobbyists either try to use 50-year-old parts with totally oxidized plating and no flux, or they use too much flux. New p…
"Yes-clean" flux has absolutely been the cause of controller malfunctions due to its conductivity for makers of my controller project. It needs to be removed.
But yes, no-clean flux is best left where it is.
Re: How To Get Started In Soldering
#125> just be careful not to overspend on your first iron. I first learned how to solder on an ultra-cheap hardware-store unit, and you should, too I beg to differ. I used to suck at soldering, and while I'm still no expert, swapping my €20 basic soldering iron for a serious Weller unit (starting at €150) changed everything. The Weller heats up almost instantly, goes up as high as you want, and stays at a constant temper…
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Re: How To Get Started In Soldering
#126> just be careful not to overspend on your first iron. I first learned how to solder on an ultra-cheap hardware-store unit, and you should, too I beg to differ. I used to suck at soldering, and while I'm still no expert, swapping my €20 basic soldering iron for a serious Weller unit (starting at €150) changed everything. The Weller heats up almost instantly, goes up as high as you want, and stays at a constant temper…
Adding to the chorus - I spent $100 on a Hakko in my 30s and upon using it, immediately felt a sizable pang of regret at how much time I'd wasted with my $20 iron over the years. It felt like I must have been doing something wrong, but as soon as I had a decent iron, it's like all the videos I'd watched suddenly made sense.
Same. When I started to take my hobby seriously I was basically replacing a "cheap" soldering iron every couple of months and tips would have lasted me a couple of week.
When I done the maths, it has become quite expensive.
So that's when I decided to buy a Hakko FX-951 and I couldn't have been happier. It makes a huge difference between the cheap ones.
It's been working well for over 3 years now, no issues. Just make sure to use original tips. I had some knock offs and some have burned off the same day I started using them. Original tips last ages.
Don't get me wrong - the cheap ones will work and are great if you need to solder something from time to time. But if you plan to do some serious amount of soldering, don't bother with cheap tools.
Re: How To Get Started In Soldering
#127> just be careful not to overspend on your first iron. I first learned how to solder on an ultra-cheap hardware-store unit, and you should, too I beg to differ. I used to suck at soldering, and while I'm still no expert, swapping my €20 basic soldering iron for a serious Weller unit (starting at €150) changed everything. The Weller heats up almost instantly, goes up as high as you want, and stays at a constant temper…
I agree, but it makes sense to qualify what features of "good" tools are important for beginners. Temperature control is very important, and you should probably have one even in your first soldering iron. Something like hot air rework, on the other hand, is an advanced feature that you can defer until later.
Another not overly expensive tool I wish I'd known about as a beginner is a heated solder vacuum pump, dispensing with the need to juggle soldering iron and a non-heated vacuum.
Re: How To Get Started In Soldering
#128My hands simply shake too much and always have to do detailed soldering work - my kingdom for a simple and inexpensive automatic solderer!
Re: How To Get Started In Soldering
#129> just be careful not to overspend on your first iron. I first learned how to solder on an ultra-cheap hardware-store unit, and you should, too I beg to differ. I used to suck at soldering, and while I'm still no expert, swapping my €20 basic soldering iron for a serious Weller unit (starting at €150) changed everything. The Weller heats up almost instantly, goes up as high as you want, and stays at a constant temper…
What people don’t understand is that Hakko and Weller ARE the low end units. The good units are made by JBC, Pace, and Metcal.
Hakko is not exclusively low end. They’re used in plenty of manufacturing plants. They’re not selling their $30k rework systems to hobbyists.
Re: How To Get Started In Soldering
#130> just be careful not to overspend on your first iron. I first learned how to solder on an ultra-cheap hardware-store unit, and you should, too I beg to differ. I used to suck at soldering, and while I'm still no expert, swapping my €20 basic soldering iron for a serious Weller unit (starting at €150) changed everything. The Weller heats up almost instantly, goes up as high as you want, and stays at a constant temper…
There are pretty good cheap soldering irons these days too. My $35 Pinecil is pretty fun to use.
I've had a $100 Weller and a $25 Yihua soldering station and found them pretty comparable to each-other.
What's most important is that you get an electronics soldering _station_ of some type and not a basic plumbing/electricians iron that is just a pen on a cord. Those are extremely frustrating for working on a PCB.