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Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

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Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#331

Post by bigiain »

_pigpen__ wrote: post #283
cruffle_duffle wrote: post #76

Soldering is one of those things where the tools you use have a direct impact on the quality and enjoyment of the work. Shitty $20 soldering irons from Home Depot not only produce awful results but they are incredibly frustrating. I’m pretty sure most people who think they suck at soldering and hate it only feel that way because their tool sucks. A good quality soldering iron and high quality, thin solder make a huge…

>a $40 roll of thin gauge solder (which will last the rest of your life) I dunno, I'm 56 and I'm about to finish the roll I bought as a teenager. (Albeit bought in pre-RoHS times.)

> Albeit bought in pre-RoHS times.

Yeah. Old high lead content solder is way nicer to solder with than modern stuff.

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#332

Post by tibbon »

_pigpen__ wrote: post #283
cruffle_duffle wrote: post #76

Soldering is one of those things where the tools you use have a direct impact on the quality and enjoyment of the work. Shitty $20 soldering irons from Home Depot not only produce awful results but they are incredibly frustrating. I’m pretty sure most people who think they suck at soldering and hate it only feel that way because their tool sucks. A good quality soldering iron and high quality, thin solder make a huge…

>a $40 roll of thin gauge solder (which will last the rest of your life) I dunno, I'm 56 and I'm about to finish the roll I bought as a teenager. (Albeit bought in pre-RoHS times.)

I've been going through a 1-2lb of solder a year recently, and find myself needing multiple thicknesses and types. But, I've been repairing guitar amps, organs, building lots of microphone preamps, outboard rack gear, digital projects, etc. Kester solder rocks.

I do remember my first pound lasted about 15 years though...

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#333

Post by bigiain »

russdill wrote: post #291
cruffle_duffle wrote: post #76

Soldering is one of those things where the tools you use have a direct impact on the quality and enjoyment of the work. Shitty $20 soldering irons from Home Depot not only produce awful results but they are incredibly frustrating. I’m pretty sure most people who think they suck at soldering and hate it only feel that way because their tool sucks. A good quality soldering iron and high quality, thin solder make a huge…

Flux, the secret is more flux.

More flux, and a stash of old lead/tin solder...

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#335

Post by wvenable »

Fwirt wrote: post #325
wvenable wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would recommend a TS100 or TS80 over the Hakko FX-600 for occasional hobbyists. Those are both closer in design to the iFixit iron. Digital display, standard (replacable) power connectors, safety features, etc. Even more compact.

Sure, but there’s also less to go wrong with an FX-600. It’s literally a wall jack and an analog switch. No pushbuttons, no displays, no power adapters. Safety features are worth considering but everything else seems unnecessary.

I'm not a fan of devices with a built in non-replaceable power cord. With the T100 I've already replaced the cord with a longer one. I can also run it on batteries, if necessary.

T100s aren't known to be failure prone.

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#336

Post by snvzz »

bogwog wrote: post #14
fragmede wrote: post #9

Pretty cool, but it has to compete with the P80, and also with Fanttik's soldering iron, which has a battery and thus doesn't have the cable leash. https://fanttik.com/products/fanttik-t1-max-soldering-iron-k...

I'm very much a noob at soldering so idk if I'm missing out on anything, but the Pine64 Pinecil[1] has worked great for me so far and is surprisingly cheap. It also uses a RISC-V chip and even has open source firmware[2] 1: https://pine64.com/product/pinecil-smart-mini-portable-solde... 2: https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Pinecil_Firmware

I love my pinecil.

Definitely not beatable in value/price.

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#337

Post by Zekio »

johnwalkr wrote: post #287

I have been a huge advocate of the pinecil and haven't used anything else in years. It's just so easy to grab my pinecil and temporarily use my laptop's power supply for the iron, or use a mobile battery, instead of moving myself and the things I am working on to the location of my soldering station. These look like upgrades compared to pinecil: - comfier grip - shorter tip length and presumably a more solid feel (th…

Pinecil isn't limited to 60W at least not the pinecil v2, I think the v2 goes to like 140W using EPR

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#338

Post by rsch »

dpedu wrote: post #167
kwiens wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree. It's kind of like a chef's knife: a better tool makes you a better chef. A sharp knife is also quite a bit safer than a dull knife. By heating to operating temperature in 5 seconds and rapidly pouring heat into the material, you don't have to hold the hot iron as long. As soon as you're done, pop on the safety cap and instantly shield the hot metal. Soldering isn't remotely mainstream, and part of that is the…

I am completely confused by your example. Buying a better knife doesn't make you a better chef. Buying a faster car doesn't make you a better driver. Buying a more powerful laptop doesn't make you a better developer.

That is a common fallacy, I suspect it comes from having enough budget to not having to think about being able to afford something decent.

It is like photographers with $5,000 worth of equipment in their camera bags telling you that equipment doesn’t matter. I mean, there is a reason why they spend all that money right? Of course a good photographer will be able to get good results with a cheap camera, but only in situations where that cheap camera can actually capture the scene. For example, if it is not sensitive enough to capture enough light at night time, you are not getting night time shots, period, no matter how good you are. (this very much used to be a thing 10 years ago)

If you employ programmers, you will buy fast workstations because it will make them MUCH more productive. A slow computer will interrupt your work by making you wait.

I think it is in fact the exact opposite, the better you are at something, the more likely it is that you become limited by your equipment. I will probably not be able to cook better if I get very expensive knives. But I would speculate that an actual professional cook or butcher will be able to work better with sharp knives that keep their edges well.

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#339

Post by userbinator »

I agree with some of the others here that this is far too complex for what is fundamentally a heater with a thermostat.

Why hellishly-complex USB-C with its effete tiny-pinned connectors instead of a plain old robust barrel jack? And requiring software instead of a simple analog feedback loop? Software which could fail and cause runaway heating is never a good idea.

Soldering irons have always been quite repairable, especially the simple ones:

https://320volt.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/yihua-hakko-9...

https://www.next.gr/uploads/79/lm358_simple.png

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#340

Post by Kon-Peki »

mauvehaus wrote: post #329
Kon-Peki wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you live in a reasonably large metro area that has a lot of good restaurants, there is going to be a small handful of cooking knife sharpeners. A large percentage of professional chefs can't afford/justify good quality sharpening equipment for something that they use a couple times per year. They'll take their knives to these services and pay $5 or $6 per knife, and it will get done to perfection in just a few min…

I live at the literal end of the internet: there are no more poles beyond our house. Surprisingly, one of the hardware stores in the area has a robot knife sharpener. I'm tempted to try it, but the only time I remember is when I'm already there without a knife! When we were still in the Boston area, a lot of the hardware stores and farmers markets would have a knife sharpening service come one day a month.

I’ve been told to stay away from any kind of sharpening that isn’t specifically for cooking knives - the angle of the blade is supposed to be different.

I don’t have actual knowledge, just what I’ve been told by chefs.

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