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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

#361

Post by pkolaczk »

XorNot wrote: post #322
blahlabs wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I first bought mine I tried to adjust the temperature in what felt like the natural way to do so, without rtfm first of course. Then I quickly learned that I had adjusted the temperature calibration. I reverted what I had done but now I am not confident about the temperature its operating at, at all. Seems a terrible interface design.

Yep I did that too. I recalibrated by using the thermocouple on my multimeter. That's not my biggest problem though - my biggest problem has just been keeping tips tinned properly. I've succeeded once, but it constantly feels like a struggle.

I found that brass wool works better at keeping tips tinned. A sponge removes all the solder and you have to quickly tin the tip immediately after wiping, otherwise it oxidizes. Wiping with brass wool leaves a thin layer of solder on the tip.

Also keeping the tip at moderate temperature range helps avoid oxidation - most manufacturers recommend to never exceed 400 C. JBC recommends to not exceed 370 C.

Hope this helps.

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

#362

Post by chrismorgan »

rsch wrote: post #338
dpedu wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 si…

Programmers are also frequently better equipped to make underpowered machines work for them, by adjusting their techniques, monitoring resource usage and stopping or uninstalling things like bloatware. Whereas normal people will tend to struggle if they just buy the cheapest machine they can find.

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

#364

Post by dannas »

dannas wrote: post #355
auxym wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the hakko line, fx-951 is the step-up which uses a heater and sensor in the tip (t15/t12 tips). The alternative, for a hobbyist, would be something like this new iFixit iron, the Pinecil, Miniware TS80/TS100 or one of the variety of chinese irons from amazon and Aliexpress that take Hakko T12 tips (Quicko and similar). On the high-end, professional side, it's JBC and Metcal. Expensive.

I recommend https://eleshop.eu/jbc-bt-2bqa-soldering-station.html The handle is so light! Active tips! Heats up in 2 seconds. Goes to standby mode when you put away the handle to save the tips. There's even a lighter compatible precision handle that you can buy. Luke Gorrie posted a bunch of Twitter threads where he compare the sizes of soldering handles. Can't find it now but https://github.com/lukego/soldering migh…

Here's the photo of different soldering handles: https://x.com/lukego/status/1308366430849716226/photo/1

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

#365

Post by ssl-3 »

ssl-3 wrote: post #143
omgtehlion wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pinecil can not deliver actual 100w, and most chinese type-c handles can neither. This one uses real buck converter which can help with this problem.

Pinecil V2 is specified to be 88w -- less than 100, but not very far off. And with a (simple) firmware change and the appropriate 28v EPR charger, it can do 140w.

I goofed up. It can do 126w (not 140w) with the appropriate charger.

https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Pinecil#Power_Chart

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

#366

Post by Leonelf »

SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #345
bigiain wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Albeit bought in pre-RoHS times. Yeah. Old high lead content solder is way nicer to solder with than modern stuff.

Was there an actual safe way to deal with this stuff besides maybe wearing a gas mask while you were working with it?

Why? Lead solder doesn't evaporate. The risk was always in recycling and maybe eating without having washed your hands. But you don't breathe in the solder, only the flux (which is even more toxic in lead-free solder applications).

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

#367

Post by MrDrMcCoy »

bsder wrote: post #276
Animats wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's cheaper and easier to get a USB microscope and look at a laptop screen than to peer through a binocular microscope. I've used only lead-free solder for a decade. Get the good stuff with some silver in it and it's not difficult.

> It's cheaper and easier to get a USB microscope and look at a laptop screen than to peer through a binocular microscope. I find the lag to be murder when trying to solder very small things. I can use a USB microscope in a pinch, but it makes me miserable.

My mother was recently cataloging some very small pots from an archaeological dig. I sent her with my nice camera, a prime lens, some macro adapters, and an adapter that would let her mount the body to the eyepiece of a microscope. The detail she was able to capture with the prime and macro adapters so vastly exceeded the capabilities of the university microscope that she decided to just use the camera, which had the additional advantage of having focus stacking to compensate for the shallow depth of field.

I would expect that this setup would work pretty well for a bench microscope setup if the camera can output video and isn't too big to mount on a tabletop tripod. Rather a lot can be done with crop zoom if you can get the focal length and lighting right.

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

#368

Post by teamonkey »

tjohns wrote: post #228
kurthr wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm no doctor, but if you've only done a few hours of this and you're 20+ it's probably no big deal. However, you are breathing lead vapor and it's not good for you (if you're at 100s of hours and 12yo that's really not good). If it gets on things you eat, it's also bad. The effects are permanent. We had leaded (Ethyl) gasoline in cars which was banned 25 years ago and that had noticeable statistical effects on IQ an…

At hundreds of hours, you're fine. Honestly, even at thousands of hours, you're probably okay. Most of the fumes come from the flux boiling way, not the solder itself. (Mind you, I still wouldn't recommend breathing flux fumes. Those are bad in their own way. Adequate ventilation is important!) Lead is unequivocally bad for you, but the amount that actually enters your system from soldering activities is miniscule. I…

> The problem with leaded gas in cars is that there were just so many cars out there burning the stuff. Duration of exposure and amount of exposure both matter.

The difference is not the amount of cars, but that the temperature and pressure in car engines makes lead vaporise, so it can be breathed in.

A soldering iron doesn't reach those temperatures (vaporising the lead is the opposite of what you want when soldering).

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

#369

Post by xxs »

riversflow wrote: post #326
xxs wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Easily replaceable commodity batteries with spring terminals are massively superior to packs. Spring terminals would be sub optimal drawing 10A off them as they are made of steel - high resistance. Developing any oxidation would make matters worse. Personally I'd not want 18650/21700 not properly secured (aside the rare case of running a fan with a single cell).

In flashlights they use gold-plated phosphor bronze springs that seem to work well and last.

This (phosphor bronze springs) is, actually, pretty nice. 10A still should require either crimping or soldering, though. The flashlights draw significantly less current.

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

#370

Post by withinboredom »

sriacha wrote: post #272
withinboredom wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually use my phone zoomed in + flashlight in video recording, and an external macro lens. It probably isn't as good as a usb microscope, but it works really, really well. Looking at videos of people using microscopes, the quality seems to be on-par or worse than my phone.

Can you recommend a macro lens to use?

I actually just picked it up from a random airport store. So, it isn't like a specific brand or anything.
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