91–100 of 162 posts
Exhaust fan! Put your station next to a window, both for light and ventilation.
Look at the traces that go to the stick or that are near that area, look for scratches.
While soldering is not that hard, different tasks require different tools. Most of them can be from very cheap to very expensive. As a beginner I'd recommend the following: A small USB-C soldering iron supported by IronOS[1], e.g. Pinecil vor TS100 A solid stand with brass wool A KU soldering tip (looks a bit like a knife) for good heat transfer, too small tips are not good Thin ( No clean flux (not a pen) Isopropyl…
If you have the budget the Hakko desoldering gun is a huge huge improvement over desoldering by hand w copper. I've gone from hating it to desoldering junk to harvest parts because it's so easy.
The ZD-8965 is cheaper (not as high quality but good enough and only around 100 bucks), has a separated station with a very light gun, that is pretty easy to work with and it is significantly smaller more silent than other ZD-* models. Another advantage is that the gun can be replaced for around 25 bucks, so if you ever drop it or it gets leaky, you don't have to invest another 100 bucks.
I used it for desoldering / mill maxing multiple Logitech G515 keyboards with 88 switches (264 solder joints) and I worked through a whole keyboard with one go - no cleaning, no clog, no overheat.
While soldering is not that hard, different tasks require different tools. Most of them can be from very cheap to very expensive. As a beginner I'd recommend the following: A small USB-C soldering iron supported by IronOS[1], e.g. Pinecil vor TS100 A solid stand with brass wool A KU soldering tip (looks a bit like a knife) for good heat transfer, too small tips are not good Thin ( No clean flux (not a pen) Isopropyl…
Also, make sure your solder is high quality. I've ordered solder from AliExpress - both leaded and unleaded - and they were terrible.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cutting wires, mostly.
Interesting, I want to hear the full story.
If you dig through someone's old tool box, you'll find a pair of wire cutters with a half-moon nick in each blade from trying to cut something hard.
Naturally my use of wire cutters is declining, due to surface mount, but some of my boards still have larger through-hole parts, and I make custom cables for this and that during prototyping.
While soldering is not that hard, different tasks require different tools. Most of them can be from very cheap to very expensive. As a beginner I'd recommend the following: A small USB-C soldering iron supported by IronOS[1], e.g. Pinecil vor TS100 A solid stand with brass wool A KU soldering tip (looks a bit like a knife) for good heat transfer, too small tips are not good Thin ( No clean flux (not a pen) Isopropyl…
Any recommendations for this?
- understand that different tasks require different amounts of heat. The reason a task is difficult or you ruined a board could be due to your iron not getting hot enough or too hot (traces come up).
- use flux, as others have said
- have proper ventilation, even for lead-free systems, there are plenty of other toxins you are likely exposing yourself to - straight into your lungs - if you solder in an unventilated area. Dont think "it wont happen to me".
- wear eye protection. tiny little beads of molten metal can and do fly up in random directions, especially when soldering wires.
- if you burn yourself, hold the affected area under cold water for 20-40seconds, way longer than you think is necessary. burns keep burning after the heat source is removed.
- get a good soldering iron if you are serious about doing it a lot. I am no expert, but I used a Metcal MX-500 for years. If you can afford it, do it. It was the cadillac of soldering irons. Don't get a $30 RadioShack model and wonder why you can't solder tiny SMT joints.
- get a bright spotlight for doing fine work. to me, the light was more important than magnification. the magnifying glasses just got in the way, and stereo microscopes are probably too expensive for you/most of us.
While soldering is not that hard, different tasks require different tools. Most of them can be from very cheap to very expensive. As a beginner I'd recommend the following: A small USB-C soldering iron supported by IronOS[1], e.g. Pinecil vor TS100 A solid stand with brass wool A KU soldering tip (looks a bit like a knife) for good heat transfer, too small tips are not good Thin ( No clean flux (not a pen) Isopropyl…
I got an SL108 I'm really happy using with my 67W Anker brick (far more convenient than the FX 951 station I had to store + set up every time). I think I could do some precision work with my SL108 but if it became regular or a new project involved it I'd get something smaller, like the TS101 or similar, I guess.