soldering irons again.

[Glen]

At 11:27 PM 12/27/00 , ElmacacoX at aol.com wrote:
>I'm looking at radio shack stuff right now,  and I see they have 25, 30, and 
>40 watt irons,  which is the ideal value?

This isn't simply to avoid giving you an answer, but there is no one single
"best" wattage. Harry has recommended a 40W iron, and that would probably
be fine for most PCB assembly work. On the other hand, the larger and more
massive the objects being soldered, the more appropriate a larger wattage
iron becomes. For example, if you want to solder or desolder large
can-shaped capacitors which have been soldered directly to a heavy metal
chassis, you will need more than 40 watts to do it gracefully. At the other
end of the scale, there might be some tiny or delicate circuitry that would
be better served by a 25 watt iron.

I have personally used a 33 watt Ungar soldering iron for several years,
and I really like it. One of the expensive temperature controlled irons
would be nice to have, but I never seemed to have the extra money to spend
on one, especially when I like my cheaper iron just fine. I also have used
larger wattage irons on larger objects, when the need arose. I also have a
pistol-style soldering gun, but of course I would never use that near
delicate solid state circuitry. Not only is it too hot, but it also emits
electro-magnetic fields that can destroy some of the more delicate
semiconductors.

As for Radio Shack soldering irons, I have noticed recently that many of
their irons are actually manufactured by Ungar. These should be of decent
quality. My main soldering iron is an Ungar that I've had for about 18
years so far...

Later,
Glen