[sdiy] weller soldering tip

[harrybissell]

If you use an unregulated iron with a wussy little tip, you are hosed...

I use a 40W Ungar Imperial with a 1/8" chisel tip.  The thermal mass is
large, so the heat does NOT wick right out of the tip.  The edge of the iron
is perfect for the smaller solder joints. Works OK for anything larger than
SMT.

I have a variable temperature controlled iron at work... but it needs tip
replacement
every other week or so.. I'd be bankrupt running it.  My iron needs a tip every
few YEARS or so... unlike those wussy conical tips... but now I'm repeating
myself...

H^) harry

patchell wrote:

> Tom FitzGibbon wrote:
>
> > what are the advantages of upgrading to a regulated power soldering station?
> > thanks
> > -Tom
>
>     The problem with an un-controlled iron is that when you put the tip on what
> you are going to solder, the heat gets sucked out of the tip.  So generally,
> un-controlled irons run pretty hot so that when you use it, the temperature
> doesn't go down too far, but this tends to make the solder on the tip oxidixe
> much faster.  A long time ago, I had one that ran so hot you could see the
> tinning oxidize when you wiped it with a sponge.
>
>     A regulated iron running at 700 C will tend to only slowly oxidize (takes
> minutes, rather than seconds), plus, when you put the iron on what you are going
> to solder, it will pump power into the tip to keep it at temperature.
>
>     A regulated iron is not nessesary to do good soldering, it just makes it a
> lot easier.
>
> --
>  -Jim
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> * Visit:http://www.silcom.com/~patchell/
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> *I'm sure glad Merry Christmas comes just once a year
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