[sdiy] solder questions

[KHeck73 at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/9/2004 9:45:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
c0r3dump23 at yahoo.com writes:
This is a
might bit ghetto, I am very much looking forward to buying a grounded
iron with temperature control and a selection of tips.

CJ
In the meantime, here is what I do. This is in regard to soldering PC boards. 
Keep a cup of water at hand to wet a sponge or paper towel and wipe the tip 
off while its hot, as needed. Don't burn your fingers, but you can be a little 
aggressive. This will help clear off oxidation and cool the tip down for a 
moment. If you have alot of soldering to do with a 30W iron, break your work up 
into parts. Solder in 10 or 15 minute spells, then unplug the iron and let it 
cool while you do something else. It should only take 2 or 3 minutes to heat up 
again. Wipe with the wet thing after it heats up again. I find that a 15W 
iron sometimes struggles to be hot enough, but a 30W iron gets too hot over time 
and needs to be cooled down periodically. The solder should flow freely, not 
clump up (too cold), or have the flux splatter (too hot).

-Karl.
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