[sdiy] advice for a beginner

[Scott Gravenhorst]

Seb Francis <seb at burnit.co.uk> wrote:
>Scott Gravenhorst wrote:
>> I don't believe that FatMan synths are RoHS, but if they are (or most importantly
>> yours is), you need an RoHS soldering iron and solder.  If you use solder/iron that
>> matches the technology used, there will be no corrosion.

I probably could have expanded on the content, what I really meant and didn't say is essentially
not to use something like acid core solder or corrosive cleaning materials.  Yes, I know you can
cross solder RoHS and non-RoHS, I don't think it's best to do that, but you can.  

My point about RoHS soldering irons used with RoHS solder and RoHS PCBs still stands though.  It
seemed as if he was about to buy an iron and if the PCB he's soldering is RoHS, (and assuming he
wants to keep it that way), it's best to purchase and iron and solder of the same technology.

>This isn't really good advice IMO.  RoHS PCBs and RoHS components are 
>backwards compatible with non-RoHS solder.  Therefore if you use 
>non-RoHS (i.e. lead/tin) solder then you will be fine when soldering old 
>or new technology.  The only exception to this is re-work of stuff 
>previously soldered with RoHS solder - in this case it's best to use 
>RoHS solder.
>
>Additionally (especially if you are new to soldering) you will find it 
>much easier to solder with non-RoHS (lead/tin) solder as (a) it flows 
>and wets much better, and (b) it melts at a lower temperature which 
>reduces the risk you will damage components by prolonged heat exposure.
>
>Take care when buying solder at consumer/high-street electronics shops 
>as very often (in UK at least) they will only stock RoHS (lead free) solder.
>
>Seb
>
>


-- ScottG

---------------------------------------------------------
-- Scott Gravenhorst
-- Xilinx Spartan-3E Based Music Synthesizers
-- FatMan: home1.gte.net/res0658s/fatman/
-- NonFatMan: home1.gte.net/res0658s/electronics/