Isn't 350C a bit high for leaded solder? I thought 60/40 leaded solder
melts around 183C:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SolderLead free seems to be around 220ish.
On my temp controlled iron I set it to 250C and it melts almost
immediately. I think 350C would burn the board much easier.
Also I push the idea again to buy the 825D hot air gun and soldering iron
combo. I set the hot air to 300C and the iron to 250C and it works great.
At $100 you can't lose.
If you have a temp controlled iron, it's one of those things where you just
turn the dial to see what works and when it does you don't need to fiddle
with it anymore.
Also the hot air gun + paste is so much better than the soldering iron for
SMD. Paste is around $20 for a syringe and the iron/air gun is $100 so
that's pretty affordable. Cheaper than a few overcooked chips and lifted
pads for sure.
http://www.zeph.com/zephpaste.htm has a video showing how
effortless it is with the hot air gun but you don't need the hot air heater
below - hot air alone is enough.
For a microscope, I have a stereo Nikon SMZ with a boom arm. I bought it
off ebay for around $300 but I think it's a $2000+ microscope new so there
are good deals to be had. Beautiful optics.
On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 11:09 PM, Stefan Trethan <stefan_trethan@...>wrote:
>
>
> I only want to add that flux and flux smoke can aid in finding the
> correct temperature.
> When soldering there should be just a little smoke from the flux, but
> not so much that all the flux is burned away upon contact.
> You can try how long it takes until the solder stops smoking - it must
> be well longer than you would take to make a joint.
>
> Again this is not precise, because solder comes with different amounts
> and types of flux, but it gives a good indication.
>
> 600 to 700 F (around 350C) is where you usually want to be for leaded
> solder, more like 750F for leadfree solder.
>
> Did you know that soldering irons were once more correctly called
> soldering coppers in the US? I spotted this recently in an old
> telephone company tool care manual.
> I wonder why the name iron persisted.
>
> ST
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 7:01 AM, Harvey White <madyn@...<madyn%40embarqmail.com>>
> wrote:
> > On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:39:37 -0500, you wrote:
> >
> >>Hi Bill
> >>
> >>Thanks for your input
> >>
> >>I meant to write 200 F not watts.
> >
> > Ok, you need (obviously) enough heat to melt the solder, and enough
> > reserve (wattage) to heat the mass of the connection and keep it hot.
> >
> > The reason people say to use a 30 watt or smaller iron when soldering
> > electronics is that those irons do not feature adjustable temperature.
> > The smaller wattage gives you a smaller tip, and hopefully you won't
> > take a welding torch to the project by using the iron.
> >
> > You want to go for temperature. 600 to 700 is about right. You can
> > start off low, then inch it up as you experiment to adjust it for the
> > right temperature. Low enough for a good solder joint, not so high
> > that the part overheats.
> >
> > Harvey
> >
> >
> >>
> >>My station is a Weller WESD51. I found a manual for it and downloaded it
> and all it tells me is that it is a 50W station with an
> >>adjustable setting of 350-850 F.
> >>
> >>So even though it is not telling me temp to watt settings, I am assuming
> that means at the highest temperature of 850F it delivers
> >>50W to the tip.
> >>
> >>So to my way of thinking assuming it is a linear progression and simple
> math will suffice:
> >>
> >>850F/50W= 17 degrees per watt
> >>
> >>30W would be approx 510F
> >>35W would be approx 595F
> >>
> >> So according to what you said: 600F seems to be around 37 Watts or so if
> my simple calculations are enough to correlate it which
> >>and would be about right for SMD work.
> >>
> >>If there is an engineer available please verify or smash my thinking.
> >>
> >>
> >>Bob AD5VJ
> >>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com <Homebrew_PCBs%40yahoogroups.com>
> >>> [mailto:Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com<Homebrew_PCBs%40yahoogroups.com>]
> On Behalf Of bverstelle
> >>> Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 11:14 PM
> >>> To: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com <Homebrew_PCBs%40yahoogroups.com>
> >>> Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: SMD soldering
> >>>
> >>> Hi Bob,
> >>> I don't think you would want to use 200 watts to solder smd's
> >>> with, 15 watts is more than enough. I have Weller station and
> >>> my dial is calibrated in temp not watts. I keep it about 600
> >>> degrees unless I'm trying to solder to a large ground plane.
> >>> I like to have a iron a little on the hot side it puts less
> >>> stress on the parts by flowing solder faster and getting off
> >>> quicker than to slowly heat things up. Check your iron I
> >>> can't believe it is 200 watts.
> >>> 73, Bill N7OQ
> >>>
> >>> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com <Homebrew_PCBs%40yahoogroups.com>,
> "AD5VJ Bob" <rtnmi@...> wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> > I am trying to establish what temperature I should use for my SMD
> >>> > parts soldering. My Iron is a Weller and has temperature
> >>> not wattage readout.
> >>> >
> >>> > As I understand it the wattage should be around 200 for smd
> >>> parts. What temp F does that correlate to?
> >>> >
> >>> > Bob AD5VJ
> >>> >
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------------
> >>>
> >>> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links,
> >>> Files, and Photos:
> >>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>------------------------------------
> >>
> >>Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and
> Photos:
> >>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and
> Photos:
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
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