Soldering PCB

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

I'm impressed Martin. I went for the slightly different model. Led display and knob to set the temperature. Nice positive feel to the switches even the C -> F change over push button. It's not light weight either so looks to have a decent transformer in it – rating includes 240v too. The iron is decent size and weight and it's interesting to see that they seem to have insulated the heater and tips with ceramics. I'd have thought that would be a bit like having more watts. The mains lead is rubber coated which seems a bit manic. It's been on for 1/2 hr and the case is no warmer than I would expect which again suggests a decent transformer. Not a 60C temperature rise commercial thing. It must be a lot lot lower than that. There isn't any through flow ventilation,

2 Moans. I would have preferred green 7 seg displays and a drawer to keep spare tips in would have been very nice.

Took me a few mins to realise how to put the iron holder on the right. It comes set up for having it on the left as per the photo.

The lead to the iron is a bit stiffer than those Weller use for their normal irons but it is covered in silicone rubber. As the temp sensor is in the element it has to be a bit heavier so as expected really.

Big plus. Comes in a decent cardboard box that could be used to keep it in when not in use.

It would have been cheaper to repair the metal fatigue in the lead to the weller iron though. It works but if that lead finishes up in the wrong position it cuts out.

Oh by the way – the other thing that cropped up again only goes up to 250C. Probably intended for stitching certain plastics.

John

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Edited By Ajohnw on 21/11/2016 20:34:05

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

The first antex I used had thin two-core cable with a round split-pin screw top plug.

The present ones may have 10A cable but it's silicone heat resistant and very pliable so it doesn't affect the feel of the iron at all. When my ~30 year old iron burnt out I would have fitted a new element, but I bought a new one instead just to get that lovely cable!

Neil

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, I've never had one of those soldering stations with temperature control, but I do have a duel power one, which I happened to come across the other day. It's a Black & Decker one from the 70's era and had two different sized irons, which the transformer heated. I've only found the larger iron of the two and the tip end of both of them is a flat blade shape. I haven't used it in years and it needed a bit of a clean inside and out, so I took it apart.

When I'd cleaned it, I plugged it in and it worked without any problem despite the tip being a bit eroded a little on one side. I used this one and my little black Antex C precision 15 watt one a fair bit when building the circuit boards for my mobile disco decks/mixers, and amplifier etc.

Regards Nick.

[Bill Davies 2Participant @billdavies2]

I agree with Neil; the silicon cable is more flexible (and resistant to burns from the iron). The PVC cable is a bit stiff if you are working in a cool workshop. Worth the small difference in price. Also, +1 for using tip cleaner, but excessive use seems to eat the bit. Just use it to remove crud.

I havent tried the 'brass swarf' tip cleaner which appears to mechanically clean, rather than chemically. The moist sponge works well, but again, excessive use causes thermal shock which seems to degrade the bit. I also find it better to leave excess solder on the tip when I finish a session.

Bill

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

I bought a pair of Royel soldering stations 20 years ago at a govt. auction for $100 each (The govt. originally paid quite a lot more).

Included were spare irons and plenty of tips( including hollow ones for the vacuum iron). They are the same type that I used when instructing on HRHS (High Reliability Hand Soldering) courses for the military.

When I did my instructor's course the final exam involved enlarging a photo of a solder joint taken with a microscope and projecting it onto a screen until it was about 1m across – then the rest of the class had to pick the faults. When working on equipment where somebody's life could be at stake, near enough is definitely not good enough. Our instructor was NASA certified.

The station is still performing sterling work, heaps of tips left and the vacuum de-soldering tool (on the left) is invaluable for multi-layer through hole work. The temperature sensors are mounted just behind the tips.

We were not allowed to use de-soldering braid because of the damage that it causes to the pads. (de-lamination).

The 'wet sponge' was used for 'thermal' cleaning of the tips and brass wool was a no-no because of it's abrasive effect on the tips.

Anyway, I still have all my notes so if anybody has any questions then please p.m. me.

I checked and the company is still in business **LINK**

Regards * Danny M *

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Solder suckers aren't too bad for desoldering. There is a catch though. It's often best to add more solder before sucking it off. Desolder braid also often needs the end tinning to work properly. The heat from the iron will draw the solder back along the braid then. It's possible to wipe surface mount pads clean with it but as Danny mentioned they may lift off the board and break. The easiest thing to repair tracks with and also make mods is kynar wire wrap wire. RS and places like that do brass brush pencils that can be used to remove resist from tracks so that wire can be soldered to them. The automotive world also has it's safety problems and this sort of thing needs a lot of care for reliable connections.

Depends what it is but parts are usually best removed by snipping the leads first – if they have any,

Solder suckers had problems years ago. The end came off one and hit some one in the eye. I can't say I have ever looked along one in actual use so suspect it's something some one dreamed up so still use my ancient one. They are not too good on things like surface mount resistors. 2 irons can be used or each end done in turn breaking them in half when one end is lifted but there is a risk of damaging tracks. Or them lifting if lots of heat is used to melt both ends with one iron.

One strange no no for items that are going to be used for a long long time relates to trimming leads. It's should never be done after they are soldered as it will set up stress in the joint.

Sometimes something stops working or malfunctions. When taken apart it may have a brown coloured circuit board that obviously isn't fibre glass. I think it should be banned but it's still used. It absorbs water and that can result in dry joints. Just simply running an iron over all of the joints and maybe adding a bit more solder to some or all of them often gets them working again. They appear to be even using the stuff on some circuit mount boards much to my amazement.

John

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Edited By Ajohnw on 25/11/2016 10:16:14

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