Soldering iron tips

I've done my fair share of soldering, but never SMT. This video:

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....is a good indicator of what's involved. The problem is, where do you get a tip like he's using. Took me awhile, but I googled him down and he uses a Metcal, a $400 model. Sorry, but I can't afford that. I have an ancient Weller WTPCS station that perfect for regular sized electronics, but can find no small curved tips like that for it. I was considering a Hakko 880. Do they make a similar tip?

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notbob
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A bent tip like that is absolutely not required. In fact, with something as big as the SOIC in the video you could use a more-or-less standard

1/16" tip. A 1/32" wedge tip would probably be easier (and they're available).

Watch some of Dave's SMT soldering videos over at the EEVblog.

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Rich Webb     Norfolk, VA
Reply to
Rich Webb

Relatively coarse SMT parts such as SOIC, 1206/0805/0603, SOT-23 parts are more a matter of technique than tools. Fine pitch SSOP etc. can be done with solder wick and a coarse iron and relatively coarse solder.

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

I've quite happily used a straight, fine-point (1/64" radius, I think) #7 (700F) conical tip on my WTCPN (bought new for the task and kept in nice shape) to do a boat-load of SMT work and some re-work. Once I got past thinking that I "had" to have a hot air rework, and got magnifiers and lights to let me see what I was doing, it was really no big deal (this assumes you are good with solder in general - plenty of folks I've seen would have problems with it simply because they also could not solder anything else successfully, and many of them appeared to be functionally incapable of learning how to do so either.)

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Ecnerwal

Yikes! This guy is prolific. I jes watched his Hakko 888 hack and it's a hoot. Takes a bit to get past the Eliza Doolittle accent, which tends to wear on ya', but you can't fault the guy for not covering all the bases. All and more than I ever wanted to know about the Hakko soldering station. Plus I'm still a rank amateur at basic electronics and his extensive explanation of several circuit options is very educational. Thanks for revealing this great resource, Rich.

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notbob

A needle bottle of flux is a big help--that and some 1/16 inch solder wick. With a bit of practice you can tack a chip down at the corners, put a little skinny line of flux over the pins, and run the iron down the row like a zipper. The flux keeps the liquid surface clean, which maintains the surface tension, which prevents solder bridges. I'm a fan of RA flux for that job, mostly because I have a lot of middle-aged chips in the drawer. Once the pins get oxidized a little, RMA isn't as good as RA. A hoof tip is helpful for that, but not sbsolutely required.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

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Phil Hobbs

Haven't tried the needle type flux dispenser.. are they better than the Sharpie-style RMA flux pens? Eg:-

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Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

Thanks for that tip. ;)

Yes, I'm still building up my collection of magnifiers and lights, being a geezer with accompanying geezer eyesight.

That I can do. I've even taught a workshop on soldering, so that's not an issue.

Though I consider myself an amateur electronics hobbyist, I have worked as an electro-mechanical tech and can troubleshoot the Hell out of huge complex circuits, at least to the board level and occasionally to the component level, then repair the problem. But tracing and repairing a signal path is not the same as understanding what's happening with all those components along the way. Now that I'm retired, I've been getting into the basic workings of electronics and circuits, something I've always longed to do. I enjoy it immensely.

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Haven't used them, but my prejudice is for more flux, and RA rather than RMA.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

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Phil Hobbs

Just get some liquid flux, dilute it a bit if it's too sticky, and apply with a toothpick.

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John Larkin

Sounds fiddly. The flux pens are fast- just pop the cap and mark the pads. Good if the board has been sitting around for a bit, otherwise I don't usually bother.

Are the toothpicks useful for something else? Holding down parts or something? Never thought to keep them around, but I could see uses for them.

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

Metcal has cheaper models, around $200. At least they did a few years back. I don't like the long curvy tips, rather have short tips for better heat control. Any of the modern irons have a nice small tip collection. The problem with this video regarding tip selection, the land patterns have no traces connected to them which suck heat away from your pad - especially when it's connected to a plane.

If you're going to do SOIC, you really don't need anything special for a tip. SOIC and 0805 parts are very easy to solder. The fine pitch stuff takes a bit of practice and handy to have 0.010" dia. solder which is hard to come by. I find 0.015" solder is too big for the stuff we do.

Beware of water soluable fluxes, some varieties, if left on for more than a couple hours, will completly tarnish your gold plated pads making them unsolderable.

Reply to
qrk

I agree with the others that the curved tip is not required. Unless you have a particular situation with clearance problems, curved will be more hassle than help.

Back in the day, when Metcals were $175, I was skeptical...until I tried one. It's wonderful to have a tip close to the melting point of solder and still have lots of heat. I don't think I ever lifted a pad when using one for rework. I could never justify one for personal use.

A lot depends on what you're soldering and the volume. For hobby use, I'd suggest a low cost iron like an Antex C30.

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I used one for decades. Put it on a variac or light dimmer to vary the temperature. They're a little too hot for my taste when you don't reduce the power a little. Tips are cheap and come in lots of different sizes. They slide on for easy change.

There's another soldering issue that I've rarely seen discussed.

Solder dissolves copper. So solder "eats" the tip. Most modern irons use plated tips. The plating keeps the solder away from the copper. Makes the tips last a lot longer.

Problem is that the solder no longer wets the tip surface. Surface tension causes it to "ball up" on the surface. As solder joints get smaller, that balling up becomes more of a problem. Makes it hard to manage tiny amounts of solder.

The video shows very clean surfaces, TINY solder and a tiny tip. Not so much a problem. In the real world when there's oxidation and you don't have the tiniest solder or tip, it's more of an issue.

I like the Antex iron with the unplated tips. The solder wicks smoothly to their surface. And you can file the tip to be anything you want. I find it much easier to manage tiny amounts of solder.

There's another option that I like if you're willing to buy solder paste. The Portasol butane soldering iron has a hot air tip. It does an excellent job of reflowing solder in small areas. Also great for removing small parts, but there's too little air for lifting a whole SOIC.

Reply to
mike

Electronics is fun. I do it all day, and if I retired for some reason. I'd still do it all day. Nowadays, an amazing range of cheap parts and equipment are available to anyone.

If you're going to be playing with parts, consider getting some of these:

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I stick them to a slab of coppeclad with double-stick foam tape.

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In order for these tiny parts to be not-frustrating, you need good lighting and optics, a good soldering iron, good technique, and practice/patience. As far as geezer eyesight goes, parts are getting so small that nobody can work with them without optical assistance.

I love my combination of Mantis and Metcal, but that's about $2000. Hey, you could spend ten times that on a Harley.

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John Larkin

away.

Aside from the obvious dental use after lunch, they are handy for pushing parts around, mixing/applying epoxy in tiny patches, dabbing silicone grease or paint dots, like that. I use them for pushing tiny parts down onto pcb pads, like trimming cap values, or pressing small Ls and Cs onto the test fixture of my AADE LC meter. The flat kind are best for that.

Wooden-stick Q-tips, with cotton on one end only, are handy too.

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John Larkin, President       Highland Technology Inc
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John Larkin

Which model Mantis do you have, John? Any thoughts on how it compares to the other models?

For the prices you're talking about, I'm thinking you must have bought the Mantis and Metcal used? :-)

Reply to
Joel Koltner

I have the "compact" one, with bayonet changable lenses but no turret. LED lighting.

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I don't know if they still make this exact one.

The Keithley rebrand has been replaced with a Fluke.

Well, I did say "about $2000." The Mantis was from ebay, and I got the low-end Metcal new. Production gets all the really good stuff.

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John Larkin

BTDT! ....but I don't bounce worth a damn, anymore. ;)

nb

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Yeah, I gave up street riding some years back. It's just too dangerous now, and my wife expressed some misgivings about living with a vegetable. I do want a dirt bike, since trees are much less hazardous than cars.

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I can see myself back on a some sorta streetbike, if only to save money on gas, but not for another year when I qualify for medicare. Now, I have zero medical coverage. REAL stupid to ride w/o some medical ...unless yer 20 something and heal like a flatworm. ;)

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